- August 31, 2018
- Self-esteem
- Polina Krymskaya
It often happens in life that you cannot decide on your future profession, choose a hobby, or simply find something you like. At these moments, everyone seems incapable, absolutely mediocre and untalented, and for many, against this background, a protracted depression begins, from which it is very difficult to get out.
Many believe that all outstanding talented individuals have found their calling since childhood, be it singing, painting, or even the ability to calculate five-digit numbers in their head. However, in practice it turns out that this is completely wrong. In order to reach such heights, world-class celebrities have come a very, very long way. How much time, effort was spent, tears were shed, disappointments experienced - this will forever remain behind the scenes, since it no longer matters. Now these stars shine on the red carpet, their photos adorn the covers of glossy magazines.
Of course, it is difficult to find your talent and your calling, but who said that it is impossible? This publication talks in detail about how to recognize your talent, choose a hobby you like and find yourself in life.
What does it do best?
To answer your own question “How to determine your talent?”, you need to carefully analyze all your classes, all the subjects that were given best at school, what the teacher praised for and what you do well in everyday life.
It’s best to write down the answers and think carefully, highlight those that are closest and that can be used in real life, and best of all, monetized. Yes, when searching for your talent, you shouldn’t focus too much on money, but this factor can still be taken into account.
The best literature to help
Here are some great pieces of literature:
- “Dreaming is not harmful”, Barbara Sher (practical methods for solving complex problems and planning).
- Important Years by Meg Jay (the importance of working hard and investing in your future).
- “BE the best version of yourself,” Dan Waldschmidt (stories of people who inspire you to achieve your own dreams).
Dreams
The simplest but surest way to find out what talent you have is dreams. In their dreams, people most often do exactly what they are passionate about, what really gives them sincere pleasure.
Dreams should also be written down and compared with the answers to the question “What does it do best?”, and if some of them coincide, then this is really a calling, that very talent!
In his book “Calling. How to find what you were created for and live in your element" Ken Robinson gave a brief, and most importantly, succinct definition: a calling is what is at the intersection of your abilities and your passion.
This perfectly conveys the essence and gives a competent answer to the question “How to recognize your talent?” It is necessary to find this very point of intersection and follow it.
Tips for preparing for mental ability tests
- According to HR consultants, the best way to prepare is to take practice tests online. This way, applicants become familiar with the form of tasks, find out what questions they will encounter during an interview, learn to quickly answer them, and identify their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, such training allows you to avoid stress and gain confidence in your own abilities.
- During practice tests, it is recommended to analyze the mistakes made using the solution manuals. First of all, it is important to identify weaknesses and understand why the wrong answer was given. After this, they devote time to searching for information on this topic.
- There is no point in looking for free answers to tests. In each company, the bank of questions is constantly updated - employers try to avoid a situation where two candidates are faced with the same set of tasks. A dynamic difficulty level is often used - the difficulty of testing depends on the number of correct answers. In this case, no two identical tests are found at all.
- Stay calm and concentrate. Self-doubt and haste will negatively affect the result.
Advice:
If a question is difficult, sometimes it is better to skip it than to waste the remaining time.
Own observations
You can also watch other people to find your own talent. No, this does not mean at all that you need to compare yourself with them. It’s just that in most cases it happens that a writer, scrolling through his Twitter feed, catches himself thinking, “Wow, how competently this person conveyed the whole essence,” and a photographer, looking through someone’s page on Instagram, thinks, “What a good angle! And the processing is just right, apparently the photo was taken by a professional.” And such seemingly insignificant little things are far from uncommon.
Practical way
One of the hardest, but most effective ways to determine your talent. You can try yourself in a variety of areas - origami, drawing, singing, writing poetry - whatever your heart desires! In this case, you can even do something that all your life seemed strange and completely inappropriate - what if this is really the calling?
By trying new things over and over again, you can find out what your talent is and even decide on the choice of your future profession. You just need to select those activities that you liked the most and worked out best.
Memories from childhood
Perhaps, when talking about how to recognize your talent, it is best to go to the roots. In childhood, everyone did what they really liked, what gave them the most pleasure, without thinking about what others would say and whether it was possible to derive material benefit from this activity.
It doesn’t matter what it was - modeling from plasticine (suddenly this is the beginning of the career of a talented sculptor), building castles in a sandbox (perhaps the makings of a future architect), or painting white wallpaper with a black marker (all artists started somewhere). The important thing is that these activities brought true pleasure and joy.
Consult with people around you.
Everyone knows the saying “from the outside you know best.” You can stagnate in one place, not noticing the obvious things that are right under your nose. One of the techniques for finding out your abilities is to sincerely talk with friends or relatives and find out their opinion on this issue.
It is advisable to analyze what requests they most often come to us with. Understand how we are useful to them? After all, even if someone decides that he is a born politician, and they mostly ask him for a ride in a car, perhaps he should think twice and change the podium for a steering wheel. Your nerves will be clearer and people will say thank you.
Is it too late?
One of the most important things to understand when determining what kind of talent you have is that it is never too late.
Yes, there are exceptions - it is unlikely that an elderly woman who is well over eighty will be able to dance “Swan Lake” at the Bolshoi Theater, but! If her health allows her, she may well begin to study at home - for herself.
It's the same with everything else. If your health allows, it's never too late to try something new and learn something new. Many famous talented people found their calling when they were well over forty, and this did not stop them from achieving success.
Focus on the process
Most people in search of talent are chasing results, but this is fundamentally wrong. When a person truly finds his calling, he enjoys the process itself, complete immersion in his favorite activity and abstraction from the whole world. While painting, the artist enjoys how beautifully the colors fall on the canvas, the writer enjoys coming up with a new interesting plot twist, and the musician is completely immersed in the sounding melody.
In a word, when trying to recognize your talent, you should not look at the result and think “No, this is definitely not mine,” because the first time, few people will be able to draw a picture worthy of the Tretyakov Gallery and write a play that Shakespeare himself would envy. The main thing is to focus on the process and understand whether it gives you pleasure or whether you just want to finish it quickly.
Take the talent test by answering 15 simple questions
New Year for you is...?
If you had the opportunity to change something in the world, what would you change?
If you were given the opportunity to start your year over again, how would you start it?
What do you think is needed to start a new project?
What do you consider to be your main strength?
What movie can captivate you for a single day?
What compliments do you receive most often?
What can you always find in your purse?
If you could choose just one superpower, what would it be?
Neighbors are tripling up their home disco. You will only go if...?
When life gets tough, what do you do?
If you could live the life of another person, who would it be?
What allows you to recover after a hard day?
You are given the opportunity to make absolutely any wish. What would you wish for?
What area in your life needs the most adjustments?
talent test
You have a talent as a psychologist. You are a very sociable person, you perfectly capture the mood of another person. You really should think about becoming a psychologist or a similar specialty.
You have the talent of an artist. You are a very subtle person. If you love nature, you can spend hours immersed in a book. Your sensitivity will make you an excellent performer, painter or writer.
You have the talent of a businessman. You are a very thoughtful person. You know clearly what you want from life, you know how to pull yourself together and show excellent results in any area. You should think about starting your own business.
You have the talent of an athlete. You are assertive and goal-oriented. You don't care about any difficulties. You will make a great athlete.
The "How dumb are you" test will help you find out how smart you are
People's opinions don't matter
Of course, it’s worth watching other people and their successes, but listening to society that says “You won’t succeed, it’s better to quit this job and do something useful” is more expensive for yourself.
This idea was repeated by many, many people, professional psychologists, and it would seem that everyone agrees with it and would really like not to bend to the opinions of others - but it doesn’t work.
In order to achieve success, the first thing you need to do is stop paying attention to what people say. It should be remembered that those who are very sensitive to any criticism rarely really achieve heights, because every disapproving comment in their direction hurts.
Why are there so many critics around? Most often envy creative, talented and purposeful people, and therefore try to belittle them in every possible way. The main thing is not to succumb to provocations and not to respond to insults and condemnations in your direction.
How do you know if you have acting talent?
A theater school or even an ordinary theater club at school can help you discover your acting talent - a competent and experienced teacher will never miss a truly talented student.
You can also test your acting abilities by telling ordinary lies - most often, those who have been born with a predisposition to acting are able to lie convincingly and beautifully. If those around you really believe, then most likely you really do have talent.
However, you should remember that everything can be achieved through hard work and hard training, so you shouldn’t get upset in advance.
Of course, developing your talent is as difficult as finding it, but it is truly worth it. The main thing is not to give up and try again and again, and then success will not be long in coming. Good luck!
Why is it so important to find your abilities in life?
Mark Twain wrote a wonderful story illustrating the importance of finding and using your own abilities and talents:
“A man died and met Saint Peter at the gates of heaven. Recognizing the knowledge and wisdom of the saint, he decided to ask him a question. “Saint Peter,” he said, “I have been interested in military history for many years. Tell me, who was the greatest general of all time? Peter quickly responded, “Oh, that’s a simple question. It’s that man over there.” The man looked where the saint was pointing and replied: “You must be mistaken. I knew this man on earth, and he was a simple worker.” “That’s right,” Peter remarked, “but he would be the greatest general of all time if he became one.”
Mark Twain's powerful story shows the importance of finding your personal talents so you can use them. This allows you to unlock your own potential and move towards your goals. No one else has your unique abilities or can become what you can become.
Former NBA basketball player and coach Larry Bird said, “A winner is one who recognizes his or her God-given talents, practices them to develop into skills, and uses those skills to achieve his or her goal.”
