Hey, what are you actually good at? Declare your talent in 8 steps.

What is my talent anyway and what am I good at? These are 2 questions that I am sure you have asked yourself from time to time. It is important to be able to put your talent into words. This will give you more chance to do the work you like, inside or outside your organization. In this blog I explain in 8 steps how to get your talent crystal clear.

What are you good at?

Often enough, perhaps too often for your liking, you get a question like this thrown at you. Very annoying, because you don’t really know much of an answer to it. Even my father of 90 dislikes this question that is even asked to him from time to time. Modern assertive man as he is he then says with a wink, “I’m very good at you-tubing” 😉

What are talents anyway?

Talent is the natural ability to do something well. It sometimes seems like you don’t have to do anything for it. Talents are traits of a person that, in the right context, can quickly lead to inspiration and good performance. Talent flourishes especially when your natural potential is combined with a sufficiently stimulating work environment.

Talents are personal

In addition, talents are traits that belong to you personally and start from the individual. Deploying them in organizations comes 2nd. With talent deployment, you increase the ability to deliver a performance that can make a difference.

Making talent clear

It is important to be able to articulate your talent well. It will give you a better chance of doing the work you enjoy. You can make it clear to your supervisor so he/she can assign you to work that you are just really good at.

Talent is something ‘you already have’ from birth

So you can actively look for work that energizes you. It’s very interesting to be able to put that talent into words. The nice thing is: you already have that talent, from birth I would almost say. Now just discover this treasure chest!

Your talent in 8 steps

‘Seeing’ your own talent; that’s tough

Honestly, it’s not easy to recognize your talent. Maybe you don’t think you have a talent at all. It can be difficult to describe your talent because it just comes with you. It’s your second nature.

What seems so easy for you is insanely difficult for the other person. I use the eight questions below a lot in my own career practice. They help you recognize your talent and put it into words.

1. What do you prefer to do?

Start by making a small list of things you love most. Look at it broadly: your work, your life, past and present. You can use the following questions to do this.

• What do you enjoy doing without anyone asking you.
• Where should we pull you off because you just can’t stop
• What fun things, that you do, make you lose track of time for a while
• If necessary, what would you do for free

The resulting list is more of your passions than your talents. Having something you enjoy gives you energy and pleasure. You can use it well to better recognize your talent.

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2. What are your interests?

Your interests are probably somewhat similar to your passions. To make some distinctions, interests are more about things like what you find important to read, watch or study. Need some help questions? You can use these:

• What topics do you read a lot about
• What do you like to watch
• What topics always catch your eye in the media
• What topics do you like to talk about

You might come to the conclusion that list 1 and 2 are somewhat similar. But maybe not. Your list of interests is mainly an enticing step to make golden combinations between your passions and your interests. It offers the opportunity to take your talent to the “next level.”

3. Your success stories

I have no special talent. I am merely curious (Einstein).

This step is a crucial step in identifying your talent. As you read this today, I want to ask you to go back in time. This may be recent but certainly also some time longer ago. As you look back like this, describe what you experienced as “success” work. For example:

• Projects that you did well and showed your passion in.
• Classes/training you liked a lot
• Basically anything that you say “I could do that really well”

Perhaps easy to just grab your Curriculum Vitae…

Create a ranking

Once you made the list, go through it. First, make a ranking. Determine the order of energy the activity gave you. The highest energy comes at the top, the least energy at the bottom of your list. The key questions are:

• What exactly was it that made it interesting to you
• What are the connecting dots you see in all these activities

4. Tests are useful to get a picture of your talent

To support your own image, it may be helpful to take a (personality) test. Simple tests can be bought on-line at a reasonable price. Just Google “free talent test”.

The tests do not directly reveal your talent, but offer you insight into yourself, how you handle things, what energizes you and what exhausts you. The outcome of the test can make it easier for you to discover your strengths. Good and in-depth tests are often part of career development.

5. Interview a friend

In discovering your talent, feedback from another person, an outsider, is extremely helpful. You can think of friends, family or an old acquaintance, for example. Anyone will do, under the condition, that this person has walked with you in your life for some time. Ask this person to help you.

An easy way to do this is to make an appointment and email the questions you have for this person ahead of time.

What kind of questions?

Well for example:

• What do you think I’m good at
• What kinds of things/activities you can wake me up for
• Which 3 words characterize me the most and why.
• If I wasn’t doing this work, what would you think would suit me very well? (and why)
• Come up with some questions of your own

A tip when you have the conversation; enter the conversation with an “open mind.” You don’t have to defend yourself, nor do you have to agree. Surprising answers are possible ☺.

6. Face your weaknesses

Just to be with your feet on the ground. Of course, you don’t have only talents. No one is perfect and acknowledging your weaknesses is important for a healthy balance. On the plus side, it helps you to perhaps show the weaknesses in your talent. Not much fun to do, but here are the questions that can help you with that:

• What really takes you (too) long?
• What do you to postpone?
• At what pursuits/activities do you feel uncomfortable?

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7. The treasure chest of your talents

All the (sometimes exciting) preparations are now done. Now it’s time to draw conclusions and see what’s in the treasure chest of your talents. Review all your notes and discover the common thread of your talent(s). Want a guide to this beautiful journey of discovery?

Here you have some suggestions:

• What patterns do you recognize from your interests, passions, successes and interviews?
• What could you combine from these sources?
• What do you dream of doing?
• Describe the talents (or the talent because it may also be 1) that emerge from your exploration.

8. Your master class is just at work.

Now that you know better what your talent is, the key is to nurture your talent. Your talent needs that to feel comfortable. Ask your supervisor for a project that directly taps into your talent. In doing so, he motivates you.

Or find/do that work within your job that stimulates your talent. Or take the plunge and look for work, which suits your talent, outside your own organization!

Bonus talent list

After these tips, do you still have some doubts about your talents? Or are you still not sure how to express your talent? What talents are there really? Then quickly download the IK overtake me talents list.

In a nutshell

So … What am I good at?

If all goes well, you can answer that question now. That’s important for taking the next step in your career. Or for simply doing what energizes you the most. Discovering your talent certainly takes some work. But it’s worth putting some effort into it because you’ve already inherited that talent from childhood.

You can therefore do better, easier things that can make your life more enjoyable. In addition, you increase your ability to work better from your passion. I actually think it’s also a sustainable thought, because you can give something important to your environment with your talent, something that you alone can do.