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The Hidden Enemy of Talent

By Valery Satterwhite

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 18Jul2009 Word count: 782 Viewed: 247 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. When you act out of fear, you create what you fear. All of my clients have been praised and admired for their talent. You'd think that they have plenty of self-confidence and assurance in their abilities. Unfortunately the exact opposite is true. They believe that they are supposed to live up to some ideal image and whenever they don't think they've measured up to this self-imposed standard they suffer from shame, anxiety or depression.

You were born with a special gift, a unique talent that is yours and yours alone. Each person has this call of the power to do something magnificently and uniquely and no other person has this exact same gift. Nurturing, expanding and applying your talent seems effortless to you even if it appears arduous to others. Obstacles are merely playful invitations to use your talent more expansively to overcome them. And you do.

Your achievement is exactly proportioned to the extent of your trust and belief in the power of your talent that is your birthright. And since the skill comes easily for you, you think that it comes easily for everyone. You are blind to the fact that you have exceptional talent. Too often, brilliantly talented people live in fear that they will be found out for the fraud that they think they are. "It's only a matter of time before they realize I'm not as good, as talented, as they think I am."

"I believe that traditional wisdom is incomplete. A composer can have all the talent of Mozart and a passionate desire to succeed, but if he believes he cannot compose music, he will come to nothing. He will not try hard enough. He will give up too soon when the elusive right melody takes too long to materialize." | Martin Seligma

The world is filled with talented and gifted people who produce nothing. They are frozen in unwarranted and misguided fear. Too often the response to this internal fear comes in the form of self-sabotage, creative blocks or procrastination. When you fear you hold back your fullest expression of your talent. You say NO to who you are. You reject yourself. You start beating the drum of you're not whatever enough. This Inner Critic of yours loves to be right so he will create an experience, a self-imposed belly flop, to provide further evidence that, indeed, you are not enough! Ya See! I told you so! What were you thinking?

Yes, who are you to think that you are extraordinarily talented? And you shrink back into the safety zone of mediocrity where there are no expectations.

"Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?" | Benjamin Franklin

It's not whether or not you are talented enough. You are talented enough. There is no greater waste of creative energy than to worry about whether or not you've really got the chops in your craft. You do. Expressing this talent to your fullest potential is what you are here to do. You are passionate about your purpose in life. You become physically and emotionally ill when you disconnect from this purpose. So devote not another nanosecond to whether or not you are talented. You are.

The truth is, your deepest fear is not that you are incompetent or unqualified for the work that you do, the dreams and aspirations that make your heart sing. Your deepest fear is that you are, absolutely, the powerful and enormous talent that you know you are at your deepest core. With all of that power comes tremendous responsibility and that's enough to scare the living daylights out of most.

Acknowledging and accepting the responsibility to honor yourself is the key to your freedom. It opens the door to fulfillment, satisfaction and pure joy. Cherish your gift, embrace your talent. Honor yourself by saying YES to who you are. Withholding your talent doesn't serve the world. You are meant to shine your magnificent light.

And when you shine your light upon yourself, as you express your unique talent, centered in the truth of who you are, you are a shining example for others to do the same.

"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

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