We’re all good at something. In fact, chances are you’re pretty awesome at lots of things. What you’re good at, or recognising your talents can help when you’re making a career decision. Like choosing a course to study or occupation to pursue. If you’re not too sure what you’re good at, then try the activities below to help figure it out.

My favourite activities story*

What you’ll need

Pen and paper
A quiet place to sit

Choose your favourite activity

Ok. Now think of an activity you love to do or that’s special to you. Some examples could be:

  • Fixing the car with my uncle
  • Babysitting my niece and nephew
  • Fishing with mum
  • Gaming with my mate
  • Baking
  • Walking my dog
  • Playing my guitar
  • Gardening with my Nan
  • Making TikToks
  • Bushwalking with friends
  • Shopping for clothes and accessories
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Write a story

Now try and write a story about one time you did the activity. Here are some questions to help get you get started:

  • When did it happen?
  • Who was with you?
  • What did you actually do? Try and think step-by-step and don’t leave anything out.
  • How did it make you feel?
  • If someone else were to do the activity, what would they have to do?
  • What stands out in your mind about this particular activity, and this one time?
  • What made the experience good for you?

Time to reflect

How did you go with this exercise? Great memories huh? Once you’ve finished your story, take some time to reflect and ask yourself:

  • What does your favourite activity say about your skills, abilities and talents?
  • What particular skills did you use?
  • What are the abilities you tend to be very good at without even trying? And did you use these in your experience?
  • What special talents did you draw on?
  • Have a chat to a family member, a Career Practitioner, a teacher or a friend who knows you well. Ask for their perspective on the abilities, skill and talents your story highlights.
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My favourite courses activity

You might find clues to some of your natural ‘awesomeness’ by looking at your school subjects. Or courses that you’re good at.

List: You could start by making a list of your current school subjects. Jot down your past assessments for these subjects.

Tick: Mark the subjects in the list that you tend to enjoy more with a tick. (You don’t have to be the smartest in the class – it’s the ones you like the most).

Reflect: Look over the list. What does it say about the types of courses you enjoy? Do they have anything in common that link them? Are they more English and Drama based, for example, or are there more ticks near Maths or Science?

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Skills and talents chat

You could also have a chat with your parents or carers to discuss the talents and skills you’ve developed. It might be through different activities at home, in your leisure time, in the community or at school. Then try making a list of those talents and skills together.

Skills questionnaire

This is another great exercise to try.

  • Connect to myfuture and login to your myfuture account.
  • Choose My Profile and do the Skills activity. If you haven’t signed up, then you’ll need to fill out a few details first. Then you can access the site anytime you like.

So how did you go with all that? Can you see any similarities and patterns in:

  • The skills that you used in your favourite activity?
  • Your best school subjects or courses?
  • Special talents or skills and your myfuture skills? For instance, you might like bushwalking. Or be good at PE, enjoy physical exercise, and love doing lots of outdoor stuff.

You can find all sorts of amazing occupations and courses that fall within this type of criteria.

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Key takeaway

Think about the things you enjoy doing and the things you’re good at. Your favourite activities can lead to all sorts of amazing courses and occupations that are a great fit for you.

*Poehnell, G. & Amundson N. E. (2011). Hope-filled engagement: New possibilities in life/career counselling. Richmond, BC: Ergon Communications.

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