Ask yourself the Peyton Manning question. I did. And the effort in doing so has been repaid many times over.

Here is my Peyton Manning question–what am I Peyton Manning at doing?

I’m a word nut. In almost every instance the words I say and write and think are chosen with great care. That’s certainly true with my Peyton Manning question. You see, when I think of Manning I think of someone who has found their best purpose and place in life. He has turned his life gift–quarterbacking–into his job, career, and calling. So when you answer the Peyton Manning question that I’ve posed, you’re essentially answering the following five sub-questions:

1. What am I eager, ready, and willing to practice at for hours, months, and years on end?

2. What am I able to do in the hottest heat of the moment, that I can do on what has now become sheer instinct?

3. What do people generally say I’m exceptional at doing (not good, not very good, and not even great, but exceptional)?

4. What unique ability or bundle of abilities tends to run in my family over the course of more than one generation?

5. What is the one thing that sets me apart from everyone else?

These questions and their answers will get you to your most accurate and true response to the Peyton Manning question (let’s dub it PMQ). You might also find that PMQ will shed new light on your current work and purpose.

Don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying that the PMQ replaces other, more elevated introspection, such as Christianity, for one. And I’m not saying that Manning or any other professional entertainer is worthy of moral emulation. I am saying that the PMQ is a revealing exercise and might prove of real value to you, as it did to me roughly eight or so years ago.