How to discover my talent? 5 keys to detect your skills

Tips to develop your self-knowledge and detect and take advantage of your latent talents.

Everyone has qualities they don't know they have. Sometimes it happens that what we are good at is so normalized that we don't realize that not everyone has that ability or characteristic.

We all came into this life to contribute something to the world, even if we don't know exactly what. Knowing our talents can be a great help in choosing the career or job that will be our vocation.

Knowing how to discover your talent requires introspection.to see what it is that you are good at and what makes time fly by. Let's see how to detect your hidden strengths.

How to discover my talent?

Everyone has talents, even if they do not know exactly what they are. Many of our strengths may remain hidden throughout our lives because we do not give enough value to a skill or ability. We may also think that what we are good at is no big deal, or we believe that everyone else is equally good at it and therefore it is not worth considering as a talent. But, really, that may be what sets us apart from others, something we are not yet aware of..

Before we talk about how to discover our talent, we must first understand what we mean. Talent is defined as one or more abilities that an individual has to perform or exercise an activity.. They are the good aptitudes that a person has to do something in particular. Each person has his or her talents, varying from individual to individual. Each person has different capacities and aptitudes to perform specific tasks or activities.

We can speak of innate talents and acquired talents. Innate talents are those we have since birth or at a very early age. This type of talents can be more or less suspected in the individual's childhood, especially when a very young child is using skills that no one has taught him or her or that, apparently, he or she has acquired very easily. Acquired talents, on the other hand, are all those skills that a person develops over time. competencies that a person develops throughout his or her life, through learning and continuous practice..

Discovering what your aptitudes and strengths are

There is no person who does not have any talent. There are those who say that we have not only one or two talents, but at least seven. However, it is also very common that we do not realize what they are. But even though it's relatively common, not knowing what your talents are can work against you, especially when you're approaching the age of deciding what you want to do for a living.

Everyone wants to find a fulfilling, satisfying job. A job that makes you feel good. You know what they say: choose a job you love and you won't have to work a day in your life. It is crucial to know what your talents are, if you don't, you won't know what to do for a living.. You will not find your vocation and you will risk having to accept any job, one that can frustrate you a lot.

Fortunately, it is never too late to discover your talents. As we have said, it will require some effort and, also, a lot of conscientious introspection. To help you discover what your talents are, try answering the following questions:

1. What is it that you enjoy?

When we are bad at something, we usually receive negative feedback from others (e.g., you are very clumsy, you do it badly, you are not good at it...). (for example, you are very clumsy, you do it badly, you are not good at it...). If we are doing something that we are constantly reminded that we are bad at, it is a matter of time before we lose interest in it completely.

But the opposite is also true. When we are good at something, people tend to give us positive feedback, recognizing our achievements. Since we like receiving such recognition, which acts as positive reinforcement, and we feel good about it we are more likely to continue doing that activity. The task for which we receive praise will be seen as increasingly fun and rewarding..

For this reason, if there is something you really like or have noticed people complimenting you on, it is quite likely that this is one of your talents.

2. What are your interests and hobbies?

Closely related to the previous point. Think about what interests and hobbies occupy your free time, as it is quite likely that among them is a hidden talent. Leisure activities can give us clues as to the type of profession we are best suited for.

However, keep in mind, however, that having interests and hobbies does not necessarily mean you have a talent for them.. That is, we can enjoy doing something we are not particularly good at, as long as we have fun doing it. For example, many children like to play soccer, but this does not mean that all of them are going to be the next Cristiano Ronaldo. Very few of them will have the talent to become a professional soccer player.

3. What makes the time fly by?

When we have to do something we don't like, time passes very, very slowly. Heavy and tedious tasks make us have the feeling that time hardly moves forward, going extremely slowly. On the contrary, when we are passionate about things, when they make us happy and make us have fun, time flies.. Tasks that amuse us make us lose track of time.

This perception of time is what can indicate if something is or is not our vocation. You should reflect on those activities in which you notice that time passes quickly when you are doing them, tasks that you like so much that you do not see them as obligations or boring chores, but as hobbies. When our best talents are put into practice, we tend to lose awareness of how much fun we are having.

4. What is easy for you to do?

Ease is a very effective clue to find out what our talents are. It consists of paying attention to those tasks or activities that are easier for us than others.. It's as simple as that.

For example, if it is difficult for us to remember memorized data such as the names of countries and their capitals and also to locate them on the map, geography and social sciences are not our thing. On the other hand, if we find it very easy to solve mathematical problems quickly, without even needing to write them down on paper or use a calculator, calculus is among our talents.

5. Who do you admire?

People tend to admire others with whom they feel identified. This admiration can help us to see what we could be good at. It is advisable to reflect and to try to find out why that person is so interesting to us.. We can ask ourselves several questions:

• What qualities does he/she have?
• What does he/she do?
• What is his or her personality like?
• What do we see in him or her that we also have?

The person we admire does not necessarily have to be a celebrity. It can also be an acquaintance, someone who is part of our daily lives, or even a fictional character. The point is that it is a person whose personality characteristics and, above all, skills arouse deep admiration and we would like to be like him or her..

Final thought

Discovering what our talents are is complicated, but not impossible. While it is easier to see talents in others than in oneself, it is possible to discover on our own what we are good at by doing a little introspection, analysis and observation of our behavior. We can find out what our talents are by paying attention to our interaction with others, whose feedback will tell us whether or not we do a certain task well or are recognized for it.

The questions we have just seen are a good way to discover what your talent is. They serve to enhance our self-knowledge and will help us to identify what our talents are, whether innate or acquired, as well as to see what things we are not good at.. The next step is to know how to exploit them, enjoying the learning process and discovering our true vocation.