How to Discover One's Own Talents and Transform Them into Wealth

 【Introduction： At the critical juncture of career choice and life transformation, many ordinary people repeatedly ponder over one question:

What am I truly good at? Can I turn my talents into a long-term and stable income】?  

Mark Twain once said, "The human mind is great. As long as you focus on one goal, you will achieve something that surprises you." 

And this "goal" is often closely linked to our own talents and gifts. 

Looking at those who have truly achieved long-term success, one will find a common trait among them: they found a direction that suited them very early on and have been deeply engaged in it for a long time. 

• Diving champion Guo Jingjing has brought her body coordination and concentration to the ultimate level. 
  
• Physicist Yang Zhenning devoted his entire life to fundamental scientific research. 
  
• Warren Buffett, the stock market guru, has been studying enterprises and value for decades without fail. 
  
• The musician Mozart showed his musical talent at a very young age and spent his entire life on the path of music. 
  

Their success is not accidental but the result of a high degree of match between their talent and their hard work.

1、Why do many ordinary people feel lost?

In real life, there is indeed another situation:

• Some people do only one thing throughout their lives, continuously investing in it with few interruptions.
• There are also many more people who, due to environmental changes, real-life pressures, and career disruptions, can never find a direction to follow for a long time.

Especially for office workers, once they leave their original positions, facing the uncertainty of their future, questions like "What else can I do?" and "What am I truly good at?" become unavoidable.

After the pandemic, I also began to re-examine my life path. Staying at home, pushed by the external environment into the stock market, I suddenly realized:

Have I really found my own talent in this field?
The answer is actually not certain.

So I began to realize that taking the time to re-examine one's own abilities is more important than blindly working hard.

2、How can ordinary people discover their own talents? 

For most people, talent may not be spectacular, but it will repeatedly manifest in the subtle aspects. The following several methods have greatly inspired me. 

      2.1、Track your "state of concentration" (flow) 

Have you noticed: 
Some things can make one lose track of time while doing them. 
After finishing it, one is not tired at all; instead, they feel full of energy. 

This is precisely what is often referred to as "flow state" in psychology, and it is also an important clue for discovering one's talents. 

For me, 
Writing and organizing text ，Doing analysis and accounting in Excel 
It is more manageable than pure physical labor or manual operations. 

Among my friends, some are good at making snacks, while others are skilled at hair design - each person has their own unique strengths and specialties. 

List down all the things that naturally help you enter a state of concentration. These often point to your latent talents.

     2.2、Pay attention to the aspects that you are repeatedly praised for. 

A very practical method is: observe what makes others thank you frequently. 

• Is it you who is good at listening? 
• Is the expression clear?
•  Are you analyzing the problem in an organized manner? 
  

Sometimes, others are better able to recognize our strengths than we are ourselves. 

As for myself, people around me often say that I "love learning". Looking back, I do indeed prefer to devote myself to learning for a long time. 

Although my major was finance, what truly interested me was English. Therefore, I chose the path of becoming a UK certified public accountant that year, allowing language and my profession to intersect - this was itself a choice made based on one's natural talent.

     2.3、By attempting, verify your strengths 

You will never discover an ability that you have never attempted. 
You can give yourself a low-cost way of exploration: 

• Spending a few hours each month trying out new things 
• Participate in the new project
• Learning a new skill 
  

The key point is not "how well it is done", but observation: 

Which tasks do you pick up more quickly? Which topics do you prefer to keep investing in?

An 88-year-old Japanese trader finally found his way after 50 failed attempts.

 

3、How to Transform Talent into Wealth? 

Discovering one's talent is just the first step. Whether it can generate long-term value is the key factor determining one's life direction. 

     3.1、 Build "unreplaceability" through one's regular work. 

If you are still in the workplace, you must ask yourself a question: 

• Does my job have room for growth? 
• Can one acquire transferable skills? 
• Is it aimed at accumulating long-term value? 

If you merely exchange time for salary but lack the ability to improve, then this job is likely to be easily replaced. 

I used to work in a foreign company. On the surface, the environment was good and the salary was high, but I overlooked a crucial issue: 

Will this job enable me to continuously evolve? 

When looking back later, it was discovered that one had not actually established a genuine competitive barrier.

 

     3.2、 Use side hustles to test your talent and monetization potential. 

A side business is the lowest-risk way for ordinary people to prove their abilities. 

• Freelance Services 
• Digital products
• Consultation or Teaching 
  

By constantly adjusting in practice, you will have a clearer understanding: 

• Does the market need your skills?
• In which aspects do you have a greater advantage?

 

     3.3、 Building a personal brand is the best era dividend for ordinary people. 

In the current era of self-media, ordinary people have for the first time: 

• Low-barrier display of professionalism 
• Continuously accumulate influence
• Opportunities to enhance personal capabilities 

Share your experiences and insights through blogs, short videos and social platforms. 
When you consistently provide value, monetization is just a matter of time, not luck.

according to 《The A l m a n a c k  of N a v a l  R a v i k a n t》,

"To acquire wealth, one must fully utilize the leverage effect---Code and media"