Uncover Hidden Talents

Purpose – Activity: Uncover hidden talents.

Talents are natural abilities that come easily to you and allow you to use your strengths. Strengths are activites that require effort and give you strength when you engage in them. Your strengths may include talents, skills you’ve learned, and personal qualities or character strengths that are important to you. When you know how you will use your talents to add value to life you have purpose. To uncover hidden talents, look for the intersection between: what you’re best at, what you love to do the most, & what the world needs most.

Ikigai is a Japanese word that roughly translates to “the reason you get up in the morning,” and describes finding this intersection. There are various ways to look for clues to purpose, but self-assessment is a good place to start. Download the self-assessment form and begin exploring!

Explore the areas listed below and list your findings on a free printable worksheet for self-assessment at the Brand and Purpose Toolkit. (or the Talent Matrix Table is a more detailed version available at the Daily PlanIt Shop, or there is a simpler version)

• INTERESTS are activities that you enjoy (Holland Codes) – tools to explore interests
• PERSONALITY traits are tendencies toward personality types (Myers-Briggs, DISC, Keirsey) – tools to explore personality
• SKILLS are learned abilities – tools to explore skills See also Skills Employers Want
• STRENGTHS are developed abilities (SWOT form at Do a SWOT Analysis) – tools to explore strengths
• TALENTS are natural abilities – tools to explore talents
• PERSONAL QUALITIES are positive character traits – tools to explore personal qualities
• VALUES are guiding principles and personal preferences (Values Worksheet) – tools to explore values

Tools To Explore Talents

Download a Free eBook on discovering what you are passionate about: How to Start a Fire | Find all the tools at List.ly | Tools to explore talents at the Daily PlanIt Wiki.

One of the best indicators of talent is the state of flow. Especially notice times when activities capture your attention so much that you lose track of time while you are focused on them.

Flow requires your sole attention. Focus requires your soul attention.

Focus your soul attention with a value statement that pinpoints what you do and why. It is sometimes called a personal mission statement or unique selling proposition. I like to call it a value statement, because it is about the value you add based on what you value.

Brian Tracy on talents:

• You love to do it.
• You do it well.
• It is responsible for most of your success and happiness.
• It was easy to learn and easy to do.
• It holds your attention.
• You love to learn about it.
• When you do it, time stands still.
• You admire and respect other people who are good at it.

When you know and use your talents, you are living on purpose, and purpose is one of the Four Ps of Positive Shift that organize the 12 practices that have been shown by positive psychology to increase happiness.

more resources

• Brand and Purpose Toolkit
• The Name Your Talent Exercise from the book “Is Your Genius at Work?” by Dick Richards.

A year of personal growth is weekly activities for 12 months – each month a focus on a different life area:

Find links at A year of personal development.

About dailyplanit

I seek to create order from the chaos of complex information. Join me at the Daily PlanIt to gain insights, inspiration, and information to increase skills for a better life. I unlock the power of teaching reading with phonics in the pursuit of literacy at www.phonicspow.com. In my spare time I explore books and movies, often choosing titles available on both screen and page.