Harukami – Why Many Never Reach Their True Potential

I recently visited Tokyo, a beautiful, dynamic, conflicted city. At the airport bookshop on the way home, I picked up Murakami’s novel Norwegian Wood, perhaps hoping to prolong my experience of Japan. It’s a very affecting book, I have been significantly moved many times in the book. But a few nights ago, I was reading before bed when I was hit like freight train with some of the most powerful words that I have read on the topic of ability. It expressed so perfectly the problem that I see in my studio every day:

“There just happen to be people like that. They’re blessed with this marvellous talent, but they can’t make the effort to systematise it. They end up squandering it in little bits and pieces. I’ve seen my share of people like that. At first you think they’re amazing. Like, they can sight read some terrifically difficult piece and do a damn good job playing it all the way through. You see them do it, and you’re overwhelmed, you think, ‘I could never do that in a million years.’ But that’s as far as they go. They can’t take it further. Any why not? Because they won’t put in the effort.  Because they haven’t had the effort pounded into them.  They’ve been spoiled. They have just enough talent so they’ve been able to play things well without any effort and they’ve had people telling them how great they are from the time they were little, so hard work looks stupid to them. 

They’ll take some piece another kid has to work on for three weeks and polish it off in half the time, so the teacher figures they’ve put enough into it and lets them go to the next thing. They do that in half the time, and go onto the next piece. They never find out what it means to be hammered by the teacher; they lose out on a certain element required or character building. It’s a tragedy.”  MURAKAMI

I felt a huge sadness at these words. The sad fate of so many actors, singers, dancers, writers and artists is perfectly described by Murakami’s words.

They start off with what we might call promise – talent, potential. But the ability that got them noticed initially, now prevents them from developing. Without discipline and commitment, they do not develop the strength of character to weather the highs and lows, the swings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Being treated like a prodigy, like a ‘talent’, gives them a Fixed Mindset – as psychologist Carol Dweck named it. They get so used to people telling them they’re talented, without them having to do anything – they feel that work, technique, effort are suspect – ‘stupid’ in Murakami’s words.

Without discipline and commitment – it will not last. So, if you want to know why your acting coach is tough, it’s because they value your ability and they want to help you develop the discipline and commitment to develop it to its true potential.