Downsides of Being Too Good! The Curse of Untapped Potential!

From a young age, I’ve been the kid who stands out—a spark of promise that ignites curiosity in nearly everyone I meet. Teachers, coaches, family friends—they all saw something in me. Nine out of ten times, people would say, “You’re gonna be the next big thing!” or “You’ve got so much potential!” Sounds great, right? Who wouldn’t want to hear that? But here’s the kicker: that early praise, as awesome as it felt, has often been my undoing.

Being told you’re “gifted” or “special” comes with a weird kind of pressure. It’s like everyone hands you this shiny trophy before you’ve even run the race. And when you’re young, you eat it up. I know I did. I’d bask in the compliments, thinking I was destined for greatness without really putting in the work. Why grind when everyone’s already saying you’re amazing? That’s where the trap lies.

The truth is, all that hype made it hard to stay focused. I’d start something—a project, a sport, a new skill—and people would rave about how good I was right out the gate. But instead of pushing me to keep going, it made me lazy. I’d think, “I’m already good enough,” and coast along, never really digging deep to see what I could actually do. I was hitting maybe 60 or 70% of my potential, tops, and calling it a day.

It wasn’t until I hit my 20s that the cracks started to show. Those big dreams? They weren’t happening. The “next big thing” was still just… me, stuck in the same place, with a pile of half-finished goals and missed opportunities. I’d look back at all the times I could’ve gone all-in but didn’t, and it stung. Failure after failure piled up, and I had to face the hard truth: being “gifted” doesn’t mean squat if you don’t put in the effort to back it up.

I’m not saying praise is bad. It’s nice to hear you’re good at something. But when it comes too early or too easy, it can mess with your head. You start believing your own hype, and that’s a dangerous place to be. It took me years of screwing up to figure out that potential is just a starting point. It’s like having a fancy car—you still gotta drive it, maintain it, and put gas in the tank. Otherwise, it’s just sitting there, looking pretty but going nowhere.

Now, I’m trying to rewrite the script. I’m learning to tune out the noise—both the praise and the doubts—and focus on the work. It’s not glamorous. Some days, it’s just grinding through the boring stuff, showing up even when I don’t feel like it. But every time I push past that urge to coast, I get a little closer to actually living up to that “potential” everyone saw in me.

If you’re someone who’s been told you’re “special” or “gifted,” watch out for the curse. Don’t let the hype fool you into thinking you’ve already made it. Potential is just a seed—it’s on you to plant it, water it, and deal with the weeds. Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way that being “too good” too soon can keep you from ever becoming great.