When I was in college, I had a few internships with Caterpillar, one of the world’s largest manufacturing companies. One day, the intern manager called all the interns asking if there were someone who spoke Spanish who could act as a tour guide for dealers who were visiting from Latin America later that week. When I received the call, the person asked if I were fluent in Spanish, to which I responded, “yes, well, I speak Spanish but I wouldn’t say that I’m exactly fluent but I should be able to get by,” or something along those lines. I didn’t get the spot. At the weekend intern bash, I was talking with other interns and this girl started telling me about this tour she gave to the Latin American visitors. Curious, I started speaking to her in Spanish. To my confusion, she barely stumbled through Spanish.
I tell you this story because the pattern in my life has been that I am incredibly good at downplaying my talents. People who have met me get incredibly confused at how well I speak Spanish despite only living in Costa Rica for 4 months. I have often been VERY GOOD at certain things and pretended like I wasn’t. At 23, I ran a consulting firm in East Africa, mostly by myself, and a lot of it in Swahili. I got top grades at one of the world’s hardest electrical engineering programs before I switched to international studies (a complete jump) and still got top grades. I could go on and on about capabilities I have but that’s not the point.
What I’m trying to understand is WHY have I downplayed my gifts for so long? OK, a few more gifts. For some reason I have been ashamed about learning languages fast (I picked up a better French accent in 3 weeks of self-study than someone who had studied it formally for 5 years), about consulting for some of the largest companies in the world, and even silly things like my keen sense of direction.
If you ask me, at my core, I do believe that I am great at these things. Somehow, when these concepts emerge from my body and see the world, they have transformed into serious doubt and understatement.
I think it’s time I start up-playing my gifts. Yup, that term doesn’t yet exist. Or at least it’s not in urban dictionary. But I think it should. Why downplay your gifts? Imagine if our greatest artists put out crappy art just so other people felt good? Or if our leaders didn’t deliver powerful speeches because they didn’t want to outshine their counterparts?
I whole-heartedly believe that what I’m doing with iFeelio is one of the most powerful forces to change the world. Yet I describe it is a tiny little app that helps you journal. That doesn’t do it justice. If I get big and talk about it, I say that it can fundamentally change the way that you see yourself. And FAST.
In conclusion, the thing is that we all have gifts and none of us have all the gifts. Find your gifts and up-play them so that I and others can receive them with open arms.