Well what precisely do you dislike about what you're working on?
I just get bored after a while. Unless I'm in a slump, in which case I get bored immediately. I'm often in a slump.
If it is something external like the thought of failure,
It's definitely not that.
Perhaps the problem is more the lack of the thought of success. I tend towards living in the moment. It's not about the destination, it's about the journey. If I get bored of the journey, I stop. I do tend to work harder at the beginning, when I'm thinking about how awesome the end result would be.
has it occurred to you that this project may be something that you thought you wanted to do, but never in fact actually wanted to do?
If I had a magical butt tattoo, this wouldn't be a problem.
If this isn't it, how would I go about finding my special talent?
Unfortunately, there's no simple answer to finding your talent. Because really it's about finding that talent which you are also motivated to do. And the motivation can come from a mix of places: both the use of the talent itself and other rewards (like money) it brings. Lots of trial and error and talking to people and research and thought is the basic approach.
But before taking that drastic step, you might want to also examine a bunch of other things. Like are there other things going in your life that are draining your energy? Are your other needs (e.g....
I have a master's project I'm having trouble working on. It's something I've wanted to do, and I even started working on, long before I started my master's degree. If I can't even enjoy that, then I'm doomed to spend eight hours a day doing something I hate for the rest of my life. Even if I manage to improve my willpower, I doubt I'll be very productive doing something I don't want to do.
Does anyone have any idea how I can enjoy working more?