How Do You Find Out What You Are Good At?

We are expected to know these things and plan ahead. School pressures us into choosing courses in a matter of days. Because of all the choices we have today our lives have become more and more uncertain. I have absolutely no plans for the coming months and years whereas if I lived hundreds of years ago I would have been preparing myself for the family trade.

Only recently have I found out what I am good at. My greatest skill is finding patterns and solving problems. This makes it simple for me to learn technical things because they all follow set patterns. Unfortunately this skill is the only one I really have. I do not have very good social skills, my body is weak, and my will often succumbs to the path of least resistance instead of the path of greatest good.

Finding what you are good at is hard. Skills and talent turns up in many places. Think of what you do on a daily basis and try to find out what parts of your mind and body you use. If you play a lot of video games then you may have many talents and skills. Strategy games need quick thinking and planning, shooters need good reflexes and coordination, and online games need teamwork. The idea of my best skill just came to me out of the blue. I was thinking of random things then I suddenly realized what I was good at. That only happened two months ago, meaning I didn't know what it was for almost 17 years.

I do believe that learning and education can help people out both at work and in their daily lives. But education does not necessarily mean public schools or college. Learning is something that happens all throughout life and is not always dependent on books or even teachers. Certain skills need to be taught and demonstrated but not all of them. My grandfather left school when he was 13 but he served in the British Navy and had jobs in public works (engineering) for most of his life.

Here is what I recommend you do: stop worrying. Some things just take time. Don't stress yourself thinking about the future. Try your best to find what you are good at. There really isn't much else to say. It's just one of those things that only you can do. We can travel along as companions but we cannot force you to follow the path. - Kirby