Signs you may be gifted…
And how to nourish your giftedness
Signs you might be gifted
It is worth exploring having a giftedness profile completed if you experience any of the following:
You think differently than your peers, friends or family, utilising skip thinking, metacognition, or matrix thinking
You have a deep special interest that has lasted a number of years
You are very curious, exploring a range of topics or having completed many qualifications or courses
You have had a number of different careers, finding that you get bored once the job has got to the point of stasis and stability
You love exploration and find routine stifling and dull
Without sufficiently stimulating intellectual exploration or relationships, you go into a kind of existential crisis or shut down
You have a quirky sense of humour
You were described as being very mature at a young age, or had older friends or associates, finding peers your own age didn’t connect with you
You have high intensity when it comes to learning or things you are interested in
You found school boring, or found that in later life you prefer to do self-paced learning due to your need to learn and process information at speed
You are neurodivergent or suspect that you are
This is not an exhaustive list. If you find that anything in this article has sparked some curiosity for you, get in touch to discuss whether you may be gifted by emailing us at hello@divergentlife.co.uk
How to nourish your giftedness
Here’s three easy ways to start to support your giftedness:
1. Feed your curiosity: A study by George Land commissioned by NASA https://yourstory.com/2023/10/nasa-study-creative-genius-educational-impact showed that an incredible 98% of the 1,600 children who took part in the study qualified as being creative geniuses. The study found that once these children grew into adulthood, just 2% qualified.
The resounding message is that we must continue to feed our curiosity and refuse to be dumbed down by the modern schooling system. If you want to learn something, learn it. You don’t have to learn for any other reason than for the joy of finding stuff out and answering the questions you have. You can be curious formally through a course or qualification, or informally through reading, studying and discussing your topic of choice with other people who share your passion.
2. Give yourself permission to be a growing, changing, imperfect person: We love this phraseology from https://highability.org/fostering-adult-giftedness/. What a beautiful way to look at our neurobiology and complexity. The journey to finding out what we’re good at never ends. We are never going to reach the end of that journey. Being in the mindset that growth is constant and ever changing frees us from the shackles of being held to the destination.
This also helps us tackle perfectionism, which is a form of internalised trauma and masking. We’ve learned from a young age that we are held to higher ideals than our peers, even if we didn’t understand why at the time. We’ve also learned that rejection is painful. So when we’ve stood out for being different, when we’ve been called weird, been othered, a very natural response is to try and be perfect. Because if we are perfect, people have to like us. Sadly, that isn’t true, and more trauma is formed because we can never reach this ideal. We are still rejected, othered, and shamed.
But by giving ourselves permission to be imperfect, to embody imperfectness, to release ourselves from the destination of being perfect, we can find peace.
3. Nourish your sense of justice: This can feel like a burning flame deep inside you that can’t be snuffed out. Even when you are in the midst of burnout, bore-out, or an existential crisis, that little flame stays alight. Fan it. Keep it alive. And use it to bring your incredible intense focus to bear. Because that sense of seeking justice for yourself and others alongside your giftedness and sensitivity, is what is going to keep you going and help you make a significant impact on the world.
This isn’t about changing the world per se. Just by existing and being your true authentic self for the people around you, your friends, your family, your children, you are making a huge difference, you are enough. That is your gift to yourself.
You may want to explore your giftedness or have a giftedness profile completed as part of your neurodivergent assessment. Or you may want to explore giftedness after having received a diagnosis.
We can provide giftedness profiling and coaching to support a neuroaffirming journey toward self-discovery and self-acceptance.
Drop an email to hello@divergentlife.co.uk if you’d like more information.
