They say the future belongs to talented people. This means that everyone should strive to find and realize their talent. But not everyone understands how to do this. Therefore, today we will talk in detail about what talents are, what they are and what they depend on, as well as find out how to find and reveal your own.
What is talent?
Talent is an individual’s innate predisposition to a certain type of activity. The main property of talent is that it is given to a person from birth, and it cannot be developed or created artificially. Therefore, it is often called a gift or giftedness. Talent itself is not an ability. This is only a person’s potential for self-realization , helping him to achieve success with a successful choice of the type of activity.
Talent should not be confused with genius, as it only manifests itself in one area of activity. If a person demonstrates outstanding giftedness in several unrelated areas, they are considered genius. But this is very rare.
Talent implies not only a predisposition, but also an unconscious craving for a certain type of activity. And if a child shows an increased interest in nature and devotes his free time to studying the world around him, it is likely that in the future he will become an outstanding biologist. Likewise, in early childhood, cravings for music, painting, dancing, or other activities may appear.
It is important to understand that talent alone does not guarantee success for someone who is not willing to work hard . To realize a natural gift, you need to work, train and gain experience – this is the only way to become truly successful. That is why talent is often compared to a diamond that looks ordinary in itself, but after careful cutting turns into a precious diamond.
Where does the talent come from?
One of the main features of human nature is that each of us is a unique person. Everything in a person is unique: body, brain, nervous system, metabolism, temperament, character, and so on. The predisposition to a certain type of activity can depend on several elements or even on one. For example, a musician needs a good ear, and a singer needs not only hearing, but also a strong, beautiful voice.
Two elements form the basis of talent:
- successful anatomical structure of a certain organ (for example, vocal cords);
- anatomical and physiological features of the nervous system (for example, absolute pitch or innate empathy).
Anatomical and physiological features of the nervous system are called inclinations. These are genetically predetermined factors that determine the rate of formation of neural connections in the brain and spinal cord, as well as the anatomical features of the structure of analyzers and some areas of the cerebral cortex. The makings are potential talents that are laid in the early stages of embryonic development.
In this case, the same inclinations can be realized in different ways. For example, if a person has innate perfect pitch and strong vocal cords, they can become a successful singer. And another one with the same good ear, but without a voice, will become a composer. It turns out that initially the same inclinations are realized in the form of two different talents.
Depending on how well the various inclinations coincided, there are 3 levels of development of natural abilities:
- Giftedness. This is the first degree, which often manifests itself in children, but does not always give enough prerequisites for success in a certain field of activity.
- Talent. The second degree of development of natural abilities implies that a person has all the necessary inclinations in order to succeed.
- Genius. Genius is usually called an exceptional talent that allows you to become not just successful, but outstanding or even the greatest in the world. Also, geniuses are often called people who demonstrate exceptional talents in several areas of activity at once.
Let’s analyze the difference using the example of musical ability. Giftedness implies good ear, but it is not enough for serious success in music. Perfect pitch is already a rare talent (about 1 in 10 thousand people) and a serious prerequisite for a musical career. Genius means exceptional ability. For example, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is considered a genius composer. Obviously, absolute hearing alone is not enough for such a recognition.
Examples and types of talents
One of the most famous researchers of talent is the American psychologist Howard Gardner, the author of the theory of multiple intelligences. Within the framework of this theory, he proposed to consider various types of intelligence as separate cognitive abilities. In addition, he drew attention to the fact that with all the diversity of talents, they can be grouped according to a similar principle in 7 categories. Later, Gardner’s classification was slightly modified, and today there are 8 types of talent. Let’s consider each of these types separately and give examples for each of them:
- Digital. Talents of this type are characteristic of people with well-developed abstract thinking. Their owners find their vocation in such areas as mathematics and other exact sciences, economics, software development and other areas that require a logical and mathematical mindset.
- Verbal. This type of talent implies the ability to clearly, competently and beautifully formulate thoughts, therefore it is usually found among lawyers, journalists and writers.
- Auditory (musical). This type is associated with the ability to perceive by ear, clearly distinguish and memorize various sounds. It is found among musicians, sound engineers, linguists and other people whose work is somehow related to the perception of sounds.
- Spatial. This type includes talents associated with the ability to represent the position of objects in space, to understand the ratio of their shapes and sizes. They are inherent in artists, architects, constructors and designers.
- Physical. This type of talents is associated with body-kinesthetic intelligence. It implies a good understanding of one’s position in space, therefore it is often found among athletes and dancers.
- Intrapersonal. This type is associated with emotional intelligence, namely, with the ability to understand your own emotions and control them. Usually it is not directly related to the profession, but it implies that a person devotes a lot of time to introspection and does a good job with it. People gifted with this type of talent show a high level of understanding in philosophy, predisposition to yoga and various spiritual practices.
- Interpersonal. This type of talent is also associated with emotional intelligence, but is aimed at other people. As a rule, its owners are sociable people with well-developed empathy who are able to find a common language with anyone. Interpersonal talents are characteristic of actors, psychologists, politicians and others whose work involves communication or public speaking.
- Environment talents. This category is related to understanding flora and fauna. Those with such talents become good trainers and veterinarians, often working in agriculture.
What hinders the disclosure of talent?
Almost every person has some kind of talents, but most do not even know about this and do not try to find their calling. There are several reasons for this, such as:
- Laziness. You can talk a lot about whether laziness exists and what its nature is, but the fact is the fact: most people are simply lazy to look for their calling. They dream, make plans for the future, and become increasingly procrastinated, trying not to think about the years left behind.
- Submission to external conditions. Not everyone can boast that they have chosen their profession. Often this choice is made by parents, explaining to the child that he should think about his future well-being. And with this attitude, many people live their whole lives, choosing not what they want, but what will bring great dividends in the future.
- Lack of variety. Often people do not find their calling just because they do not even know about the existence of a profession in which their innate abilities could maximize themselves.
- Lack of courage. Sometimes a person realizes that his calling has nothing to do with the current profession. But he is afraid to give up everything and start building a new career from scratch. Meanwhile, many famous people have achieved success only due to the fact that they once took a risk and completely changed their field of activity. For example, Anton Chekhov is considered one of the greatest playwrights in world literature. But would we have known this surname today if he had not dared to quit his career as a doctor in due time?
- Habit. We are made in such a way that we get used to everything: to our profession, to the people around us, to the conditions of our life, to mediocrity, everyday routine and lack of variety. And the habit prevents us from leaving our comfort zone, because we are unconsciously afraid that changing one small detail will have to change everything else.
Of course, there are other reasons, but these are the most obvious and occur most often. Even if you do not set yourself the task of finding your calling, it is still worth going through this list and dealing with the listed obstacles – life will only get better from this.
How to find and discover your talent?
Every person has their own talent, but the majority cannot even find it, let alone realize it. Let’s figure out how to consistently solve these problems. First, let’s take a look at the steps you need to take to determine your talent:
- Get rid of obstacles. In the previous section, we identified the main obstacles that prevent people from finding their calling. Obviously, the very first step is to get rid of these obstacles.
- Believe in yourself. While this advice sounds like a cliché, it needs to be done. You need to increase your self-esteem and get rid of doubts in the spirit of “What if I have no talents?” Everyone has their own talent.
- Remember childhood. Many interesting things can be found among childhood memories. Something you enjoyed as a child or adolescent may well give you a helpful hint. And in general, it is useful to look at your life with the look of a carefree child, whose head is not crammed with an adult routine.
- Try new things. It’s hard to find your talent if you don’t constantly experiment with something new. Fortunately, today it is easier to do this than ever before, because the Internet is full of tips and other useful information.
- Look at the parents. Parental talents are often passed on to children. At the same time, parents may well know about their abilities. Perhaps in childhood they drew, played music or went to a modeling club, but then they had to give up their hobby.
- Analyze your shortcomings. Very often problematic aspects of character contain hints of giftedness. For example, excessive perfectionism can seriously interfere with your work. And yet there are activities in which he helps to achieve perfection.
- Pay attention to your interests. It happens that a person is interested in a certain topic, watches videos and enthusiastically reads blogs, but does not even think that he himself could be engaged in this activity. And it may well turn out that this is where talent is hidden.
Of course, just finding your talent is not enough. To be able to realize it, you need to work hard, constantly improving your professional level and expanding your knowledge. You also need to remember and follow a few simple rules, which are often forgotten:
- never doubt yourself;
- do not be afraid to leave your comfort zone;
- constantly learn and develop in the chosen field;
- study information on related topics;
- surround yourself with people who have a lot to learn;
- value competitors who motivate development;
- don’t be afraid to make mistakes and learn to appreciate them.
In addition, it should be borne in mind that talent is fully revealed only when a person realizes that he benefits other people with his help. For our brain, this is an important signal that gives a sense of satisfaction. This allows talent to develop faster and better, allowing the person to reach their potential and protecting them from the burnout that can occur if the job is no longer fun.
