From a young age, talented individuals are praised for being special. They’re the ones who ‘get it’ faster, the ones others look up to. But that admiration comes with a cost - the pressure to maintain the illusion of effortlessness. They start to believe that struggle equals failure and that being challenged threatens their identity. In professional environments, this manifests as an aversion to feedback, a reluctance to collaborate and a tendency to stick to safe tasks that showcase their strengths.
On the other hand, those not labelled as ‘talented’ are free from these expectations. They are allowed to struggle, to ask questions, to fail without judgement. Ironically, this freedom to learn and grow without fear of losing face often leads to greater success. They build resilience, adaptability and problem-solving skills while the ‘talented’ remain trapped in their comfort zones, terrified of being exposed as ‘not good enough.’ Perhaps talent isn’t the blessing we make it out to be.
As we get older, many of us wrestle with the feeling that we never discovered our talents or didn’t find them early enough. But when you consider the pressures that come with being labeled ‘gifted,’ you might see the value in having had the freedom to explore. Without the weight of expectation, you had the chance to experiment, try different paths and develop skills you might have otherwise overlooked. Perhaps not being labeled early on wasn’t a disadvantage, but an opportunity in disguise.