What Am I Good At? 9 Powerful Ways to Find Out – SoulSalt
Feeling stuck?
Maybe you’re realizing your work isn’t fulfilling and considering a career change. Or maybe you feel that you simply aren’t doing enough of what you love on a daily basis. Your job might be paying the bills and you might be good at it, but the strengths and skills it requires are leaving you unsatisfied and drained.
This is a difficult position to be in – because being good at something doesn’t mean you should keep doing it.
But finding what you’re good at is more than just honing in on your strengths and weaknesses – it’s about discovering and nurturing the unique superpowers that light up your soul and make you who you are.
Not sure what your superpowers are yet? That’s okay – I’ll guide you through the process of discovering them below.
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The Significance of Your Superpowers
We all have many superpowers within us. You may already have an inkling about what some of these strengths are, or you could be completely in the dark.
Regardless, it’s crucial to discover and understand your superpowers.
Doing things that we’re good at and enjoy are two of the most essential ingredients to a happy life, and it’s easy to see why.
Better Work-Life Balance
When our tasks feel effortless and enjoyable, we’re more efficient, satisfied, and productive. The result is enhanced job satisfaction and a better work-life balance.
But maximizing our superpowers is quite difficult to do. A report from Gallup shows that job unhappiness is at an all-time high, indicating most of us aren’t leaning into our superpowers enough.
When you think that we spend over 92,000 hours at work throughout our careers, you see just how significant nourishing our superpowers become. If we want to live healthy, meaningful, balanced lives, finding what we’re good at isn’t just a nice to have – it’s imperative.
Beware Your Pseudo-Strengths
I’m going to let you in on a secret that could change your life – just because you’re “technically” good at something doesn’t mean you have to make it the focus of your career.
Every one of us has at least a couple of pseudo-strengths.
What Are Pseudo-Strengths
From the outside in, these strengths look like genuine superpowers. However, performing these tasks actually saps our energy, leaving us feeling dissatisfied and drained.
By contrast, when we tap into our authentic superpowers, we’re able to move from a place of enthusiasm and joy, meaning performing tasks tends to come easily.
Find Your Superpowers
As we’ve already noted, your superpowers need to be something you’re good at and something you enjoy doing – but that’s not all.
The Japanese concept of Ikigai – a reason for being – posits that unleashing your superpowers comes from the sweet spot of four strategies:
- Do what you love
- Do what the world needs
- Do what you can be paid for
- Do what you’re good at
How to Use Ikigai
With Ikigai in mind, we can see that discovering our superpowers is about using the skills that bring us innate joy in service of others while also, of course, looking after our own hierarchy of needs.
I want to emphasize that the work we do when using our superpowers won’t always be a walk in the park. Life is inherently full of challenges, but leaning into your superpowers will empower you to navigate hurdles with grace, courage, and purpose.
So, with all that in mind, go beyond asking yourself: “What am I good at?” and also ask: “Which of these skills are worth nurturing?”
Manage Your Weaknesses
At the same time you’re finding your superpowers, remember to become aware of your weaknesses.
What Are Your Weaknesses?
These are tasks that you find endlessly difficult and downright drain your energy. Understanding and managing these weaknesses is vital to feeding your superpowers.
With SoulSalt, for example, I’ve managed my weakness by hiring my longtime friend and colleague, Shannon, to lead operations and administration.
Scheduling is one of my Achilles’ heels and one of her superpowers – she is truly amazing at it. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why SoulSalt has survived and has thrived over the years despite periods of global uncertainty.
How to Find What You’re Good At: Understanding What Might Superpowers Look Like
Everyone’s superpowers are slightly unique, depending on their experiences, values, and goals.
Saying this, in my experience of coaching hundreds of individuals to take control of their lives, I’ve seen a few significant superpowers that crop up time and time again, including:
Creativity
Be it a panache for painting or rapid-fire idea generation, creativity is a beautiful superpower that fuels innovation, growth, and art.
Leadership
The desire to drive change, motivate people, and take on responsibility are typical qualities in those that have leadership as a superpower. While developing this skill takes courage and vulnerability, the positive impact you can have makes the challenge well worth it.
Empathy
Do you often just ‘get’ how other people feel? If so, you may be an empath, someone who intuitively understands the inner worlds and emotions of others, with the beautiful ability to make people feel seen, heard, and understood.
Analytical Thinking
In today’s fast-paced world, thinking analytically and solving problems logically is a tremendous capability. If you find that you enjoy absorbing information and fine-tuning concepts in your mind, this may be one of your superpowers.
Organization
Our world would descend into chaos without structure, rules, and organization. Thankfully, many of us have the innate superpower of organization – an uncanny ability to create and refine systems that maximize efficiency.
Learning to Define The Things You’re Good At
In this section, I’ll give you some must-know tips and tricks to uncover things you can be good at.
1. Notice and Combat Your Inner Critic
Limiting Beliefs
Make a vow to work on your limiting self-beliefs. Try things like talking to yourself like you would a close friend, fostering a growth mindset, and manifesting positive outcomes.
If you find that you still struggle to get out of your head, it could be helpful to talk with an experienced professional like a coach or therapist, who can help you to break the habit of negative self-talk.
Remember, learning to control your thoughts takes time, practice, and effort, but it really is crucial if you want to unleash your superpowers.
2. Do Something That Scares You
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
Nelson Mandela
If you’re not sure what your superpowers are, it may be that you haven’t had a chance to put them to good use yet! With that in mind, I challenge you to regularly try out something that scares you.
Yes, exiting your comfort zone feels unpleasant, but it’s also a surefire way to help you grow, learn new things and hone in on your superpowers.
Try small things like asking your boss for constructive feedback or performing at an open mic. Go in the direction of whatever stirs your soul and scares you simultaneously.
3. Reflect On Past Experiences
Our past experiences are a treasure trove of lessons that provide hints to our superpowers.
Cast your mind back to a time in your life when you felt really proud of yourself.
Highlight Your Best Moments
- What did you achieve?
- What skills did you use?
- What about the situation made you feel fulfilled?
Looking back on positive memories and asking these questions can help you to pinpoint some of your unique superpowers.
For each memory, you could even write the skill you’ve identified down and create a word cloud. I’ll bet certain skills come up time and time again, meaning they’re definitely important superpowers!
4. Embrace Enjoyment
A lot of us know what we’re good at – but we take these things for granted.
Let’s say you’re really good at planning dinner parties and love organizing events for your children’s school.
From those nuggets of information, I’d hazard a guess that you’re terrific at event planning and building relationships. Often, we’re aware of our superpowers – we’re just too humble to realize how truly super they are!
With that in mind, review the things you enjoy doing and also do frequently, then ask: “what underlying superpowers could I attribute to these activities?”
5. Unlock the Power of Vulnerability
Another way to shine a light on your strengths is to ask your friends and family what they think you’re good at.
Lower Your Guard
It can be scary to be vulnerable and let your guard down. But time and time again, my clients who’ve had these conversations with their loved ones have found the dialogue incredibly nourishing and rewarding.
Not only have they received wonderful compliments and learned more about themselves, but these deeper questions also opened the door for more intimate, soul-quenching conversations and authentic relationships.
6. Become an Explorer
There are tens of online assessments out there designed to help you get to know yourself better. The DISC assessment, Myerrs Briggs Personality test, and our Core Value quiz are great places to start.
At the end of these tests, you’ll receive a host of insights explaining what your answers show about your personality preferences, alongside strengths and weaknesses.
At a high level, they can be valuable for helping you define your superpowers in more detail. However, don’t treat the results of these tests as set in stone. Instead, take the insights that resonate most with you, and stay on the lookout for new discoveries.
7. What Warms Your Heart?
As Frederick Buechner famously wrote, your superpowers lie in “the place where your deepest joy meets the world’s deepest need.”
Do Good And Feel Good
When did you last do something that made your heart warm with compassion and purpose?
It could’ve been something like helping an older person cross the street or being there for a friend when they needed it most. Whatever lit up your soul, chances are you were using a unique superpower at the time without even realizing it.
8. Become a Student of Life
I’m a big advocate of nurturing a growth mindset; the belief that we, as people, have limitless potential and, in turn, limitless superpowers.
To that end, finding out what we’re good at is about much more than sticking to what we were good at while at school – it’s about broadening our horizons, learning new skills, and expanding our superpowers over time.
By pursuing further education opportunities, we open ourselves up to new possibilities. Be it reading a personal development book, taking an online course, or attending a SoulSalt bootcamp, commit to being a lifelong student and discovering new superpowers as you go.
9. Stay True to Your Values
Our core values are the needles of our soul compasses. They illuminate the road toward a rich and meaningful life. While our core values aren’t superpowers in themselves, they can help orient our lives in the right direction.
Once you’ve identified the values and beliefs that resonate most with you, you can begin to think about potential superpowers that match. Often, our values naturally feed into our strengths.
For example, if someone closely values altruism and humanity, they will likely excel at empathy and compassion. Similarly, say you prize endurance and invention, I’ll bet you’re a fearless, original thinker.
Bringing Out Your Best: Honing Your Strengths
Once you’ve identified your superpowers, it’s time to put them into action. Just as your physical muscles only grow if you train them regularly, you’ll need to regularly use your superpowers to strengthen and develop them.
Some people are lucky enough to be able to use their superpowers in their day-to-day jobs, while others engage in side hustles and part-time passions to let their strengths shine.
No matter your circumstances, infusing your superpowers into your daily life is vital. By finding what you’re good at and using these talents to make the world a better place, you’ll start to live a life full of wonder, meaning, and purpose.
Need more support in uncovering your superpowers? In my new book, I’ll guide you through the powerful process of identifying your superpowers and showing you exactly how to implement them in your life.
Get your copy here.
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