How to develop talents and potential

This course fills a gap in the education system by enabling participants to explore two dimensions of their lives – talents and vocation.

In most societies, talents and deep vocation are not given sufficient attention in upbringing, education, and the world of organisations. As a result, many people are not aware of who they are, what they are good at, and where they are going. Therefore, a new approach is needed that uncovers uniqueness of purpose. People who have an idea of their talents and their deep vocation are better prepared to make personal, academic, and professional choices. They improve their ability to live meaningful lives – for example, to choose the right partners, to serve society, to co-create desirable futures.

In our societies, most people make pragmatic choices around momentary happiness and imagined future happiness, caring for standard measures of success such as money, power, and status. Nevertheless, if we accept the relevance of deep vocation, there is something more valuable to be discovered: our true purpose.  

Higher human potential is not a high-performance culture; it is high-purpose culture for people with idealistic motives. Higher human potential does not resonate with individuals who have purely pragmatic mindsets and "generally accepted interests and low ideals of their time and their environment" (Vladimir Nabokov).

Another key term in this course is "natural good essence." It is the idea that people can discover their vocation and achieve their higher potential in a modest, natural way. The !kung people of the Kalahari Desert have a saying: "Before I was enlightened, I chopped wood and carried water. After I was enlightened, I chopped wood and carried water."

Key questions addressed in this course include: How have we been shaped by our upbringing, by the education system, by organisational practice and by the culture in which we live? Which deformations did we carry into adult age? How can we become more sane and whole personalities? How can we integrate in our consciousness not only ourselves and others, but also the Earth which we need to protect? What are heart virtues? What does it mean to become humane and morally developed? How do people grow across value hierarchies? What are the stages of human development? How can we raise and educate children without deforming them?

Programme

Day 1: Arrival, orientation day + introduction, guided tour in the venue

Day 2: Who am I? What is success? What are my talents and how can I make use of them?

Day 3: What do I enjoy? What nurtures my soul?

Day 4: What makes sense? When am I authentic and natural? When am I not? What is my natural good essence?

Day 5: What is my vocation? When pursuing my vocation, how can I earn a living?

Location: Prague

Prize: 460 EUR (includes course fee, organizational costs and coffee breaks)

Dates:
24 - 28 July 2025 - full
4 - 8 September 2025