How to Develop Your Talents

Developing your talents is the most important thing you will ever do, for yourself, your family and your future. But how do you do it? Here are five tips.

1. Identify your talents. You probably have talents you don’t even recognize. Start a personal inventory in your “talent journal.” Say you are a great singer. Put that down. Maybe you enjoy dancing and do it pretty well. Make a note of that. You might juggle pots and pans in the kitchen and produce some tasty, creative food. Put that in your journal. These ideas will be the basis for identifying your talents.

2. Figure out where these talents can prove useful. Review your journal and use your imagination. If you hae a great voice, you might be an able song writer.

Go further afield in your thoughts – that skill might lend itself to leading a choir, teaching voice lessons, even doing voice-over work on the radio. As a dancer, maybe you are also a choreographer or judge of competitive dance. Or if you have a talent for cooking, you might have a talent for cookbook writing or catering.

3. Research how to develop your talent. When you have identified a talent and how you might use it, start studying how you can develop that skill. If singing led you think about writing music, look at art schools or studying musical theory at the college level. If it led you to think about opening a voice tutoring program, find out how to establish a small business model. If sizzling sauces on the stove are on your mind, take a look at courses that teach you different ethnic cooking techniques or find out if an organic farming internship might advance your creativity. If dancing is your thing, look for local courses from masters in different styles and traditions so you can explore. Developing your talent usually means education of some kind, whether formal or through an apprenticeship or on your own.

4. Chose. It is not enough to contemplate your talents and what you might do with them in the abstract. You’ve got to plunge in. Don’t worry that it may be a wrong path because no path is really wrong. Maybe you start out tutoring voice lessons and then realize that you want to become a sound technician or write the next television documentary about music. That’s fine – talent will find its own sources for expression and every experience is one to build upon. Go for it!

5. Seek support. You cannot develop your talents solo. You need friends, feedback and fun. Enlist your family to support your work. Ask your friends to listen to a song. Cater a family event and get feedback on your cooking genius. Do a solo dance recital or dance at the local state fair competition. Get a mentor in your field to keep you on the right track. Above all, keep the faith in yourself and your talents. Don’t ever stop discovering more!