High Ability

By Emilie Wapnick

"Maybe there’s a reason that you feel drawn to so many different areas. Maybe you have your own strengths, that a specialist with their head down and focused, wouldn’t have the opportunity to develop. Things like broad, flexible thinking, the ability to speak the “language” of people in different fields so that you can help them understand each other and manage teams. The ability to synthesize disparate ideas and solve problems in one area by drawing on knowledge in an entirely different area. Being a fast learner, building off of past skills, using “good enough” skills to build a new entity without needing as much outside help, experiencing and understanding a wide array of what this world has to offer.

"Multipotentialites are not only passionate about their interests, they’re passionate people in general. As a passionate, out-of-the-box thinker with a wide range of tools to draw from, you are in a unique position to inspire others."

Excerpted from her post: "Why You Should Stop Trying to be the Best" - on her site, which includes her Renaissance Business program.
http://theinnerentrepreneur.com/RenaissanceBusiness

Photo from her article: Using Your Multipotentiality to Grow Your Confidence
http://highability.org/756/using-your-multipotentiality-to-grow-your-confidence/

Fiona Apple in an interview about her new album, "The Idler Wheel ...," and a quick photo session in the backyard of her longtime manager, Andy Slater... "You can live your whole life in your brain and not experience what's around you. You go crazy that way," says Apple, 34. "That's why I have to watch myself when I get isolated for too long."

~~

“I have to give everything, my everything, and that’s exhausting…But I’m going to have to figure out how.” - From post: Fiona Apple: I have to give everything
http://talentdevelop.com/5890/fiona-apple-i-have-to-give-everything/

Katy Perry: "Thank you for believing in my weirdness." //

'We tend to see our own deficits but others' gifts. This negatively affects self-esteem and often causes gifted assets to be viewed as mere "weirdness." - From article Self-Knowledge, Self-Esteem and the Gifted Adult, by Stephanie S. Tolan. http://talentdevelop.com/articles/Self-Knowledge.html

One of the elements of the movie Black Swan is how damaging perfectionism can be when pursued excessively, especially by someone with mental health challenges.

But... “Were it not for perfectionism, we would be in short supply of all those myriad human activities we deem extraordinary, excellent, outstanding or great in quality.” Psychologist Stephen A. Diamond, Ph.D. continues: “Once upon a time perfectionism was perceived not as neurosis, but rather as a sign of commitment, caring, and devotion to one’s work…”

By Elaine Aron, PhD. "Gifted people and geniuses are peculiar, fascinating, in possession of a valuable commodity. They’re almost celebrities. Certainly oddities.

Like an athlete or a race horse or any star, we want to see how far they can go, how fast they can rise to the top. It’s not just curiosity, but empathy, I think.

How horrible it would be to have a talent one could not express.

By Lisa Erickson, MS, LMHC

I’ve been thinking about varieties of perfectionism since having a discussion with a gifted trauma survivor. It became clear that some of their perfectionism was an expression of giftedness and some was related to family of origin issues. Same outcome, different sources.

Does the source of perfectionism matter?

I think it does. By understanding the differences we can clarify what can be embraced and managed, and what can be healed. Different sources, different strategies.

"A year ago, I attended the First International Conference on Gifted Adults. I attended mostly because it was close by and because, well, I am a gifted adult. I didn't expect to spend most of the conference crying. And I want to apologize to the presenters for any discomfort I caused them. You see, rather than follow the stages of adult giftedness that they outlined, I have periodically become stuck in a stage that I feel I should have already mastered."

A number of movies include gifted and talented characters, and depict a variety of characteristics that are positive and relate to exceptional abilities, but also can generate not so positive reactions – such as “You think you’re so smart,” or, “You’re too verbal… too bossy… too nerdy… too sensitive.”

And, of course, we may still experience some of those reactions as adults

Perfectionism can be an unhealthy drive to satisfy distorted ego needs, but it can also fuel our pursuit of excellence and social change.

Hilary Swank: “The great thing about my Oscar was when I received it, they put the nameplate on with my name crooked, and I went home and I was like, ‘I am going to have to take that back and have them fix it.’ Then I said to myself, ‘This reminds me that I’m not perfect, my performance wasn’t really perfect, and that I still have a lot to learn.’ To a lot of people, this represents perfection and it’s not.”

Academy of Creative Living - Creative, Highly Sensitive and Gifted People Resources: Counseling, Psychotherapy, Workshops, Presentations, Retreats and Online Classes. Sharon M. Barnes, MSSW, LCSW.

One of the central tasks of adolescence is to negotiate identity development and gain increased self-awareness. This is important for all adolescents but particularly so for gifted teenagers who of...

Given that many definitions of giftedness suggest that 10% of the population is gifted , there is clearly an abundance of “others who may not understand” and circumstances and experiences where misunderstanding can and does occur.

A number of talented and accomplished actors and other creative people are energized - or burdened - by this drive to be perfect.

Mia Wasikowska plays the title role in the new “Alice in Wonderland,” and notes that at age 20 she is still fairly new to acting and recalls:

“I was at dance school doing about 35 hours practice a week until I was 14. Then ballet started to grate – the whole idea of trying to attain perfection started to ruin the experience, so I decided to try another type of performance.”

Lily Cole was bullied and thinks it was because some kids bully sensitive children. Research indicates a large portion of gifted students are bullied.

She comments, “I was bullied because I have red hair, although actually, I think I was bullied because some kids bully sensitive children."

A report from Purdue University a few years ago said “Bullying in the gifted-student population is an overlooked problem that leaves many of these students emotionally shattered, making them more prone to extreme anxiety, dangerous depression and sometimes violence.”

"You may post on your own blog, or be a guest blogger on somebody else's. Contact Mary St George of Gifted Online to book a date on which you are happy to make a blog post connected with giftedness."

[Main focus seems to be gifted education, gifted kids - but there are also posts for gifted adults.]

By Emilie Wapnick

The other day, someone mentioned that throughout their life, they’ve used their multipotentialite pursuits as a way of growing their confidence.

In other words, by diving into new things and acquiring new skills, they’ve learned to believe in themselves more as a person.

I’ve never thought about it that way, but it makes sense. It’s pretty damn hard to develop your confidence if you’re not pursuing your passions.