How to Find What You’re Good At: Where Skills and Passion Collide

Figuring out what you’re good at is crucial for moving your career towards a more fulfilling direction. In fact, fewer than half of employees in the United States say that they’re good at their job, which negatively impacts their quality of life.

So, if you’ve come here looking for “what am I good at examples” or a “what am I good at quiz,” you’ve come to the right place. We’ll help you sort through must-know resources and theories for transforming your career into doing something that you’re good at. 

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to discovering what you’re good at. However, the questions below are an excellent way to start considering possibilities that you may have never thought of or ignored in the past.

Keep in mind that these questions can refer to your personal or professional life. Because you’re here looking to change the course of your career, answering them as they pertain to your personal life might be even more beneficial.

• What things do people praise you for?
• What areas of your life do you feel most confident in?
• What skills have helped you succeed in the past?
• What tasks energize you?

It’s also helpful to take some online quizzes. In conjunction with the prompt of the questions above, these tests will offer you many options for career moves that you may have not previously considered.

For example, the CliftonStrengths test through GALLUP is a well-respected approach for discovering what you’re naturally good at. The test currently has a $19.99 fee, but it comes with a more extensive analysis and suggestions than many free versions you find online.

You can also try typing something like, “What am I good at quiz for students” into Google. Although you’re already in your professional career, these student-based tests can still offer valuable insights.

Even though you might not feel like you’re good at what you do, there are likely aspects of your job that you do excel in. For example, coordinating projects might not be your forte, but organizing them might be.

Therefore, it’s helpful to begin determining your skill strengths by asking yourself, what 3 things are you great at professionally? You can also reflect on your time at school and ask yourself, what am I good at academically?

Below are some other avenues for helping you to discover new or current skills:

• Offer to take on a different task than you normally would at your job.
• Volunteer somewhere that requires you to hone skills you enjoy or discover new skills.
• Ask people what they think you’re good at.
• Look at your old performance reviews.

Another item to consider is your willingness to hone a skill that you enjoy but aren’t proficient at yet. Furthermore, some skills may require a further college education to use it. For example, you could be excellent at math, but you’ll need a degree to teach it at a school. 

These unrealized skills are equally valuable to recognize so you can determine if you want to pursue them further.

If you’ve researched “What am I good at Buzzfeed” online, you’ll come across a few entertaining tests that may help you determine what you might excel at. But what you’re good at and what you’re passionate about doesn’t always align.

People have many ideas on how to find your calling. However, a strategy that stands out to us is in Glennon Doyle’s book, Untamed. She recommends reflecting on what pains you most in this world. 

Does animal cruelty turn your stomach into knots? How about human trafficking or the ruthlessness of a particular disease? Do you love problem-solving in general?

In Doyle’s point of view, whatever makes you turn your head away the most because it’s too hard to think about is the exact place where your strongest passion lies. Using that theory, you can start exploring what career options are available in the field that wrenches your heart. 

And if you’re rolling your eyes thinking about how passionate you are about animals but don’t want to start your career all over in veterinary school, consider this: Veterinarians and animal shelters need accountants, vendors, and people in many other fields too.

So sometimes, staying within your field but changing where you work is enough to find and feed your passion while giving you a new outlook on your profession.