Sometimes it’s tough to figure out your true calling in life. You might end up asking yourself, “What am I really good at? Do I have any skills worth honing?” The answer is: you absolutely do! Although nothing may be coming to mind right now, we’re here to help shine a light on your best and most impressive talents. Answer a few questions about your likes, dislikes, favorite hobbies, and personal style—and we’ll tell you which skills you’re really good at.
Discovering your talents and strengths is an important part of career and personal development. But with so many potential skills and aptitudes, how do you identify what you’re truly good at? It can take some trial and error. However, using self-assessment, getting objective feedback and experimenting with new pursuits can reveal your innate abilities. Follow these key steps to find what you excel at.
Take Stock of Your Existing Skills
Start by taking an inventory of what you’re already skilled at based on your work experience, education, hobbies and daily life.
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Look back at your career and academic accomplishments. What assignments, roles and projects brought out your best work? What did you pick up quickly or do better than your peers? These are clues to natural talents.
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Consider what you do regularly in your personal life that comes easily. Cooking, DIY fixes, sports or artistic pursuits like photography may indicate abilities you can further develop.
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Identify soft skills like communication, empathy, creativity and persuasion that help you thrive in relationships and leadership. These transferable strengths are just as valuable.
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Review past feedback from managers, teachers and mentors praising your performance. Their outside perspective can reveal aptitudes you take for granted.
Try New Things Outside Your Comfort Zone
Stepping outside your comfort zone exposes you to activities that may draw on untapped talents
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Take a class like pottery, improv or web design that lets you experiment with different creative outlets and potential skills.
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Volunteer for an organization aligned with a cause you care about. It allows you to test roles like fundraising, event planning and community outreach.
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Learn a new skill like photography, a musical instrument or dance style unrelated to your occupation. A hobby can uncover a hidden passion.
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Join a recreational sports team, outdoor club or gaming group to socialize with new people and try different team dynamics.
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Travel somewhere completely unfamiliar and say “yes” to new foods, sights and experiences. Novelty stimulates discovery.
Request Feedback from Others
People close to you often recognize talents and potential within you that you’re too modest or unsure to acknowledge yourself.
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Ask friends what skills they regularly see you demonstrate. The outside opinion of someone who knows you well holds value.
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Tell colleagues you’re exploring your abilities and would appreciate their observations of your workplace strengths after collaborating together.
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Request your manager’s insight into how your natural abilities best support the team or where you particularly excel compared to your peers.
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Share your self-assessment results with family to get their take and see if they validate your perceived strengths or suggest additional ones.
Take Online Assessment Tests
Standardized evaluations designed by psychologists and career experts can objectively measure your aptitudes, personality traits, interests and soft skills.
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Ability tests likespatial, verbal, mathematical and reasoning assessments gauge your inherent capacities in different areas.
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Personality questionnaires analyze behavioral traits, work styles and motivations that shape your potential strengths.
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Interest surveys map your passions onto compatible careers and talent areas that provide fulfillment.
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Emotional intelligence quizzes quantify soft skills like self-awareness, empathy and relationship abilities critical for many roles.
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Skills assessments catalogue your expertise level across a wide range of domains from technical to creative.
Pay Attention to Activities You Enjoy
We gravitate toward using our strongest abilities. What you choose to do in your free time and truly look forward to often provides clues to your talents.
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Make note when a particular hobby or task puts you in a state of flow. Activities requiring full focus on a challenge can indicate aptitude.
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Reflect on what energizes you and what feels draining. We have the most stamina applying our innate skills and talents.
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Identify areas where you’re eager to keep improving. Wanting to master something signals an ability.
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Consider which learning activities excite you most like pursuing certifications, training and mentoring others. Teaching is the best test of mastery.
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Look for common threads between your career and recreational passions. This crossover highlights significant natural abilities.
Analyze Common Themes and Patterns
Stepping back to look at reoccurring evidence across your experiences provides perspective on consistent strengths.
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Look for skills that repeatedly got you praised, promoted or selected throughout your education and career. Consistent recognition points to talent.
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Identify what activities consistently recharge and energize you. Innate abilities don’t drain you when applied.
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Note what tasks people routinely come to you for help with. Your expertise stands out when others depend on it.
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Consider when you feel proudest of your work. Long term fulfillment signifies talent.
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Determine if any descriptors like “creative,” “analytical” or “strategic” are frequently applied to you. Patterns reveal perceived strengths.
Remain Open and Keep Exploring
Finding your talents is an ongoing journey as your interests grow and evolve over time. Allow yourself to continually explore and expand your abilities.
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Stay receptive to discovering new strengths as your circumstances and perspective changes rather than limiting your identity.
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Keep tabs on what activities consistently motivate and satisfy you at different stages of your life. Your talents may shift.
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Don’t get discouraged if certain pursuits don’t click right away. Some abilities require patience and practice to develop.
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Pay attention if friends or colleagues notice emerging talents you haven’t identified yet in yourself.
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Regularly reassess your skills as you take on new roles and challenges. Abilities can flourish when tested.
Discovering your natural talents and strengths allows you to focus your energy where you can truly excel and find fulfillment. But properly identifying these innate skills requires honest self-reflection, risk-taking and actively listening to feedback from those around you. While it takes effort to unpack what you’re good at, the self-insight you gain creates confidence and purpose. Put these steps into action to map out the abilities within yourself that can be cultivated to their greatest potential.
Questions Overview
- I’m a chill person, even under pressure.
- I get very anxious under pressure.
- I rely on rationality and logic to work through the pressure.
- I excel under pressure.
- Stretch and go for a quick jog if I have time.
- Make breakfast and do something relaxing, like listening to music.
- Check the news (and my personal emails).
- Say good morning and check in with everyone at home.
- Doing an extreme workout.
- Starting a new painting project.
- Journaling my thoughts and experiences.
- Planning an elaborate dinner menu and making it.
- I use my problem-solving skills to give them practical advice.
- I help them study and impart my knowledge!
- I take care of them when they’re not feeling well.
- I’m always ready to do them a favor—whatever they need!
- Outdoors! I was born to explore.
- Home. All of my hobbies (like drawing and playing games) are indoor activities.
- Home. I have so much reading to catch up on!
- I’ll go outside if it means socializing with other people.
- Action
- Fantasy/sci-fi
- Documentary
- Historical or biopic
- Strength
- Originality
- Knowledge
- Compassion
- A new pair of sneakers.
- A good book or music record.
- An online course I’m interested in.
- A donation to charity.
- Coming up with an idea and bringing it to life.
- Solving a difficult mathematical problem.
- Running cool science experiments.
- Meeting new people and getting to know them.
- A shiny trophy!
- A dedicated fan following on social media.
- A promotion for my knowledge and competence.
- An honorary diploma from a prestigious university.
- Energetic
- Imaginative
- Intellectual
- Socially conscious
- Admire me.
- Remember my work.
- Learn from me.
- Follow my lead.
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How To Find Your Passion – 11 Abilities (Which one is for you?)
How do you know if you are good at work?
One thing you can do to find out what you are good at is to go through some old work evaluations if you have them. If your boss or manager reviews your performance, you can take a look at this to see what skills they’ve highlighted. They might have written notes like ‘great communication skills’ or ‘brilliant at leading the team.’
How do you find what you’re good at?
Here are a few tips about finding what you’re good at: Don’t rush yourself: When you’re trying to identify your strengths and talents, don’t feel you must rush the process. Take your time to enjoy each day and give yourself time to prioritize other matters as you continue along your journey of self-discovery.
Do you know what you’re good at?
Although some people’s strengths are obvious, many don’t know what they’re good at and may even believe they aren’t good at anything. However, everyone has talents and strengths. Talents are innate qualities you are born with, like the ability to sing on key or learn languages quickly.
How do you know if you are good at something?
Talking to family members, colleagues, or friends is another way to identify things you are good at. People who you spend a significant amount of time with may have noticed certain traits or capabilities that remain hidden from you.
