Top 7 Ways to Identify Your Hidden Talents to Survive in A Deadly Swamp of Technological Society
Debodh Kumar 
It is said that life was easy before Newton discovered gravity, Democritus formulated atomic theory, and Brahmagupta defined the number “Zero” and its operation. People were living a standard life without the existence of technology around them.
But years after these revolutionary human beings were born on planet earth, what we are experiencing today is all because of them whether it might be taking shelter under a concrete roof instead of a cave, recovering faster with the help of medical science, talking to someone who is miles away, and much more.
The technology changed the shape of the land with skyscrapers, made it possible for humans to land on the moon, reduced traveling time, et cetera. But there is one thing that these technological innovations couldn’t change, and that is, number of hours in a day. Whether it might be medieval or modern times, a day has always comprised of 24 hours.
In these 24 hours, a person has to do his/her job, take care of his/her family, maintain his/her physique by doing exercise or yoga, and get some rest/sleep. Now, a question arises how much and for how long a person has to run to catch up with this accelerated ongoing world and when he/she will get time to catch a breath because no matter if the pace of the changing world will keep on increasing, a day will always last for 24 hours.
With the rise in population and evolving technology, we all have been lost in the labyrinth of the fast-changing world where life is a race and we are sinking ourselves into this deadly swamp as we are out of choices because this is how the world runs. Else, we can say that we are trapped in a vicious cycle of technological innovations that it is merely impossible to get out of it.
Who could have thought that one day the human race will become a slave to its own beautiful creation? Like computers were invented to automate mathematical calculations that people previously completed, but now the world’s entire business is computer dependent. Unfortunately, we have to rely on technology half-heartedly for our survival.
That is why, the moment a child is born parents starts planning for their child’s future and nowadays, parents have even started searching for hidden talents in their child as it is believed that talent will give an extra edge to their child and will also help in distinguishing easily from normal children when it comes to competing among each other. Many people have high chances of getting selected for a job or excelling in personal or occupational tasks based on talent. From this we can infer the importance of talent in one’s life and without talent, a person has to strive really hard in this evolving world.
After noticing the word “Talent” a couple of times, it surely rings a bell that we generally use this word in our day-to-day life. But are we familiar with its definition or the origin of this word? Because this word may sound normal but it consists of different meanings and its meaning kept on changing with time. There is a history behind the word talent that will be an astounding fact for you.
The History of the Word – Talent
The word talent is of Latin origin meaning to balance, scale, and sum. Many of you may not know but in Greek and Roman times, talent was considered as a commercial weight and it was one of several ancient units of mass. In ancient times, the value of talent and its weight were always equivalent to naturally occurring precious metals, that is, silver and gold. The reason for comparing talent with gold could be because gold was one of the finest metals that don’t corrode and was a universal symbol of immortality and power.
What is Talent?
As mentioned earlier, this word may sound normal but it has different meanings. According to Roman and Greek times, it is defined as – “an ancient unit of weight”, whereas, it is also used as a humorous slang in the United Kingdom meaning – “people who are sexually attractive”, and it is also defined as – “a natural skill or ability” for which it is widely used in the world.
Still, finding a clear definition is challenging sometimes. Some will argue that it is genetics, others will say it is learned, and most will settle with a little bit of both. But I have created my own definition of “Talent” from my own life experiences and for me, it means – “A person with a special element that leaves other people flabbergasted because of their inability to do something with the management of time or lack of that special element.”
Why There is A Need for Talent?
Whenever you are stuck somewhere, make the word “Why” your best friend because once you start asking why to everything, it will be your first step towards success. Earlier we discussed that people have now become slaves to technology and we are dependent on it for our survival. But how can we lift ourselves from the crowd which lies on the same platform to become the finest slave that would increase the chances of our survival? Because many believe that a person with talent gets a higher position everywhere, whether it might be in the corporate world or an educational institution.
Talent is what separates us from being normal. Some carry talent genetically and others have to strive hard to develop or discover it. Sometimes, discovering your hidden talent might demand you to make strenuous efforts. The thought of putting high effort is what stopping people to discover their hidden talent sometimes but they don’t know, once you are determined to search for your hidden talent then it won’t be a difficult task, although if it is meant for survival.
Therefore, I have searched a lot and have listed several ways that I believe are simple to discover your hidden talent. That is why it is requested to go through this list at least once because you don’t know which point might change your entire life. Still, if your unsettled mind is clouded with numerous questions, you are free to drop them in the comment section.
7 Easy Ways to Discover Your Hidden Talent
- List Your Strengths and Weaknesses
No one indeed knows you better than yourself. For that to happen, an individual must give time to and start talking to oneself. Once you start doing this, you can easily list all your strengths and weaknesses without asking anyone to help you out. It is always better to pen them down because you can go through all the points anytime and this is what you need to do moving forward.
Create a habit of going through all your weak points every day you wake up in the morning before going to your office or institution. Dip yourself into a pool of deep thoughts and think upon those points for at least 5-10 minutes that how you are going to abstain from committing the same mistakes today.
Once the list of weaknesses starts diminishing, a time will come in your life when you will start witnessing your hidden talents and easily identify your gifts. Do remember that patience always pays off.
- Take A Personality Test
Self-assessment is really important to discover who we are and what are our limitations. We go through a lot in a day but do not take out time for self-discovery. What is the point of living a life if you are unaware of your capabilities and true nature? Nothing can be better than talking and discussing with oneself for self-analysis.
Still, many people are not good at communicating neither with other people nor with themselves, that is why there are plenty of personality tests that you can find online to get an idea of your true personality. You can refer to Carl Jung’s personality type theory that helps you to dive into your mind and bring out the hidden version of you.
- Do Some Introspection
We live in a technologically advanced environment in which we are surrounded by advanced gadgets and unfortunately have forgotten that our mind and soul need attention. Out of our busy lives, we have failed numerous times to look within ourselves. Just be frank to yourself and ask, when was the last time you went outside without your smartphone or didn’t pull out from your pocket until necessary.
It is not that difficult to communicate with your mind, asking yourself questions, or indulging in retrospection and figuring out past mistakes. Once you get used to self-caring, then you can easily discover what you are good at.
Being able to introspect is not a gift, everyone can do that but our minds are clouded with lots of distractions that have separated us from this normal practice. This is the best way to discover the hidden talent that you have been searching for, for a very long time.
- Experience the Gifts of Life
Life is full of surprises. Sometimes, these incoming surprises give us immense joy and sometimes drag us into deep dejection. However, we all have been taught to stay strong and move forward no matter how many tough situations may line ahead of us. Those uncalled situations will always come along with a life lesson that will be in a form of small gifts.
It is up to us how we analyze a situation. There are only a few people in the world who have the ability to find even the slightest positivity in an unfavoured situation, whereas there are many who lose hope when caught up in a dilemma. Finding and accepting those small gifts will help us in understanding ourselves much better and will lead us to the closed gates of our hidden talents.
- Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone
It is so satisfying, hiding with a quilt in winters. We do not dare to step outside our bed because we feel warm and comfortable. Our comfort zone is also like this, we hide from responsibilities, goals, targets, et cetera, as they demand efforts and strength and we do not want to leave this relaxing state.
A comfort zone is nothing but a region filled with nothing except our weaknesses inside of which we are letting ourselves decay with time. Humans are meant to race against time, standing at one place because you are stuck will not do any good to you.
That is why it is always said to step outside of your comfort zone and start experiencing the outside world too. You should test your limits and improve your abilities if you wish to find a meaningful life. The changes that you are about to experience will bring out the best in your overall personality and might help in discovering some natural skills too.
- Start a Daily Journal
Have you ever considered writing the story of your life in a diary? Many of you must be familiar with the name Benjamin Franklin, he had a habit of beginning his day with one question to himself “What can I do well today?”. He then wrote those things down in a diary. At the end of the day, he used to review each of those mentioned points, creating a note of how he could improve on the things he didn’t do so well.
This practice always kept him ahead of the curve and that is why this name became popular all over the world. You can also start writing a daily journal to figure out your weak points and how to improve them. Once a person starts understanding himself/herself, it gets easy for them to identify their strengths and hidden talents.
There is a lot to learn from our past mistakes and bring a positive change in ourselves as human beings. Apart from self-learning, our writing also gets improved and you may never know that writing could be your hidden talent.
- Ask Your Family What You Loved as A Child
There is no doubt that nothing can be better than self-analysis but sometimes consulting our close ones that what we loved as a child will not do any harm because not everyone has a sharp and clear memory of their childhood and not many people may remember every detail of it.
You can always consult your friends and families if you have a flashy memory of your childhood. They might remember what you loved to do when you were small, what were your interests, what you were good at, et cetera. Once you hear about those things that you loved to do, might create a sensation to continue with passion what you left.
