What Am I Good At? A Midlife Guide to Finding Work That Fits
It is surprisingly common to get to midlife and find yourself questioning what you are actually good at.
This question might be triggered by lower levels of motivation towards work, by feeling less secure in your role, or by questions about whether you are still performing and are really having an impact. You might also be considering a career or role change, and want to make sure what you do next is aligned to your strengths.
This article gives you seven ways to identify what you are good at, and additional guidance for figuring out what to do next.
Why Asking “What Am I Good At?” Really Matters in Midlife
Thinking about what you are good at is definitely the right question to be asking. According to Gallup, employees who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged at work.
Having a role that aligns to your natural strengths is a "must have" for job satisfaction. Other things are also important like having purpose and meaning. But if you feel like your job doesn’t "fit," it will quietly erode your wellbeing, leading to burnout and unhappiness.
Career fulfilment also becomes increasingly important for motivation as you age – by midlife, you find it harder and harder to get by on willpower alone.
Research shows that midlife is a critical period: later-life employment preferences are strongly shaped by how well your midlife job aligns with your strengths and values.
That means investing in a role that really fits now will help you build a more satisfying career for your “third act”.
Why “What Am I Good At?” Feels Hard to Answer in Midlife
Narrowing down what you are good at can be tricky in midlife for several reasons.
Decades in a role make skills feel ordinary and invisible; you stop naming what you do well because it’s routine.
Market and skill shifts cause doubt. These can make you doubt whether your strengths are still relevant, even when they are in fact transferable.
Midlife stages often come with more ambiguous feedback at work: promotions plateau, work becomes more managerial, and external praise declines.
People also have a tendency to entangle their identity with current and past roles. Saying, for example, "I’m an engineer" can obscure other strengths that don’t fit that label.
And if you are experiencing burnout, that lowers self-awareness and confidence, which in turn reduces clarity, so strengths are much harder to perceive.
From my experience as a career coach, once you decide to buckle down and identify your strengths, people either find it relatively easy or very hard to pin them down with confidence.
(You can read more about me and my story here.)
For some, it is just about carving out some time to reflect on your strengths. For others, the blockers make it much more difficult to get a handle on it.
If you suspect you are someone that will find it hard to pin down your strengths, I would highly recommend working with a coach. Or as a minimum, find a partner you can work through this with. It can be very hard doing it on your own to any level of clarity and confidence.
An external guide will speed up pattern-recognition and accountability. A coach will also help you translate those patterns into career options that fit your strengths, values and other life considerations.
(Read: career transition coach – are they worth it?)
But even if you don’t want to work with a coach, and you find it hard to identify your strengths, you can still make progress on your own.
Here are seven suggestions for how to go about it, and to then find work that fits…
7 Ways to Answer the Question “What Am I Good At?”
Way 1: What Am I Good At? Start by Noticing What You’re Not Good At
Start by creating an initial list of what you are not good at. Then think about things you are ok at but don’t enjoy, and have just learned to become competent at.
Strangely, starting here – and also acknowledging that there are weaknesses – helps to then identify the things you are truly good at.
The next step is to start thinking about what you are good at. I recommend creating two different lists:
Things you are good at, but don’t love doing.
Things you are good at (or maybe even just ok), but are things that bring you energy and you find time passes quickly when doing them.
Way 2: Reflect on Your Younger Self to Understand What You’re Good At
Also, try to think back to when you were younger. What were the things that you liked to spend your time doing? Was it building things? Socialising? Exploring? Doing something creative? Writing and using words? Solving puzzles?
Activities you naturally gravitated to doing when young often stay with you for life, and are areas you will be good at.
Way 3: Build a Success Timeline to Reveal What You Are Good At
List about ten moments (jobs, projects, personal wins) where you felt competent or proud. Note what you actually did and what part felt natural. Also ask, "When have others sought me out for help?"
Way 4: Ask Others for Input to Clarify What You’re Good At
Ask for input from 3–5 people who you trust and who know you well. What do they say is your greatest strength? What do they say are the things you are naturally good at?
Way 5: Use Objective Career Evidence to Identify What You’re Good At
Take a more objective look at your career to date: Gather actual KPIs, client testimonials, appraisals, sales figures, awards, process improvements – objective proof helps counter impostor feelings.
Also, what roles do people put you in naturally at work? For example, the trouble-shooter, mediator, teacher, planner… This often signals perceived strengths.
Way 6: Use Strengths Tests Carefully When Exploring What You’re Good At
Take an online strength test – but be aware of their limitations!! The value of these assessments is that they can surface blind spots or confirm hunches. But it is important to treat the outputs as hypotheses to test.
Firstly, they’re just a snapshot in time and do not take account of any relevant context. Tests also capture preferences or tendencies in controlled scenarios. They don’t reliably predict how you’ll perform in a specific job.
Strength tests also tend to oversimplify and pigeonhole you in a way that is not always helpful. For example, saying "You’re a Strategist."
Finally, there is self-report bias and validity limits. Answers reflect how people see themselves, or want to be seen. So it is important to always triangulate results with real-world evidence.
Way 7: Test New Experiences to Discover What You’re Good At
One last suggestion… Try a low-risk project (volunteer, freelance work, short course) in an area you suspect you’re good at. Results reveal areas of good fit quicker and more accurately than theorising.
Finding Work That Fits Once You Know What You’re Good At
Once you are clear on your strengths, the next challenge is to figure out what kind of work fits.
This is not as straightforward as it sounds.
Firstly, there are factors other than your strengths that need to be taken into account.
You need to factor in your other important criteria for a role that fits – the culture and environment, your needs and values.
Meaning and purpose is another important consideration – skills without a match here may still leave you unfulfilled. Ask: "Does this work matter to me in a way I care about?"
(Read more here about how to find your purpose at work.)
Using the earlier distinction between things you are good at, and things you are good at AND love doing: it is ok to have some of the former in a role – but if there are none of the strengths that you love using, that will be a problem.
Finally, there needs to be a mapping to possible roles and experimentation. For this, here are three key factors to consider …
Transferability and Market Fit for Strengths You’re Good At
Some strengths (communication, problem-solving) translate across sectors; others are niche. Match strengths to viable roles or industries by mapping 3–5 target roles and identify which of your core skills they require.
Role Design and Work Environments That Fit You
The job’s day-to-day (autonomy, pace, people, structure) matters as much as the work itself. A strengths fit in one environment can fail in another. Ask about typical week, decision freedom, and team composition during exploratory conversations.
Balancing Growth and Practical Constraints With What You’re Good At
Alignment must be realistic, especially in your 40s or 50s: can it pay the bills, allow for family commitments, and offer reasonable learning pathways? Midlife often needs a pragmatic balance.
Want Help Figuring Out What You’re Good At?
Book a free Discovery Call to understand how I can help you identify what you are good at and how to then find work that fits.
About the Author: Tim Storrie
I’m an ICF-accredited career coach with an Oxbridge education, an MBA, and a corporate background. Drawing from my own mid-life experience of burnout and transition to a more fulfilling career, I help men over 40 who feel lost or frustrated to find a career that excites them through clarity and confidence.
My coaching approach is both nurturing and challenging, combining structured, exercise-based reflection with deep personal insight.
Would you like to understand how career coaching can help you get clarity on a more fulfilling future?
Book a free Discovery Call