Dwight Grant didn’t learn to read until he was in his teens.

He was placed in remedial classes throughout high school in Nassau, Bahamas; some thought it was “a miracle” he even made it to college.

“I was 14 years old when they recognised in school that I couldn’t really make out words or read the sentences,” the senior pastor of New Genesis Church said. “It took me asking people to teach me proper spelling and grammar and that’s when I started really understanding.”

He would have been surprised had he known he’d one day be an author, spiritual teacher and motivational speaker.

“Whatever you feel you have a deficit in is most often where your gift or calling is,” the 43-year-old said. “I didn’t realise that me not reading as a child was the form that God would want to use me in. Sometimes the thing you think is the most horrible part of you will be turned around for God’s glory and used to bless someone else.”

For the past five years he’s shared his teachings on purpose with everyone from pastors to bank CEOs.

It wasn’t a path he intended to take.

Mr Grant studied theology in college with the aim of becoming a pastor. He minored in business, but never planned to use that skill set. “I thought my business studies would just help me to better manage my life and in that I stretched and grew and came to understand better what God had for my life,” he said.

“I realised who I was evolving into. I read a lot, at least three or four books a month. And because I started developing and growing in my ability to see life, my desire level increased. As I started teaching, what happened was people who heard my sessions and teachings and preaching started contacting me. I found that almost by default I ended up sharing or giving advice and training individuals and I realised it was evolving into something else.”

A few years ago God questioned him on the meaning of purpose.

“I said, ‘Purpose is the original intent for our lives’. Then God asked me another question … ‘Magic Johnson, what’s his purpose?’ I thought, ‘He’s an NBA basketball player’. God said, ‘No’.

“I started to do some research and learnt that after he had contracted the Aids virus he really became depressed. One day his wife became really frustrated with him. She said something to the effect of, ‘Until you see what you were called to do I’m not speaking to you’. I was shocked, because I thought Magic’s purpose was basketball. But his wife knew different. In reality he was called to be a businessman.

“Being a basketball player afforded him the opportunity to enter into the business side of things. He has a lot of movie theatres and is part-owner of some basketball teams. From there it became such a revelation that purpose wasn’t the end or the destination. Purpose actually is a gate and doorway to possibility. So my goal is just to help people recognise that. Once they start to look into what their purpose may be it often leads to something more.”

It inspired him to write a book, Purpose is Not Enough. Recently released by evangelical publishing company Zondervan it offers guidance on how to “accurately find, execute, and maximise purpose”.

Readers are also told how trials and challenges can aid their calling.

“I was really surprised while writing this book with what came out,” Mr Grant said. “I had people who were helping me edit it and they said they needed a dictionary for this book because some of the language was too hard.

“I didn’t want it to be complicated, so I had to go back to rewrite things. So to see the growth was really fantastic, humbling and encouraging.”

One person who he helped tapped into their calling was singer Sia Spence.

“When I met her she was frustrated and going through a lot, but over those three years we did a lot of training and mentoring to the point where she is now off in school in Atlanta and making records,” he said. “She sends me messages saying the principles I taught her she is still using today — like being determined and staying around the right people so your environment is conducive to plant the seed that was given you.”

Discovering your purpose won’t necessarily make you lots of money, he said. What it does is allow you to use your unique skills and talents to impact others.

In the most challenging cases, people aren’t able to find their purpose until they address wounds and hurts from their past.

Mr Grant points out what might be holding them back and brings them to a place of healing and restoration.

“It’s been interesting to watch the transformations over the last five years,” he said. “Seeing people grow into who they were meant to be. You can see the light turn on in their eyes. They are alive now.”

Purpose Is Not Enough is available at Brown & Co for $25. For more information visit www.dwightgrant.com