Trust your brain

The other night ABC had a special about humans with super powers, like strength, brain power, endurance, etc. There was a very interesting segment on the little girl who came in second on America's Got Talent last year, Jackie Evancho. You've probably heard of her, she has an album out and has done a few shows over the course of the last few months. Anyway, in the segment, Jackie said she had no formal training. Her desire to sing was kicked off by the movie The Phantom of the Opera, which she emulated afterwards by memorizing and practicing all the songs. Then came her stint on AGT. They asked an ENT if she had special vocal chords or lungs that were stronger than most people. What was creating this huge, beautiful voice? Her brain, the doctor said. Her vocal chords and lungs are NO DIFFERENT than any other human out there. Her brain, and its willingness to learn the art of singing, breath control, perfect pitch—coordinating all of this together—was the key to her ability.

I think that's astounding. It really made me think about the way we approach our talents. Sometimes we are too afraid to tackle something when it might seem impossible to learn. We don't have enough training, we began too late, we're too old, too this, too that. But none of it matters. If you push past the fear and allow your brain to work hard, it will provide everything you need to succeed.

It's all there inside you.