Some people find it difficult to clearly identify their interests and talents. Because our gut feeling may be telling us something completely different than our mind – and we are already in an inner conflict. The following method aims to change that.
Not sure if you’re using your talents for yourself? Perhaps you have abilities that you have neglected so far and that would like to come to the fore. We have a method for you to help you get to know yourself better – with the help of your subconscious.
How to find your talents
There is a simple method: a talent portfolio. Vera F. Birkenbihl, who was a management and business coach during her lifetime as well as a researcher in psychology, brain research and other areas, advocated this. The portfolio should be ideal for becoming aware of your own interests and hidden talents. All you need is enough paper, a pen – and a little time. You take the first piece of paper: on the left you leave space to list possible talents, on the right you draw a scale for each talent that ranges from 100 percent to 0 percent. 100 percent: I’m good at it. Zero percent: I’m not good at it. At the end of the day, you will use this to evaluate the activities of your personal experiment – but before that, it’s time to collect.
How to use the list
In a seminar, Vera F. Birkenbihl recommended working on the talent portfolio over a period of six to eight weeks. The best way to do this is to create a blank template and copy it several times so that you can easily list other possible talents. You ignore the scale for the time being while you collect the activities. Birkenbihl’s idea: simply take the list to hand while watching TV in the evening and write down any activities that you notice – nothing more.
So you don’t have to actively watch all the time or rack your brains and write down every detail. Simply set a timer after an episode or during a feature film and write down what you subconsciously perceived in the past period. It’s different for every person. You can also record new “talents” at shorter intervals, but an ideal number of minutes is not mentioned. If you don’t feel like watching TV, you can of course also read a book and help yourself to activities there. By writing in this way, what was perceived subconsciously is brought to mind. Unfortunately, ready-made lists would not work, according to the expert.
How many activities you should collect
Six to eight weeks? That sounds like a lot of possible talents, doesn’t it? Correct. Only when you have a list with hundreds of activities (from cooking, on the phone, to cleaning, yoga, rock climbing or swimming) do you take the time and go through the list – without thinking too much. According to Birkenbihl, you should have collected at least 200 activities, preferably 300 or 400.
But: In the end, there will be plenty of sheets at once and the brain shouldn’t get tired. So take three to four sheets at the same time every now and then when you have time and decide quickly and spontaneously from your gut feeling where to place them on the scale. Once you’ve gone through the entire list, the next step is figuring out what to cross out.
The last moments to your talents
Which activities did you rate with more than 80 percent? Only these are relevant to you. Just draw a line down through the scales – and mark all activities that you are good at according to the rating. With these “talents” you will also have things from your everyday life that do not have to be considered further. Therefore: Look at the remaining points and ask yourself which ones you really enjoy doing. Doing laundry or cleaning, for example, is eliminated (for many people).
Now mark those activities that you like with a new color – and get an overview of your personal core competencies. Some may validate what you know, but some may surprise you at what emerges from the list as your strengths. Birkenbihl advises repeating such lists every few years. You can copy the old slurs (before the scale was used) and mix them up with new slurs – and the time period doesn’t have to be so long next time either. But it is important that new arcs are added, because the subconscious will perceive different things than in the last attempt. For those under 25, every two years is the norm. Every three to five years from the age of 35 and every five years from the age of 40. Because people and their living conditions change and our talents can adapt accordingly.
Sources used: www.youtube.com/@lernenderzukunft, www.vera-birkenbihl.de