In the age of YouTube wunderkinds and blog-y fashion sensations, it can feel like whatever you're working really hard at—and maybe not getting noticed for—is better left to the girls who don't even have to try. But here's the deal: When you let yourself get discouraged too soon, you're smothering the match before it has a chance to burn.
Hear me out. For every Justin Bieber, there's a Kendrick Lamar who released his breakout album in his mid-20s (which, news alert, is still young!). For every Jennifer Lawrence being stopped on vacation in New York as a teen, there's a Kerry Washington who didn't nail her career-making role on Scandal until age 35. And for every prodigy you stumble across on the internet, there are thousands of later-bloomers whose big breaks just haven't come yet.
The trouble is, giving up now means your big break can't come. So your acoustic cover of "Drunk in Love" only got 200 views...so what? Don't get discouraged simply because something you loved doing didn't score you a record deal on the first shot. When your quirky Tumblr isn't featured on BuzzFeed within the week, remember that fires that burn too quickly have a way of flaming out. Let yourself breathe and slowly but surely build something great. The real key to success is time.
Perhaps our desire to be prodigies is rooted in envy, because wouldn't it make life so much easier to have loads of natural abilities and lots of luck and never put your nose to the grindstone? But easy sounds better than it feels. Ask anyone who's done it and they'll tell you hard work can actually be pretty awesome, and even leaves some room for adventure. Not knowing what you're good at enables you to try everything. And you'll have a ton of fun being mediocre at poetry, painting, running, cooking, singing, kite-boarding, and whatever else you want to explore.
Take me, for example. One of my true passions is writing, but one of my college essays elicited this feedback from a professor: "This is a beautifully written essay about absolutely nothing." I got a C, and it outraged me. But I didn't let it stop me, and I've worked my way to great success. I'm not a writing prodigy. I'm a person who put in their 10,000 hours. And guess what: The experiences that came along with trying and working hard were remarkable.
So enjoy planting the seeds of interest. Some will grow a little and some will grow a lot and some won't grow at all. And the next time a professor tells you that your essay is beautiful but off-topic, consider writing.
