As distinct as everyone is; we’ve all got knacks for one thing or another, and these capacities are unique in their different ways.

Discovering your talent is really not a hard nut to crack; as just the application of some nuggets will do the job.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, “talent is the natural endowments of a person”, as opposed to “skills; a learned power of doing something competently: a developed aptitude or ability”; and they both need to be discovered and developed respectively.

Knowing what you are good at and developing what you can be great at is known as intrapersonal intelligence, and if it is mastered; you can become a genius in your chosen endeavor.

Both your talents and skills will play a major and lasting role in grooming you up and fattening your career portfolio for the much needed results on your career journey.

Thus, we’ll be looking at the know-hows in discovering your talents and skills and developing them for a desired career growth.

 

First, you need to take out time for reflection. You’ll achieve this through:
• Being open minded to all possibilities. Let your mindset be flexible and not cast in a mold. Believe and be optimistic about life.

 

  • What are those things you love and enjoy doing? Itemize them and reflect on them; they reveal your talents.

 

  • How about the attributes you’re good at? As opposed to what you love doing and may not necessarily be good at; the things you’re good at can be a well of talents for you.

 

For instance, I love music and playing the piano, but I’m not really good at the piano; meanwhile I’m good in the vocal (singing) aspect of music.

 

  • Now, try to flashback on your past. There were some feats you’ve accomplished and that without stress, it can also be a way to discover your talents.

 

Moreover, there were times in your life when you succeeded so beautifully and stole the day- it could be an indication of your talents.

 

  • Ask around. Yes, inquire from family and friends; both close and otherwise about what qualities (strengths and weaknesses) they see in you. You’d be surprised that things you never knew about yourself; “hidden talents” are known to the beholders.

Leverage on the strengths and work on improving the weaknesses.

 

Next, you create time for experiencing life. These are what you can do:
• Build on your existing skills. In discovering your talents, you need to build on the basic skills you already have or learnt and fine-tuning it into becoming a talent.

 

For example; building on your designing skills and making interior designing a talent from it.

  • Try out new things. Of course you’ll never know the extent of your capabilities until you do some things you’ve never done before.

You may never know what you’re capable of until you go out of your comfort zone and think like there’s no box.

 

  • In addition, travelling to places you’ve never been to before is a great way to discovering your talents.

It creates a whole lot of new and epic experiences that can arouse the sleeping giants in you and place you on the pedestal of doing great things.

 

So after discovering your talents through these multiple channels; the next thing is to develop them into skills that will be a plus in aiding you up your career ladder. You should consider doing these:

  • Job shadowing. Doing a job shadow with other employees will help you develop and broaden your skills for your career path.
  • Attend classes or take up courses related to your field; and be diligent about it.
  • Hold sessions of book review with colleagues. This can help you gain more clarity in your career.
  • Seek and get a mentor. Learn from their experiences and grow with them.
  • Set smart goals and attach a timeline to achieving them.
  • Lastly, define and own your career path. Have a visualized end of where you want to get to and take every legitimate step to get to the peak.