Underutilized talents
One of the myths of highly talented people is they can almost magically choose whatever personal and career path they want, and realize their gifts without hindrance. It doesn’t exactly work out that way.
Author and educator Stephanie S. Tolan notes in her article Discovering the Gifted Ex-Child that “Even when the individual is able to use her gifts to achieve undeniable career success, she may feel and appear seriously out of step. Barbra Streisand [left], for instance is criticized for perfectionism, for demanding too much from those she works with. Her well-known discomfort with public performance may come in part from the seemingly paradoxical self-esteem problems that often come with extraordinary gifts.”
Issues such as low self-esteem and anxiety (like stage fright) are not of course only challenges for gifted people - but common giftedness-related characteristics such as high sensitivity can make them especially impactful for those with exceptional talents.
Francis Heylighen, PhD notes in his article Gifted People and their Problems that traits such as particularly intense feelings and emotions, or sometimes awkward social interactions can make people “misunderstood and underestimated by peers, by society, and usually even by themselves… As such, most of their gifts are actually underutilized, and they rarely fulfill their full creative potential. This is particularly true for gifted women, as they don’t fit the stereotypes that society has either of women or of gifted people (typically seen as men).”
Simply having abundant talents can be a challenge. In his article The Too Many Aptitudes Problem, Hank Pfeffer says, “Most people have about four or five strong talents.. Most jobs require about four or five. As many as 10% of the population has double that number of aptitudes.. There is evidence that people with too many aptitudes (TMAs) are less likely to obtain advanced education and/or succeed in a career than those with an average number of talents.”
He adds that such highly talented people “seem to function best at frontiers - intellectual, social or physical… and do well at interfaces between different parts of society.. as troubleshooters, innovators or problem solvers.”
In her new book Refuse to Choose!, Barbara Sher celebrates people with eclectic passions and multiple talents, what she calls “Scanners” who “love to read and write, to fix and invent things, to design projects and businesses, to cook and sing, and to create the perfect dinner party… fascinated with learning… see the world is like a big candy store full of fascinating opportunities.”
She concludes it is not a “disorder” to have a wealth of capacities, even if they don’t become fully or even well realized, and she makes a strong case for continual learning and trying out different talents, as a life long exploration.
