Become more than promising

Ambition · Little Light original

Being told you have potential can become a strange kind of pressure. You begin protecting the idea of what you might be capable of. Difficult work feels risky because an honest attempt will produce an actual result, and an actual result can be ordinary. Let yourself move beyond being promising. Try the thing that will reveal what you do not yet know. Ask for feedback that gives you something specific to work on. Allow a first effort to be limited without treating that limitation as the edge of your future. There is relief in having real work in front of you. Something you can improve, finish, or decide to leave behind. Your possibilities no longer have to remain perfect in order to remain alive. You can give them the dignity of an attempt, and give yourself the chance to discover what effort makes possible.

Little Light