Finding Your Superpower: A Guide to Discovering What Truly Sets You Apart

I love movies that begin with the protagonist exploring the question, “Who am I?”, “What is my purpose?”, or “Do I even have a superpower?”. Especially when they have been singled out as special but don’t know why, yet. Think Neo from the Matrix, Po from Kung Fu Panda, or Harry Potter from, well, Harry Potter.

As these movies unfold, we see these characters go on to do incredible things, and we admire them for this. We see that what sets them apart is unique to them. Yet, when it comes to our life, to reality, we often assume our skills – be it cooking, dancing, writing, painting, coding, or what have you – are what set us apart.

But equating our skills to our superpower is like thinking Neo’s ability to dodge bullets, Po’s ability to do kung fu, or Harry’s ability to perform some spells was their superpower. Those are great, but they are not the superpower. Our skills are not our superpower.

Rather, our superpower lies closer to Neo’s unique ability to manipulate (see, bend, and eventually break) the matrix. Po’s unique ability to control (absorb or give away) chi. Or Harry’s unique ability to harbour (and ultimately destroy) a fragment of Voldemort’s soul.

In this piece, we will take a journey through this tricky concept that fiction has tried to capture in different ways, and see how we can apply it to our very real lives.

Discovering Your Superpower Starts With Belief

One thing Neo, Po, and Harry shared is that they all doubted themselves initially. In fact, they actively questioned and rejected the accuracy of the claim (or suggestion) that they were special. And our lives are no different.

As a kid, my dad genuinely thought of us (his kids) as special (I believe every good parent equally does). He simply would not accept mediocrity but expected more from us. You could come home with the 3rd position out of 32 students, and he would look at your class average and infer you could have done better if you tried more. Occasionally, I have caught his eyes light up when I or my siblings explain something to him, which he was stumped by.

When I wrote my first book, he connected me to a local publisher (a member of our family church) and even told me a tale of his friend who published a book and made a fortune from it, encouraging my dreams.

But I never really thought of myself as special despite my impressive performance in school, or my dad’s enthusiasm about my skills. In fact, I didn’t print the book, and my degree is collecting dust in the cabinet.

However, having grown into adulthood and doing more of the things that come naturally to me, I have begun to get a glimpse of what my dad saw – that I am, in a sense, unique. But, I have come to know that it was never about my Dad’s bias towards me, my performance in school or the skills I developed so far – be it my ability to draw, paint, or write – but rather something more fundamental. Something that exists beneath the surface, like Neo’s gut feeling that there was something wrong with the “world”, which eventually grew into an ability to see the code behind the Matrix even before he knew what the Matrix was.

I was lucky that my parents believed in me, just like Morpheus, Oogway, and Dumbledore believed in their apprentices. Their belief was the foundation. Sadly, that is a gift many people never get.

Imagine if Morpheus had never found and unplugged Neo from the Matrix, Po had never been chosen by Master Oogway to be the Dragon Warrior, or Harry had never got an invitation to Hogwarts.

If you have never gotten such, it doesn’t invalidate this greatness inside of you. And, maybe, let me be the one to tell you that you, too, have something unique in you. 

Embracing Your Superpower: Self-awareness and Introspection Are Key

Your superpower is not something you can acquire from study or practice. It is simply unique to you, and can only be discovered, embraced, and nurtured. 

Like Neo taking the pill and looking into the mirror, I had to first internalise the belief that I have something unique to offer, and then reflect on my past to see mine.

When Others Don’t See What You See

When I was much younger, I discovered that I often fell in love with movies that left most people around me utterly bored, and what interested them sometimes simply annoyed me.

For instance, after seeing the movie “Gravity”, I was so impressed that I couldn’t stop talking about it. I recommended and hyped it to my siblings. They got interested, saw it, but were completely disappointed — in fact, annoyed — by the movie. They described it as watching one person in space for hours.

I was baffled that they couldn’t see or feel what I saw and felt. I mean, a movie that moved me so much I became an evangelist for it?

It got so bad that my siblings stopped being impressed by my hype. In fact, they started warning each other about my taste, and even I started warning them that although I loved a movie, I wasn’t sure they would too.

This became so normal that sometimes my siblings recommend movies to me that they think are boring, but suspect I might love.

The Validation Comes Later

Anyway, I started to notice an even weirder pattern. For example, a few months after seeing Gravity, I found out that it went on to be nominated for and won a couple of awards, so much so that even the movie’s soundtrack won multiple awards.

But it wasn’t just about movies. 

I still remember the first time I heard Chandelier by Sia. I almost ran out of the room to go find the place where the music was coming from. Thankfully, there was Shazam, and it was able to detect the sound. There was no hype. No prior listen. Just instantly, and I knew it was a hit. You can go look up the song on Wikipedia to see what awards it has garnered, too.

It also happened the first time I heard Humble by Kendrick Lamar. And talking about Kendrick, I still vividly remember that during the Drake and Kendrick rap beef, I was very sure Kendrick would decimate Drake, artistically, of course. I literally read the Genius blog for hours, dissecting Kendrick bars and sharing them with my elder brother as the beef unfolded.

Anyway, in a few months’ time, after Kendrick of course won that battle (by a landslide in my opinion) he got 5 Grammys in one night for the stellar song, “Not Like Us” which he dropped during the rap beef. Then he went on to perform that same song in combination with other hits (including Humble) at the Super Bowl — with his performance in that very Super Bowl halftime show being the most viewed in the history of the Super Bowl.

The tendency for my taste to align with what gets awards has taught me that it isn’t just random preference. It’s really my ability to recognise the genius in making very dense, complex, and difficult things appear simple, beautiful, and elegant. From that rap that sounds easy but twists your tongue, to that simple witty one-liner that compresses so much emotion, history, and wisdom, it all comes back to what Leonardo da Vinci once said: “Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.”

“Technical skill is mastery of complexity while creativity is mastery of simplicity.” – E.C. Zeeman

It’s Bigger Than You Think

What I am describing isn’t just about entertainment. I eventually found that I could critique and suggest improvements for creative works in general, from people’s writing or graphics, to their songs and dancing. Didn’t matter that I sometimes lacked much experience in the field. I could just spot what was good or bad almost instantly.

And so, I have gradually learned that my superpower isn’t just writing, drawing, painting, or any particular skill, even though I do them well. It is rather my GOOD JUDGMENT.

Given a piece of writing, I am able to critique and improve it to my taste, which is often to the point that it becomes simple and elegant. Given a graphics design, I can critique and give reviews till it becomes not just stunning but functional as well, despite not being a full-time graphics designer myself.

I have edited virtually all blog posts on our website, and the graphics are often run through me for approval. I have had clients pay substantial amounts of money for me to vet or write for them, and I am not just talking about random people; I am referring to celebrities and high-net-worth individuals. But, sadly, NDAs won’t let me disclose.

So this isn’t just my delusion, it is something that has been validated by results as well as hard-earned money very smart and discerning people were able to exchange for.

But then, it goes beyond even work and money.

I have found myself able to take in and quite naturally spot good dressing, scent, flavour, and even ideas and behaviour. So that the dresses I like are simple but never dull, the scents are alluring but never overwhelming, the flavours are complex but never chaotic, the ideas are clear but never shallow, and the people are authentic, but never naive.

The point is, your superpower probably feels so natural you don’t even notice it, yet its influence spreads across your life. And sometimes, it might have been neglected or mocked so much you now think it is a flaw – you think it may even be a curse.

My superpower – my good judgment – though elusive even to me sometimes, has silently been the driver behind my flair, progress, and success in all fields I have applied myself to. Leaning toward it has filled my life with more meaning and helped me savour life better.

But it is not something I learned. You see, Neo was put in several simulations to be taught how to fight. Po was trained in the art of Kung Fu along with the Furious Five, and Harry studied sorcery at Hogwarts. But the training wasn’t what made those characters special.

Your superpower isn’t what you do—it’s how you see, think, or approach the world in ways that are different, yet create consistent value or meaning. 

It is not limited to any one skill or sphere; though, you can better express it if you know the basics in the field. Hence, Neo, Po, and Harry didn’t need to be the best; they just needed to be good while unleashing their superpowers in the field.

So perhaps, to discover your superpower, you should first recognise:

• Your Contrarian Moments: When do people think you’re wrong, but you’re quietly confident? Think of times when your judgment went against the crowd but felt true to you. What were you seeing that others missed? My siblings thought my movie recommendations were terrible, but I thought otherwise.
• Your Effortless Expertise: What comes naturally to you, especially if you have had little to no formal training? Where do people seek your opinion outside your professional expertise? What patterns do you notice in the feedback you give? People often ask for my feedback on their creative works, from graphics to sound.
• What Energises You: What activities make you feel most alive and engaged? When do you lose track of time? What problems do you solve just for the joy of solving them? For me, it’s dissecting the essence, structure, and behaviour of things from creative works to people, spotting what works or doesn’t work.
• Your Consistent Wins: Where do you succeed across different domains? My taste works for movies, music, people, and business decisions. What strengths show up in multiple areas of your life, even when the skills required seem different?

Perhaps, it is worth reiterating that you are better able to express your superpowers in areas where you have cultivated some power – i.e. skill, experience, or expertise. That is why, despite my good judgment cutting across several domains, the area where I stand as more or less an authority is in writing (specifically non-fiction, personal development content) – because I know the terms, am conversant with what works and why it does, as well as have mastered how to pull the levers to achieve my goals.

To apply my superpower in flying a plane would require me to know the basic terms they use to communicate/describe things, the principles for flying, and what buttons or levers I need to pull to achieve a goal.

It’s like the Dalai Lama said, “know the rules well, so you can break them effectively”. Your superpower is the unique way(s) you break the rules effectively.

Unlike movies, you don’t have to be stuck in the matrix, some Chinese village, or even a hidden magical world. You can be Neo flying around in the Valley of Peace, Harry casting spells in the Matrix, or Po channelling chi in the hidden magical realm. You can break the rules in and across multiple fields.

So, maybe spend some time mastering a skill or developing expertise in a field before worrying about your superpowers.

However, it is worth keeping in mind that…

Your Superpower Can Be Both A Blessing and A Curse

Your superpower, depending on how, when, and where it was applied, could manifest as a blessing or a curse – a source of pain or pleasure.

Acting like the One led to the Matrix attacking Neo. Being the Dragon Warrior led to Po being the main target of multiple dangerous villains. And Harry, let’s just say the scariest and baddest wizard decided this kid was his problem.

If you have good judgment, those who produce mediocre work, have questionable ideas, or generally act badly might despise you. They might even come on your social media comments section, and perhaps in real life, to attack you.

If you have exceptional compassion, those who love cheap labour, lack empathy, and exploit others would want to take advantage of you. They might lie to you, lead you on, and try to blackmail you into giving more than you should.

If you have natural charisma, insecure people in positions of power might see you as a threat and try to undermine or eliminate you.

It is heartbreaking to be oblivious to and never get to express your superpower, and dangerous when you express it but are not aware of how it might attract threats.

I don’t know what your superpower might be. But whatever it is, it is worth discovering, protecting, and developing.

Conclusion: You Already Have The Superpower

The question isn’t whether or not you have a superpower. You do. We all do. Though not in the sense of violating the laws of physics, like in fictional works. 

Your superpower is nothing outside yourself. It is already there in you, running silently, quietly driving your genuine interests. And the sooner you discover, lean into, and hone it, the earlier you will start living in alignment.

However, to discover your superpower, you first need to choose and accept yourself fully — which is exactly the reason the Oracle refused to tell Neo he was the one, the Scroll revealed nothing but the reflection of Po, and Harry only fulfilled the prophecy when he walked into the Forbidden Forest, willing to die at Voldemort’s hand to save everyone else.

Step into your power – which is embracing yourself fully.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Did you find this piece empowering? Then you might like the following:

1. Reframing Your Flaws: How Embracing Your Difference Can Make You Extraordinary
2. Quit Seeking Validation: 7 Useful Strategies to Build Unquestionably Strong Confidence
3. The Courage to Be Wrong: Why Authentic Self-Expression Is Your Path to Freedom and Growth
4. How To Live For Yourself: Embracing Your Uniqueness For A Unique Life
5. How To 100% Be Yourself