One of the most dangerous things that can happen to you as a child is to be fawned upon and told that you have great potential. Or to come into the awareness that you are ‘special’, ‘gifted’, ‘intelligent’, etc.
For some people, such attributes cause them to work hard to pull out that potential. For others, it creates ‘unrealistic’ expectations of achievements. Once you are branded with the idea that you are ‘gifted’, you begin to think that you are naturally smart and if something is difficult, you get disappointed. If you make a mistake, it crushes you, makes you feel like more of a failure…the great YOU made a mistake. It’s a very destructive idea; I’ve fallen to this trap.
The universe balances shit out. If you are not blessed with a lot of obvious talent at the beginning, you learn to compensate by simply thrashing it out and working your ass off to survive…and surprise surprise, you actually get better and get some shit done. If you are blessed with talent, you tend to fall into the trap of being lazy and not pushing yourself.
The thing to do…if you think you are ‘gifted’ is to stop thinking you are. Believe the fact that you are no better than the average man, and you are not exempt from the grind and hustle of making something happen. Sit your ass down and do the work, just like everyone else…hell even more than everyone else.
There are no natural geniuses…okay fine, perhaps there are, but the only ones we remember – Edison, Da Vinci, Ali, etc., are the ones who put in a mean grind, working hard for years, day in, day out, making shit happen.
So fuck your potential. Just do the damn work.
bulls eye…..