Self Belief + Talent = Success

I haven’t avidly been watching Britain’s Got Talent, but I catch the odd episode and over the last couple of years I’ve noticed a theme.  Talented person comes on but lacks self confidence.  Simon Cowell goes through a few facial expressions, Amanda perhaps sheds a few tears and then we get the review at the end.  At this point they invariably comment on the talent and then Simon highlights the gap between being this talented and not yet having the success they desire and indeed deserve; it’s always down to lacking self confidence – or as Simon tells them – it’s about believing in yourself.  Their key instruction between then and the next stage is to work on their self belief, not go and practice your talent.

What are your talents, gifts and if you’re really not sure you have any of them, what are your strengths?

Do you acknowledge these in yourself and to yourself?

To what extent do you believe in yourself?

Most of us do fail to recognise our talents enough and then if we do we act modestly about them.  Actually the classic sign of lacking self belief is when someone compliments you and you reject it “oh no I’m not really that good / well it was alright but I didn’t do a/b/c”.  When did you last accept the compliment and just say “thank you”.  You don’t even have to bask in the feel good factor of a compliment if you don’t want.  Just stop yourself from slapping the giver in the face (metaphorically speaking) and telling them their judgement is not up to much.  Plus every time you do this you re-enforce out loud the fact you don’t believe in yourself and if you don’t why should anyone else.  Fortunately they often do, but after a while if you persist then they’ll stop, or at least stop re-enforcing their belief in you and the possibility to achieve more success than you perhaps first thought possible.

Don’t let your talent go to waste.

Fancy instant success in a bottle?

Out there in the garden called life we see success and greatness all the time.  What we don’t often see is what it takes to get there.  With programs like X Factor we could be seduced in to thinking that you show case your natural talent, get a lucky break, appear on TV and Bob’s suddenly your uncle – or in this case Simon.  There is less emphasis on the trials, errors, commitment and sacrifice the person has gone through to develop their passion.  

We meet someone who has achieved what we want, and they offer to help us.  They’ve distilled their knowledge, learnings and mistakes in to something we can participate in and get the benefits in a fraction of the time.  Yet still there are those who want it even quicker.  All of those I know who have achieved success did it from the inside out.  They worked on their character as well as their competence. 

So I wonder, are we building a culture / workplace that eludes to, or expects instant fame, fortune and success in a bottle and if so how do we help people cope with the disappointment and disillusionment?  And will all of this help to build a more resilient generation or bitter cynicism?

What do you think?

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