Today I was stretched, once again, beyond my comfort zone and it was right on time for this week’s edition of Work Your Package™ Wednesday.
Rare—It is rare to find the courage to travel down the path that your talent will take you. Dare to be different.
Before I get started, I don’t want you to think of me as being a braggart or full of myself. Up until a few years ago, I didn’t acknowledge all of my skills even when others did. At some point, and I can’t tell you when, I realized that being humble wasn’t congruent with how others perceived me. I was perceived by others as being capable, articulate, creative, compassionate, funny, supportive, witty, focused, a loyal friend, a great event planner, a good presenter and most recently, a good writer. I’m sure there are some negative perceptions of me as well but I’ve chosen to focus on the positive.
It takes courage to develop a part of you that others have complimented you on but you don’t yet see what they see. I think it’s human nature to think that people are just being polite and don’t want to hurt your feelings by telling you the truth that your presentation at the staff meeting was really terrible. But if you make it a habit to surround yourself with people who tell you the truth with love and respect and not with malice, you need to trust that they see your talent and all that it can become. The only thing that holds us back from going down a path that our talent leads us to is fear. The only thing worse than failure is regret. Take the chance to see where your talent will lead you even if you don’t feel that it has been fully developed. Truth be told, even world-renowned opera singers still take vocal lessons.
Talent is a universal gift, but it takes a lot of courage to use it. DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE THE BEST. ~ Paulo Coelho
Adapted from “Work Your Package—A Guide to Being the Total Package” by Ayanna Castro
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