Someone posted this saying on social media today, and it has me feeling “some kind of way”, as they say.
When you become lazy it’s disrespectful to those who believe in you. Bottom line, don’t waste your potential.
While I agree it would be a shame to waste your potential, I strongly disagree with the idea that wasting your potential is disrespectful to those who believe in you.
You are not here on Earth to satisfy someone else’s idea of whom you can be.
Now I get it: no one is an island, and we have an obligation to carry our own weight in the communities we are a part of. Things like taking out the trash, paying taxes, keeping shared living areas clean and orderly, behaving with common decency, keeping our word, and so on are part of the social contract. But beyond that, it is not your responsibility to make someone feel good about believing in you. That was their choice, and their feelings surrounding that choice are their responsibility, not yours.
Live up to your potential because it makes you feel good about yourself. Do it because it fulfills you. Do it because it matches your idea of who you want to be. But don’t do it out of a misplaced sense of responsibility for other people’s feelings or because other people have projected their expectations onto you. That’s a quick way to burn out.