Where to find this idea:
Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant
Imagine this: you’ve chosen to embark on the exciting journey of learning French. After a few months, progress might feel a bit slow and you begin to question if you have a talent for languages. Does this ring a bell? It’s so common for us to stop pursuing a new skill just because we don’t excel at it right away. This mindset can hold us back from discovering our hidden talents. We might think that we have to be naturally gifted, or that it’s too late to pick up on a new skill. But the truth is, we all have a wealth of untapped potential inside us, it’s just about finding the key to unlock it.
How do we get better at getting better? How do we unlock our hidden potential?
While learning specialized skills is important, something else is the key to unlocking hidden potential. In his new book, Adam Grant refers to this secret ingredient as “character skills.” Based on his research, character skills predict and produce success in life, and they matter more than talent.
Character is more than just your principles and values, contrary to popular belief. Simply knowing your principles doesn’t mean you know how to live by them. Also, don’t mistake character for personality (aka your basic instinct on how to act and behave).
Character is a set of learned skills that help us practice our principles and values.
Character skills charge us to rise above our personality tendencies and remain true to our principles.
According to Grant, there are 3 crucial character skills that unleash hidden potential:
- Determination
- Proactivity
- Discipline
And 3 things we can do to develop these character skills.
- Become a creature of discomfort
Want to practice proactivity? Seek the right form of discomfort.
Want to practice discipline and determination? Embrace the awkwardness of learning and become comfortable with discomfort.
Remember, feeling out of your comfort zone is a sign that you’re about to learn something new.
- Become a sponge
Not only do those who grow constantly seek to absorb knowledge and info, but they also know how to gather the right info and select sources they trust. Furthermore, when they want to absorb info about their skills from others, they don’t ask for feedback, they ask for advice. Feedback is backward looking, advice is forward looking.
- Become an imperfectionist
To stay disciplined and determined, you need to know when it’s okay for things not to be perfect and be fine with that imperfection. The more you grow, the better you know which flaws are to be tolerated.