Human Potential

The idea of human potential has puzzled me for a very long time. It seems like everyone I see isn't living up to their full capabilities, including myself. But there are certain cases which are in my life where I want to tell the person what they should be doing but I do not know how to go about doing it. The famed Winston Churchill once said, “Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential” and I think that this needs to be expanded upon. A person first needs to know what it is that they should strive for. I know of two specific people who are very close to me in my life who I believe have incredible potential but need just a slight nudge in the right direction and hopefully this will help them.
*Actual names will not be used to protect identities

In these two people, I witness different potential for genius in each. I have known each for a very long time and have watched them grow into who they are today. The first  is arguably the most athletically gifted person I have had the pleasure to know. There isn't a single sport that would be a challenge for him in ability. The biggest problem that I see which is preventing him from reaching his potential is all in his head. He has found his niche in baseball, and I see him everyday trying to improve. He is one of the few who can be asked to do anything on the field and can meet high expectations that coaches put on him. It doesn't stop for him at that point, rather, his own expectations surpass those of the coaches and he is incredibly hard on himself. So much so that it may be a fault. When a trainer tells him to change something in his swing, he will go home and work on it for hours trying to perfect his abilities. He feels like he has to prove himself to everyone by being the best and I think he is inches away from it. I believe he just needs to know that he needs to trust his ability and that he has the unwavering support of those around him, despite what he may think. I especially, think he can go farther with baseball than I ever did with anything that I have done in my own life.
The second person is caught between identities and is struggling to discover himself and what he should be doing. The point in his life where he is has not been kind to him and it is getting in his way. He is a musical genius. He is only in high school and he is in band, choir, can play the clarinet, saxophone, guitar, and a bit of piano. He spends time everyday composing and what he has created is amazing. Things I have heard him do blow my mind and I can't believe how far he has come. One of the first things that may be limiting his potential is his split attention between music and athletics. It seems to me that he thinks being liked in school is more important than I think it actually is. He takes all comments about him personally and dwells upon them when I think he just needs to learn to escape from it all.Another thing that may be holding him back is that he feels though he needs to play soccer to be liked. He enjoys playing and now I think it shouldn't be as big of a focus as it was for myself as it is for him now. He has looked  up to me and I want to make sure he knows that we aren't the same, and he has a gift that I don't have. His music is what  keeps him happy and is his escape. I can only hope that he realizes how good he is and can become and he doesn't let anything, or, more importantly, anybody get in his head and prevent him from doing his best work.
The biggest reason I wrote this is to let these two people know how I feel, especially since I know I haven't lived up to my potential. I'm still searching for my own niche and now that these two have found their's, they need to follow it wherever it may lead them.