DISCOVERING YOUR TALENTS

TALENTS
Mensa Otabil defines talent as resource that is invested into our lives for the purpose of yielding profit. Talents are your natural abilities which you were born with. It is inborn and everyone-yes! Everyone have some talents. These talents are there to be discovered, developed and deployed.
Identifying your talents could be a little tricky but all it takes is for you to watch yourself and be very honest with yourself. The steps below can help you discover those hidden treasures God has deposited in you from your mother’s womb. Remember, be open minded. Don’t read the steps with the aim of confirming what you wish is your talent. Rather follow the step, imagine yourself been spread out on a tray and trying to figure out the real thing inside of you. Be objective-it’s your life we are talking about here.


DISCOVERING YOUR TALENTS
Step 1. Find time and think of what you love and enjoy doing and can do very well. What do you love to do even before you are ask to do it? What do you seem to be naturally good at doing? Something you do so easily you wonder why it’s difficult for others to do? What is it that when about to start or when it’s time to do it you jump on it and once you have started you don’t stop, in fact they would have to literally drag you away from it? What is it that even when they say ‘I no send you’, yet you go ahead and do it because you really enjoy doing it? If you find it-that may just be what we are looking for-your talent.
Note: this does not include the kind of ungodly pleasure you derive when doing the wrong things. It has to be something profiting to you and those around you positively.
Step 2. Explore and explore more! Find a place or environment where you are free to express yourself without the fear of been ‘wrong’ or ‘criticized’ or ‘teased’ and try different things. This is because you cannot know if you enjoy writing until you try it. You cannot know how much you would enjoy dancing until you try. Explore! Try things you think you won’t like, try the ones you have not tried before. It could be with friends you are very free with or you alone. Try dancing before a mirror, try rearing animals, try drawing, picture yourself before a crowd and teach them, or motivate them, or act drama for them. Try running, try playing tennis, football, handball, try cooking, try baking, try doing M.C.- just explore! You may not know which one would really lighten you up. If you love it, enjoy it and it came easy-watch it! That may it.
Step 3. Interest and attention. Remember I said watch yourself and be honest. So to discover your talent you have to note what catches your attention? What arouse your interest? What kind of people do catch your fancy naturally? Do you love the blue collar or white collar people? What kind of books do you prefer to read? As you flip through the magazines which one do you really feel attracted to? What subjects do you love talking about, especially the one that your friends would shout on to you to shoot up! Yet you are not done and would love to continue talking? What makes you very excited that you feel like carrying out of your love/excitement for it? What makes you scream-wow! Even when others don’t see anything in it? What is it that you can’t wait to finish what you are doing and start doing? That may be it!
Step 4. Ask questions. Ask questions from anyone willing to tell you. Ask your friends one on one. This is because they see you when you lighten up and get excited about some things, when they find some things difficult they bring it to you because you can do it. So ask. Then compile the answers you get from them and compare them. The answer you get are also reliable in discovery of talent. Most times there are a lot of things people see in us that we ourselves never took note of. But that does not mean everything they say is correct, rather they are just pointers. Compile, compare and correctly convince yourself.
Step 5. Also what people say or always comment about you is quite helpful. You don’t have to be seriously doing what you are doing; sometimes you may just be doing what you are doing even absent mindedly and not caring about what you do. But while doing it, someone would so love what you are doing that they may keep watching the way you are doing it. Some would just come tell you that they appreciate the way you do it. Some people may have been watching you for a while before they tell you. To you, you were just doing a normal thing-but to others it’s amazing. Some may even call you and give you ideas on how to develop it. You may probably be thinking every other person does it naturally too but you don’t know it’s always looking different to them when you do it- start to watch it!
Step 6. Help others discover themselves by telling them what you perceive is their talent. Yours may just be there waiting to open as you help someone else. Just like yourself, you may be sure of how talented your friend is in a particular thing and your friend may not have discovered it yet. Help your friend yours may be uncovered in the process.
Step 7. Be bold and have the guts to try. Most people don’t try because they don’t want to be wrong. They don’t want to fail. But, how would you know if you will pass if you don’t try. If you feel like singing-sing. If you feel like dancing-just dance. If you enjoy doing it then do it again and again. Talent is always first a raw material, you won’t get all the joy in one day, but that little you did will lighten you up. Also note what you are not so good at doing or you struggle to do. At least that will make you stop looking that way and also help you look in the opposite direction where your talent would be. Be bold enough.
In conclusion, if you find it, practice it more often. Even if you find out that the excitement dies off after some time. It will eventually pave way for the real ones.
VERY IMPORTANT
It must not be only one, you may and should discover more than one because you could be multi-talented however you would also have a major.
Don’t be afraid or ashamed to admit you were wrong if you find out you were wrong. Follow the steps again and don’t stop till you get what you want-Thank God we are still young!