How Do You Find Out What You Are Good At?

How do you find out what you want and what you're good at, and is education the only way to find a good job and live a good life?

Cosbydaf

Well, those are some pretty tough questions. Sounds like the kinda thing you have to figure out for yourself. I think one of your problems may be that you're trying to figure it all out right now. I used to do that, and it made me feel miserable. Trying to figure out the whole rest of your life in one night isn't a very good thing to do, because it creates feelings of uncertainty, and makes everything seem pointless.

As weird as this may sound, I'd say to just wait it out, stick with things a little longer, and they could get better.

SoulRiser

Not sure if this makes you feel any better... I'm 24. Until recently, I had no clue what I wanted to do "for a living". Everything I thought about had some aspect that pissed me off. Even the one I'm considering at the moment is likely to have it's problems, but it *might* be okay. But I haven't done enough research yet anyway... :)

Here's a few stupid questions to think about that may or may not help:

Complete the following statements:
1) I enjoy __________
2) I have fun when I ______________.
3) I am happiest when _____________.
4) I've always wanted to ____________.
5) I'd be very upset at the thought of dying without ever having experienced ____________.
6) One thing I've always wanted to see is _________________.
7) The one thing I'd love to do but am not sure I can is _____________.
8) Other people tell me I should pursue ___________.
9) I really seem to have a talent for ___________.
10) Describe what you'd like your life to look like if there were no limits.

Kirby

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.

One thing you said did interest me. 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.