How to Discover Your Talent

​How to identify and master your talents

What is talent. Well these are those specific quality [ or qualities], which are exclusively unique to only yourself.

Meaning that these are the reasons you get appreciated, admired, looked upon, awed for and followed by others. Also you feel good about yourself and admire yourself and are proud of yourself, because of these.

These qualities or strengths gives you, what is called slight edge, to distinct yourself and also to create a positioning for you among the peers, competitors and experts.

The talents can be

1. Your Attitude towards Learning/Challenging Status Quo/ Anticipating and Being Comfortable in Facing Changes/ Performance [focusing on Excellence etc]

2. Your Habits of Mind like Discipline

3. Your Skills – both Soft and Hard

4. Your Knowledge in specific areas

5. Your Expertise in artistic or technical, mental or physical, personal or social areas

6. Your special abilities like creating humor-wit-sarcasm/Ability to see different perspectives etc

Before we go for how to identify, polish and master your talents – there is one skills, if you can imbibe, master, practice and use it on daily basis, would alone give you an immense advantage over others, who do-not practice this on a regular basis.

This is forming the habit of unlearning, learning and relearning on a proactive basis.

Most people never focus their energy, effort and time to find their natural talents and strengths –because most of the time they believe they don't have any.

If you want to be successful, discovering your uniqueness is not a nice thing to do but is a necessity as – Your biggest chance for growth happens with your talents and it create your key differentiator, vis-à-vis the world.

To unearth, identify, polish-hone-finetune and master your talents the following can be done

[Given randomly, although all of them at sometimes would be needed]

1.A talent can not be developed or practiced, just for the sake of making you master of a particular niche – in isolation. It has to be linked with your Passion/Obsession/Burning Dreams
2.Therefore, first Identify, what you want to be, to have and to do – which are really not only important but are something that makes you excited, restless and eager to look forward
3.Then identify which level you would like yourself to occupy, from at a local level To at a global level
4.Then identify few or at least one role model and learn all about them on what all they did and for how long to reach that level
5.Also identify few other masters, whom you admire in field, area, domain different than the ones you are thinking of developing your talents in
6.Ask yourself
A.What are the things that you can teach others
B.What are those things that people ask you for your advice
C.Where all you have guided, mentored and coached people in the past
D.What are the things/activities/pursuits – when you are doing, you lose all sense of timings
E.What are the areas you learn very fast, say you get a totally new gadget and you get thrilled on learning to operate it and are able to do with ease
F.What are the challenges that makes you very excited and you are thrilled to handle and overcome them
G.Identify the skills, expertise those are the most crucial for you right now
H.Identify
i.Your interests
ii.Your obsessions
iii.Your fears
iv.Your biggest concerns
v.Your wishes
vi.Your loves of things that you want badly
vii.What thrilled you as child
viii.Your biggest regrets

IX.Find what makes you feel strong

X.What subject could you read 100 books about without getting bored
XI.What could I do for indefinitely without getting paid
XII.What would I spend my time doing if I had complete financial abundance to do anything

XIV.When you connect with your heart, what things in life really make you feel free?

XV.What difference do you want to make in the world

XVI.What legacy would you like to leave behind

XVII.What fundamental beliefs do you feel truly passionate about? Which jobs would encompass them?

XVIII. Find which are the areas spend your money on XIX. What provokes reactions in you XX. Search for an outlet for your talents XXI.Notice what you hate to stop doing
XXII.Think your major decisions you have taken and what was the motivation behind those desicions
XXIII.Identify your values you won't compromise on
XXIV. If I could do one thing for the rest of my life, what would it be
XXV.What would I do, even if I didn't get paid to do it
XXVI. What makes me feel like nothing else exists
XXVII.What activity makes me feel completely
7.Make a list of all these talents, skills, expertise that you want to develop, master and use for your growth and success or any other things that you are perusing
8.Priorities which are the most crucial and important talents that you need now
9.Schedule them in your daily time-line
10.Start things that are easy and what comes naturally to you
11. Gradually you start going for things those are harder for you
12.Create milestones and monitor, record and celebrate your successes and accomplishment of these
13.Take a personality test like MBTI, PF16, DISC, Enneagram, Keirsey Temperament Sorter Test etc to Identify your talents
14.Go for various Aptitude test for reasoning, analysis and ability to make sense from abstract
15.Experiment, experiment, experiment in various things
16. Identify the soft skills that you need and those which are not up to your expectation, then go for learning, practicing and polishing them – read my various blogs on these
17.Identify hard skills that you need in your profession and take course, take additional responsibilities and apply what you learn
18.Create a focus on delivering excellence or giving your 100%
19.Identify your weaknesses as per you and learn how to convert it into your biggest strengths
20.Develop hobbies and interests that makes you interact different people with and do many things out of your comfort zones
21.Volunteer for social causes
22.Identify your fears and gradually step up your ante by facing them in real time
23.Learn to identify your self-conscious and learn to hear and test it real time
24.Sharpen your observing and listening skills
25.Be patient with yourself, throughout this journey, while developing talent, in the initial stages at least
26.Always be eager to learn
27.Enjoy challenging your own beliefs and adapting new one
28.Travel extensively
29.Take moderate risk in every areas
30.Work on all aspects of communication [writing, listening, asking question, understanding, empathy etc], problem solving, creativity, convincing and influencing others, negotiating etc
31.Respect everyone with the intention of recognizing their talents and learning these
32.Get training in each of the areas you want to master
33.Connect with, network with, spend time with the established masters
34.Enroll a an master in your area of development of this talent
35.Expand your learning avenues by reading, watch movies/videos, participating in professional forums etc
36.Become part of crowdsourcing
37.Be Willing To Be Stupid
38.Accept your mistakes openly
39.Identify those areas that you should get rid of as - Just because you CAN do something does not mean you SHOULD do something