When You’re Bored at Work, Find Your Talent
By: Erik P.M. Vermeulen
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Work, Business, Self Improvement, Social Media

“Didn’t you fly with us to Bogota a few days ago?”

I was heading home and the purser recognized me from the outbound flight.

“You seem to fly even more than I do. You must have an exciting and varied job.”

Later, we talked about her son. He is a student but wasn’t sure what to do with the rest of his life.

“He would also love the opportunity to travel. And to do something he cares passionately about. Do you have any tips?”

I am often asked this question. A couple of days after I returned home, I had a similar experience. I ran into a colleague who I hadn’t seen for a couple of months. He follows me on social media and referred to my recent trips to Korea, Australia, Malaysia, and Colombia.

“The work you do is fascinating. My job is just so boring. I really need to change my life. What do you think I should do?”

These questions made me think. What should you do?

I consider myself among the luckiest in the world. I can focus on things that I love the most. I can share my knowledge and experience with others and help them build their careers. I am in the fortunate position to travel and meet amazing people who inspire me. I do what I am passionate about for a living.

Teacher. Practitioner. Traveler.

But what did I do to get what I wanted? And, more importantly, what can I tell others to do?

I started to look at what kind of online advice is already out there. A lot of the guidance involves simple and practical lifestyle adjustments. Wake up early. Workout every day. Sleep more. Eat more vegetables.

Other advice is more inspirational. Follow your passion. “Just do it!”

For sure, this is all powerful stuff. And, no doubt, these different strategies worked for the authors of these stories.

But it doesn’t mean that any of these strategies will work for you. It probably won’t.

Take the “follow your passion” approach. Even if you do know what your passion is, following it isn’t always the right thing to do. I was passionate about becoming a professional football player when I was younger, but soon figured out that it wasn’t possible to follow my passion.

I wasn’t good enough at football.

Unfortunately, we can’t simply decide what we are good at. This isn’t always easy to accept, but the sooner we understand this, the sooner we can focus on what we should be doing.

Find your talent & build your life around it

Instead, you must first figure out what you can do. What is your talent? And, more importantly, can you be passionate about it? Do you enjoy it? Is following your “talent” something that you want to be doing?

Then you have to figure out how to improve, excel and make a living out of what you are good at. What kind of environment is necessary to express your talent?

And it doesn’t stop there. You then need to figure out how to brand yourself. Distinguishing yourself from others is very important and often neglected. You can’t just become a copy of someone else. It lacks authenticity and uniqueness, which is vital in a digital age.

Sure. You will make mistakes, but you must learn from them. And then slowly but surely, you will find your talent and get what you want.

Love the process

To help you in your search, here are things to remember about the process of “finding your talent and building your life around it.”

Experiment — You are living in a uniquely fascinating time. The internet makes it easy to learn from the best. And there is more, social media offers tremendous opportunities to experiment and find your talent. Writing. Photos. Podcasts. Videos. You can instantly share your content, skills, and experiences without the approval of intermediaries. Experimentation is crucial. It creates momentum. The momentum is needed to improve or sometimes even radically change your mind. It makes sure that you aren’t wasting your time. Experimentation allows for iterative adaptation as well as a sudden change. You are alone — Of course, advice from others is crucial. Feedback (both positive and negative) is extremely important. It will make you better. I have a small group of people who have helped me find my talent. But you shouldn’t let others decide what you are good at. This can only be decided by the “market” or the “crowd.” Also, don’t compare yourself to others. It is distracting and will make you unhappy. Be critical — Don’t be satisfied too quickly. If you want to improve and excel, being critical of yourself keeps you sharp. It helps you continually improve, grow, and develop. It’s a fast-changing world. If you want to live the dream, you have to be entrepreneurial. And being entrepreneurial means that you have to be continually self-aware and self-critical. Give before you get — I know too many people who want to have instant success or make money fast. Unfortunately, it usually doesn’t work like that. You have to give before you get. For me, it meant that I was never picky. I accepted everything. Why? Because I wanted to learn. And becoming good at what you do means that you have to practice (a lot). Be patient — The process of “finding your way” is hard. It is a gradual process that cannot be rushed. You have to persevere. Also, you will probably have more lows than highs. The key is to love the lows, learn fast, and move on.

Finding your talent, persistently improving, and building a brand is a never-ending process. But when you have found your talent and live the life you want, the process (including the lows and negative comments) feeds you. That is what gives you happiness and fulfillment. And, ultimately, it will bring success.