Do you have control over your inner leadership? Are you empathetic? Are you innovative? Do you create harmony? Do you face the facts? Are you committed? Effective? The seven core talents give you the answer to how to master your life.
By Kenneth Sørensen (2012, updated 2017)
The article conveys ideas that are presented in full in the book Energy Psychology by the author and by signing up for my newsletter you can get seven meditations that strengthen each core talent.
If you are not familiar with energy psychology, I would recommend you read the introductory article on energy psychology.
You have seven basic psychological functions : Will, feeling, thought, imagination, logic, passion and action, each of which contains a core talent that you can develop from immature, mature to mastery. These talents give you the ability to function as a whole person who can take leadership over your life and create good human relationships. We are talking about abilities such as leadership, empathy (emotional intelligence) and innovation, but also about the ability to create harmony out of the conflicts that life offers you. Know-how about the facts of life and commitment to what matters most and not least the ability to effectively organize all your resources around what you want using your creative power.
The core talents arise from the seven psychological functions
Carl G. Jung
The core talents arise in humans as a result of seven psychological functions that all humans possess.
The Swiss psychiatrist CG Jung (1875–1961) proposed four psychological functions that have become a widely used theory today, especially in personality typology. The four functions are thinking, feeling, intuition, and sensing. These basic functions are our cognitive tools in understanding ourselves and the world we live in.
Roberto Assagioli
The Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli (1888-1974) instead proposes seven psychological functions, and these are the ones we are primarily inspired by. The psychological functions are the intelligences and cognitive tools we use on our journey through life.
In the pie chart (see chart) we see the seven psychological functions. It is from these basic psychological functions that the talents arise in humans. They are seven brain centers and intelligences that convey and produce the different psychological qualities that every human being radiates. It is on this extremely simple basis that the entire energy psychology is based in relation to human psychology. You can read more about how the psychological functions relate to each other in the dictionary: The psychological functions.
It is simply about starting from the fact that all people possess will, emotion, thought, imagination, logic, passion and action.
But where did intuition go? In relation to Jung’s typology and Assagioli’s seven functions, intuition is an important basic function for humans. We completely agree, but simply consider intuition as a function that belongs to the transpersonal area. In this short introduction, we will focus on the psychology of personality.
The seven psychological functions are:
The Seven Psychological Functions – The Pie Chart
WILL : Your ability to make decisions and choices. Will tells you what the purpose behind every action is.
FEELING : Your ability to sense what is happening emotionally in yourself and your surroundings. Feeling tells you whether what you are experiencing is pleasant or unpleasant.
THOUGHT : Your ability to reflect and form understandings. Thought tells what you experience by putting words and concepts to what you have sensed. These three psychological functions are the primary ones.
IMAGINATION : Your ability to combine thoughts and feelings in an image-creating function where you can imagine anything. Imagination opens up new possibilities.
LOGIC : Your ability to combine will and thought in analytical, purposeful thinking that is deep-rooted and takes one logical step at a time. Logic teaches you to distinguish between true and false factual knowledge.
PASSION : Your ability to combine emotion and will to achieve a focused, passionate devotion to something you feel very strongly about.
ACTION : Your ability to combine will, feeling and thought with the body so that it results in a concrete, physical action.
All people have access to the seven psychological functions and thus also the psychological qualities they each create. However, we have not developed all functions to the same extent, and therefore there are also differences in how much we express these qualities in our personality.
You will probably already be able to nod in recognition of the psychological functions and have a feeling that some of them are particularly developed in you. Perhaps you know that you are very driven by will – and this will probably show up in your identity profile as dynamic qualities or talents.
The seven core talents
The seven core talents describe the competencies behind an integrated life. They express the basic life skills a person possesses to potentially become a whole person. It is important to emphasize that we must develop all the core talents to become a whole person. This integral perspective is emphasized throughout the new psychology, where it is called, among other things, personal and transpersonal psychosynthesis (Roberto Assagioli), self-actualization (Abraham Maslow), and integral psychology (Ken Wilber).
The seven core talents are: 1. leadership, 2. empathy, 3. innovation, 4. harmony, 5. know-how, 6. commitment and 7. creativity. The core talents are seeds that must be developed to full psychological fulfillment, as part of the core talents’ inner development. I will elaborate on these core talents and the opportunities for growth they contain in a moment.
The seven energy types and behavior
When we apply the seven psychological functions and core talents in practice, we unfold seven different types of behavior, which we call energy types because they manifest as the emanation of different types of psychological qualities. The diagram: From psychological functions to personal qualities shows this quite clearly.
Each talent and psychological function is expressed in action, as the dynamic, sensitive, mental, creative, analytical, dedicated and practical energy type. They represent the outer manifestation of the seven basic psychological functions and core talents. The diagram shows the core talents, will-leadership, feeling-empathy, thought-innovation, imagination-harmony, logic-knowhow, passion-engagement and action-creativity, which logically belong together.
When we seek to understand how a person differs from another person, we often do so through an assessment of the quality of their behavior. That is, their psychological radiance of psychological qualities in action. Does a person seem, for example, dynamic, sensitive, intelligent, creative, rational, dedicated, or practical in their radiance and behavior? We could also relate these energy types to different personality types with their own archetypal roles, but here we will refer to the basic article on energy psychology . In other words, there are seven different types of behavior, each with its own unique quality, function, and core talent. As mentioned in the introduction, a certain energy type becomes more of itself by integrating the other six as subtypes or strengths into its being.
Let’s now address the description of your seven core talents and how they can be discovered and developed through psychological work and the challenges we face in life.
Your core talent leadership
The development of the dynamic energy type in your life leads to the discovery and development of will and the core talent of leadership . We must all learn to stand in our own center of being and identity. This is where the I-power arises when we know ourselves. This is where we master the diverse influences from the world of the senses, emotions and thoughts in particular. In other words, it requires that we become the leader of our own life. We must be able to answer the question: “Who am I?” and “What do I want?” as a prerequisite for conquering this leadership.
The core talent of leadership is therefore very much about developing identity through discovering oneself, one’s values, needs and ways of expressing them. From an energy psychology perspective, you are a consciousness with will, who learns to handle diverse energies throughout life. The most important journey in this regard is first and foremost to establish that you are something other than thoughts, feelings and sensations. As long as we are identified with these energies, we are pulled out of our center of consciousness and will. We are governed by what we identify with, while we can learn to master what we disidentify from.
Finding the will means that we take a step back in consciousness and discover that we can observe its content. As an observer, presence, freed from thoughts and emotions, we can begin to choose how we want to think, feel and act. In this way, we become the director of our lives and the diverse sub-personalities (inner voices) and needs in the personality become employees and co-creators of the good life. On an external level, this development leads to us also becoming able to lead others. We become a person who expresses the courage to go new ways – a true pioneer in many areas of life. This ability to see everything from above, or see an underlying perspective, has already been developed by many without necessarily thinking deeply about it.
The core talent of leadership will give us the inner strength that arises when we know our own independent worth, know our purpose and goals in life and are not afraid to take responsibility for them. Leadership will lead us deeper and deeper into a search for our innermost identity and will give us the will to express it in a creative life. In true outer leadership, where we become pioneers and the strong sustaining force.
The practical work of developing this core talent is done through the discovery of the will, the different core needs and values, and setting goals for life. This can be done using a variety of meditative and psychological methods, where not least the false identifications are discovered and resolved. But perhaps most importantly, by throwing ourselves into life and taking on life’s challenges with a big YES. It is clear to see the will as the underlying factor that develops this core talent.
Your core talent empathy
The integration of the core talent empathy develops compassionate understanding based on the sensitive energy type and the psychological function feeling. Empathy is an ability to accommodate your and others’ reactions and accept everything you contain and encounter without 
condemning it. When you develop the sensitive energy type, you are able to create an empathetic relationship with everything you encounter on your path, and in this way you will gain deep insight into what you are experiencing.
The ability to contain anger and frustration, for example, gives great strength to master it in a wise way. Anger is a fighting energy that aims to protect our boundaries and integrity, and sometimes it can be expressed purposefully and controlled in its right proportion, especially if we manage to take full ownership of it. It is the repressed anger that creates sudden explosions and deep wounds in our relationships. One could object that one can be too empathetic, so that one does not set boundaries for one’s own and others’ inappropriate hurtful behavior. But empathy must cooperate with the core talent of leadership, so that understanding something is not necessarily the same as allowing it to have a harmful effect. However, it becomes much easier to set boundaries for what one understands and is not affected by.
The core talent of empathy contains the ability to expand our spaciousness – our inner space – into both the subconscious and superconscious levels, but also towards other living beings until the world is included in its entirety. It is this core talent that makes us an eminent guide for other people, a true helper in human affairs. What we contain within ourselves we can truly meet and contain in others. When spaciousness is extended to animals, plants and earth we become a true friend of nature.
The development of this core talent and energy type occurs through exercises that strengthen the empathy of the heart and develop what Buddhism, for example, calls loving kindness. However, it is in the encounter with daily life that empathy is truly tested and expanded. Again and again we are exposed to challenging experiences through our children, social contacts or life circumstances. They will kick our limits in a very direct way, and we are thus challenged as to whether they should be maintained or expanded. It is our sensitivity and the basic psychological function of feeling that are behind the development of this core talent.
Your core talent innovation
The integration of the core talent of innovation into our being leads to the development of the mental energy type and the psychological function of thought. This core talent gives us the ability to develop diverse perspectives in the mind, which can be translated into practical results. Innovation is the ability to create new ideas that can be translated into practice. This requires an ability for network thinking – to see our area of knowledge and understanding in its context with everything else. When we develop thought, we become interested and curious about everything that connects life in all its diversity, and we begin to understand how the world is connected. Often we are so identified with a few areas of our lives that we do not see the greater meaning behind what we do.
The core talent of innovation stimulates us to think new things, which is an ability to pull ourselves out of our small tasks, so that we can see life, our work and our relationships in a new higher perspective. Many of our problems are precisely because we cannot see the forest for the trees. Innovation is not just a talent we use in connection with developing a new product, it has a much wider scope, as our very ability to renew ourselves and everything we are creatively concerned with.
Through mental reflection we can develop a creativity and wealth of ideas that can be translated into new discoveries and inventions. Genius is a true expression of the highest expression of this ability, because it gives us insight into the underlying laws and principles that govern the world, within culture, science and product development. Innovation and reflective thinking can basically give us an idea of how we can live a life in accordance with the whole. It is a lack of this ability that, among other things, leads to a greedy exploitation of people, nature, and its resources.
The ability to reflect creatively, plan and make everything work through strategic insight is one of the fruits of this talent. The truly innovative types often find their expression in the role of thinker, strategist or genius. Innovation can be developed through reflective meditation in various areas, either individually or in a group, but also the study of ‘big perspectives’ through interest in art, science, religion, metaphysics… anything that requires abstract thinking and an interest in the larger perspectives of the world and life promotes this talent. However, there will always be an interest in translating ideas into concrete results and inventions when the talent of innovation is asserted.
It is when we run into problems in practice; something that does not work or is not connected, that the core talent of innovation is truly developed. Basically, it is by developing the basic psychological function of thought in its overview aspect that the core talent of innovation is developed.
Your core talent harmony
The integration of the core talent harmony develops your psychological function imagination and the creative energy type through the ability to harmonize conflicting forces. We must start within ourselves and address the multiple conflicts we may experience within, either as reactions to something external or to conflicts between different sides of ourselves. There is always an inner struggle going on in all people between conflicting forces with contradictory needs, which is the cause of great disharmony. The conflict between the need for security and and renewal is a classic battleground we are all exposed to.
Through the core talent harmony, we manage to exploit the dynamics of this drama by introducing a higher balancing factor that can accommodate and channel the energy into creative paths. A conflict can never be resolved at the level where it arose: a higher balancing value and insight is needed. This applies both internally within the person and between people. By using the core talent harmony, we use a wide-ranging imagination to find the third encompassing factor that can constitute a compromise or a completely new opportunity. We often get stuck in patterns because we do not dare to use our imagination to see new possibilities, but through the qualities of this core talent, we dare to emotionally enter our conflicts and feel what they consist of. It is not surprising that many psychotherapists and other change agents have developed this core talent.
By living through our conflicts we can develop harmony through conflict and it is precisely this ability that the core talent gives us. The ability to see new possibilities, potential when we dare to enter the unpredictable. There is great beauty hidden in the unlived possibilities, the beauty of life when we dare to go with the spontaneous and unpredictable.
When we use the core talent harmony, we know that life is constantly changing, so the talent must be continuously developed and used to keep life in balance. The conflict between, for example, the need for security and new challenges can only be resolved by making room for new opportunities, while at the same time developing and including a higher form of security.
In its external work, this core talent finds expression, among other things, through the artist, the psychologist and people who work creatively with groups of people. In their own way, they contribute to creating harmony by balancing contradictions between people, ideas and different inner forces in man. This core talent is developed by tackling life’s conflicts with an open and courageous heart in order to thereby extract harmony. Humor, play and relaxed presence and togetherness can also help to resolve stuck situations.
Your core talent know-how
The integration of the analytical energy type and the development of the core talent know-how unfolds through the ability to collect very precise knowledge based on as objective and neutral conditions as possible. When we talk about the core talent know-how, it is the knowledge that is based on facts. Not necessarily knowledge of external material conditions, but knowledge based on accurate observations through the logical and analytical mind.
This core talent develops the cool, clear intelligence that, like a clear, cold searchlight, penetrates the substance of a subject and reveals all the details. Our perception of reality is often colored by distorted ideas that have no real basis in real conditions, but are merely assumptions based on prejudices and superstitions. In the case of experiences, they can be interpreted based on very subjective emotions that distort the real nature of the experience. This core talent therefore develops a critical sense, an ability to see through ambiguities and expose false knowledge or claims in a completely unemotional way. We become able to call a spade a spade without wrapping what we are talking about in rosy phrases.
The core talent know-how therefore also finds natural expression through the deep-dive researcher, specialist or technician. When we use this talent we become interested in what works in practice, based on our experiences and perhaps experimental trials and comparisons. On a psychological level, the core talent can be developed through reflective meditation, where one keeps a concentrated focus on and observation of a given subject in consciousness. Maintaining this continuous cold light will reveal and uncover the various psychological elements of the content. You can sign up for my newsletter and get access to a reflective meditation .
A prerequisite for correct interpretation of what we see and experience in the world will be based on our being able to assess it objectively and having extensive knowledge in the specific area. That is, know-how, we simply know what we are talking about.
In-depth studies, research and fieldwork, practice in precision and objectivity are therefore natural paths to developing this core talent. In short, it is about developing the ability to distinguish between what is fact and what is assertion, that is what is important in this context. It is of course the psychological function of logic that is behind this talent.
Your core talent engagement
The core talent of commitment is largely about finding what in life you can be 100% true to or stand for. Our commitment stems from the psychological function of passion, which gives us the ability to dedicate ourselves to something we believe in. This core talent will explore the questions: What are my true values and needs and how can I live them? When we are strongly influenced by this core talent, we will look for what we can give our heart to, whether it is the children, the football club, a product or an altruistic commitment, it acts as a guiding star in terms of giving life meaning and direction.
This core talent develops the ability to say YES to something because it feels true and good. If we do not have our values and priorities in place, we often end up being thrown here and there by life and the wants and needs of our surroundings. The primary fuel of the core talent is drawn from the blazing life of passion and desires, which gives us a burning commitment to life. We find a source of motivation that never burns out because it is based on long-lasting values. When we are strongly influenced by this talent, we often live out our lives through the emotional activist, romantic or idealist in one area or another.
We develop this core talent by taking responsibility for what we truly feel is valuable and living it, because it gives us the energy needed to be committed. Showing our commitment is a strong impulse that expresses itself through this talent, so we must develop clear images of who we are and what we are passionate about. This can be done practically by developing ideal models for our goals, that is, realistic images of what we have the opportunity to become or create if we give our whole heart to it. In other words, commitment is linked to the experience of authenticity, there are of course superficial forms of commitment that are not authentic, but they will always burn out at some point.
We also develop this core talent by becoming an advocate for a cause, and through the focused effort to advance the cause, our commitment is tested and developed. Our commitment will often manifest as excitement, joy, and passion, as the force that lifts others to follow the goal. It is not difficult to see that it is the basic function of passion that is behind the development of this core talent.
Your core talent, creative power
The core talent of creativity unfolds through the ability to organize all one’s forces behind clear goals and structured planning. When we put this talent to use, we do so largely through the practically oriented will and the mental overview to orchestrate and direct an idea and a desire into action.
The difference between dream and reality is about how effective we are at bringing our desires to life. Using the core talent of creativity, we create a connection between what we want (goals), why we want (values/needs) and how we want (planning and action). In this way, we truly become the conductor of our own lives.
Where the core talent of leadership is about building the power to stand at one’s center and unfold it in an initiating dynamic action, this core talent is about finding completely practical ways to live it out. In this way, we manage to make our lives a living, organized and integrated lifestyle, where there is a connection between what we say and what we do. Wanting something is not the same as doing it, but with this core talent in our luggage we know how to systematize, coordinate, organize and manifest our ideas into very concrete expressions. Through this talent, we really get control of all the details and manage to create rewarding and meaningful collaborations. That is why you often see this type in roles as a systematizer, coordinator, organizer or conductor.
We become “magicians” in a sense when we develop this talent, because we know how to make something happen, which may seem like magic to other, less practical people. However, we know that these are simply effective action strategies that create results based on known psychological laws and practical organizational power. A clear idea (1) with a valuable purpose (2). An overview (3) of available resources to be used. Ability to get people to cooperate (4) and a know-how in the details (5). A goal that arouses enthusiasm and commitment (6) and an ability to orchestrate it all into action (7). The astute reader will probably recognize the six other talents and energy types behind the above list. That is what we learn when we develop creative power, to be able to draw on all the talents and in this way make dreams come true. That insight is the magic of manifestation.
We therefore develop our creative power when we understand the laws behind why something works in practice.
The diagram below shows the connection between the talents and the associated psychological functions and energy types.
This concludes our review of the seven core talents, and as you have probably understood along the way, we have only touched on the most basic elements of what we call energy psychology. Fortunately, you now have the opportunity to study further aspects of this unique perspective on man, the world and life.
Enjoy!
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Literature reference
Kenneth Sørensen: Energy Psychology – Understand your seven energy types – your psychological DNA, Kentaur Forlag 2017.
Kenneth Sørensen: Integral Meditation – The Seven Meditation Paths to the Soul , Kentaur Forlag 2017
Piero Ferruci: Spiritual Highlights in the Lives of Great Men and Women , Kentaur Publishing 2007.
Roberto Assagioli: The typology of psychosynthesis , Kentaur publishing house 2006.
