You all have talents, and you never know where they might lead you
We Unite is brimming with stories about strong girls finding their way, building up businesses and following their dreams. Whenever I talk about the network, everybody thinks it’s great, inspiring and uplifting – just that some get this sad, longing look on their face. The melancholic, slightly envious one that says “I want to have a dream, too – a cool job, a brilliant idea, something that motivates me and gives me direction. I just don’t have a clue about what I’m good at.”
So, if everybody is talking about talent, then how do you find yours?
It seems like for a lot of people the endless possibilities existing nowadays are more of a threatening thought than an opportunity: If I have the chance to be the best possible version of myself and I don’t take it because I don’t have a clue about what the best version is, am I a failure? Why does everybody else seem to know what they want to do, what their calling is?
Because they figured it out in some way. They tried stuff, they failed, they tried something else, it wasn’t quite what they imagined, they made chance encounters that sparked new interests and pursued them further. For some that process started quite soon, others just knew what they wanted since they were five and some are still looking.
What are you good at? What are the things your friends always ask you (and only you) for help with? Pursue these talents and interests, take aside two hours per week and see where it leads you – if you feel comfortable and motivated, those two hours will quickly expand.
I’m not going to give you the whole “make a blog, the internet is a wondrous place where everything is possible” speech (even though I love blogging and it’s the perfect tool for me) – if you feel more comfortable keeping an old school notebook, writing short stories or volunteering in a completely offline neighborhood association, by all means DO IT.
You never know where it might lead you and what it might develop into. But thing is sure: if you do nothing, nothing will happen – if you do something, something will happen. A lot of people I know sometimes think you have to have the perfect idea, the great concept, you have to do something bold, make a statement before you can actually start doing something. It’s the old ” well if I go to the gym, then I have to go at least three times a week and I already know I’m too lazy for that so I won’t sign up” thing . How about starting to go to your own personal “mind gym” once a week?
Just do things that interest you, there doesn’t have to be a master plan behind. But it might develop into something truly great. One of the best examples for this has to be Hege who just asked people to contribute to her blog and propelled her network into new dimensions through that simple idea that was born out of interest in other people’s view. Now she’s developing audio guides for a museum in Norway.
What’s stopping you from just going after what interests you?
Photos credits here
