Happy Friday, Friends!
I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! This opportunity is going to be special…I feel it! 😊
I am still reading Mindset The New Psychology of Success: How We Can Learn To Fulfill Our Potential by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. I absolutely love this book and would highly recommend it to you. Earlier this week I read the following:
“People with the growth mindset, however, believe something very different. For them, even geniuses have to work hard for their achievements. And what’s so heroic, they would say, about having a gift? They may appreciate endowment, but they admire effort, for no matter what your ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment.”
This was such a profound statement to me…I find it both challenging and inspiring. There are a couple of parts I want to break out and discuss briefly.
“And what’s so heroic, they would say, about having
a gift?”
What immediately comes to mind for me is a former high school teammate. He was 6’6” tall, he weighed 225 pounds, he was very muscular, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds, and he played wide receiver. For those of you who might not know football, he was very big, very fast, and very athletic. He was incredibly naturally gift. To emphasize the point, when he signed his scholarship to play football at Penn State, one of the true blueblood college football programs in the country, Head Coach Joe Paterno referred to him as the most naturally gifted athlete he had ever seen. And what did he do to develop his gift? Well, in high school, he drank a lot of alcohol, he smoked a lot of pot, and he regularly missed practices. In short, at least up until that point, he did nothing with his gift. So, let's ask the question again, what is so heroic about having a gift?
“…for no matter what your ability is, effort is
what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment.”
And the first thing that immediately comes to mind for me is the quote by Michelangelo when he said, “If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all.” He was clearly gifted however he apparently didn’t find being gifted anything special. What set him apart, what made him special, was that he worked tirelessly to develop his gift.
This morning I simply want to encourage us to develop whatever gift(s) we have been given. Let's not compete with anyone else – instead, let’s compete to fulfill the potential that is within us! And let’s not compare ourselves to others. The chances of you or I having the exact same gifts and potential of another human being are very slim! Instead, stay focused on who we are and let’s relentlessly pursue the men or women we are capable of becoming. This is where our purposes will be found, where life will gain its meaning, and where we are best positioned to make a difference in this world.
I want to close this Happy Friday with a couple of quotes I have shared on social media this week as I pondered what Dr. Dweck had said.
“You can’t expect to be who God wanted you to be if you don’t improve upon your talents, abilities, and actions to the peak of the potentials you carry.” – Israelmore Ayivor
“One thing that I know for certain is that you are untapped potential. But the one thing that I don’t know for certain is if you’re going to un-tap it. For if you don’t, we will all be the lesser for it. And that I know for certain.” – Craig D. Lounsbrough
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say: ‘I used everything you gave me.’” – Erma Bombeck
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families, and please stay well!
Kev
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