Don’t Expect People to See Your Potential
A great teacher, mentor, or friend might be able to see your potential—what you’re ultimately capable of.
Everybody else won't.
Most people will see you EXACTLY as you currently show up.
An enduring myth—romanticized and perpetuated by media—is the idea that as an artist, you’ll be discovered.
Here’s one way that the story endures in its current form:
An unknown person gets in front of the right people—on shows like American Idol or America's Got Talent—and suddenly everything changes.
It’s a compelling story.
But not an accurate one.
Its power is similar to the lottery:
it can happen to anyone at anytime.
It plays on hope and on the very real human desire for SIGNIFICANCE.
And at the same time, it absolves the artist of AGENCY and PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
It suggests that talent alone is enough.
That success comes from external validation and in being chosen.
It reinforces the myth of overnight success and sudden transformation.
Here’s the reality:
Almost no one gets “discovered” before they repeatedly demonstrate what they can do.
Opportunities come from:
Repetition
Visibility
And Consistency
THE MARKETPLACE DOESN’T IMAGINE YOUR POTENTIAL, IT RESPONDS TO YOUR OUTPUT.
Here are some insights that we can take from debunking this myth:
First:
People believe what you consistently present.
If you keep showing up as a certain kind of artist, that’s how people will see you.
Second:
No one is coming to discover you.
You have to discover and present yourself.
Third:
DEFINE YOURSELF, OR YOU WILL BE DEFINED BY OTHERS.
If you’re output is not clear, people will define you based on:
your past work
your most visible role
and what’s easiest to understand about you
That becomes your identity—whether you like it or not.
This is why phrases like:
“I can’t be defined”
or
“My music defies genre”
don’t really help you.
If you don’t define it, someone else will.
And they will do it quickly, based on what they hear.
So here’s a useful mantra:
IMPERFECT CLARITY BEATS PERFECT POTENTIAL EVERY TIME.
Clarity gives people something to recognize and recognition leads to opportunity.
If you want to be seen differently, show up differently.
No one is coming to discover the version of you that you haven’t shown yet.