If you’re feeling lost, confused, or stuck, this is one of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself. The point of this question is actually think about the ways you help people with you skills and passions. Dig deep and you will discover hidden talents that you either don’t realize you have or that you aren’t giving yourself enough credit for.
I’m going to show you just how powerful this question can be by answering it right here. Hopefully, it gives me some much-needed clarity and provides you with some inspiration.
My Answer
People always thank me for listening. I’m the perfect confident. Maybe it’s my naturally quiet personality, my “soul-piercing” eye contact, or just the simple fact that I let people vent their problems to me and I never complain about it.
Whatever it is, for some reason, people love complaining to me. They love telling me their problems. And here’s the really cool part: just by listening to them, I help them in ways that I never could have imagined. People always thank me for listening. That usually leaves me with a confused look on my face.
“But I didn’t do anything,” I say. “I just sat there and shut up.”
“Exactly,” they say. “That’s exactly what I needed.”
You see, most people aren’t good listeners. Most people go into conversations just waiting for their turn to talk. But I listen. No matter how lengthy, boring, or disagreeable the other person’s monologue is. That’s why listening is my superpower.
My listening abilities have helped me out so much already. They were my most important asset as a tutor and a team leader during my college days. My students and my team loved me for my ability to listen to their problems and genuinely care about solving them. Being a great listener also made me a great friend. In my social circle, I was the local confidant. Everyone came to me with their problems and I listened to them all. And my friends thanked me. Now I usually didn’t solve their problems. But I listened. That’s usually enough.
Countless people have thanked me for listening. Now I just need to figure out how to turn that into a career and make a living listening to people. Perhaps I’ll be a psychiatrist or a teacher or a counselor. As long as I’m using my listening superpower, I know I’ll be doing what I was meant to do. I’ll thank myself for that.