We'd never look at a 10-year-old who struggles with math and declare, "Well, you'll never be an engineer."

We'd never watch a kid fumble through their first piano lesson and announce, "Music just isn't for you."

We'd never see a child's messy drawing and conclude, "You're not artistic."

That's absurd. Of course they can learn. Of course they can improve. Of course their current skill level has nothing to do with what they could become with practice, patience, and good teaching.

But somehow, at 40 or 50, we've convinced ourselves that our current capabilities are permanent.

Listen to how leaders talk about themselves:

"I've been leading for 15 years—I know what I'm good at and what I'm not."
"At my age, I'm not going to suddenly become a different kind of leader."
"I've tried to improve in that area before, and it didn't stick."

Each of these statements treats adult skills as if they're set in stone—as though learning magically stops the day we become adults.

Here's what's crazy: You're actually better equipped to learn now than that 10-year-old you'd encourage to keep trying.

You have better focus. You understand how to break down complex problems. You've developed pattern recognition. You know how to seek out mentors and resources. You can connect new information to decades of experience.

Yet you've decided your growth potential expired somewhere along the way.

The only difference between the 10-year-old who "could become anything" and the 45-year-old who's "maxed out" isn't capacity.

It's belief.

The 10-year-old believes they can learn. The 45-year-old has decided they can't.

And here's the truth that should shake you: Your capacity for growth isn't determined by what you've accomplished—it's determined by what you're willing to learn.

That skill you think you'll never develop? You probably just haven't found the right approach yet.

That weakness you've accepted as permanent? It's only permanent if you stop trying to strengthen it.

That next level of leadership you think is beyond you? 
It's not. You just haven't grown into it yet.

If you believe you've maxed out your potential, you're right. Not because you actually have, but because you've capped yourself.

Your future isn't determined by what you've done—it's determined by what you're willing to do next.

So here's your choice: Keep measuring your future potential by what you’ve failed to accomplish in the past, or start treating yourself with the same growth-minded optimism you'd show a 10-year-old.

Because the truth is, that 10-year-old and the 50-year-old leader have the exact same capacity for growth.

The only question is: Which one are you going to believe you are?

- Hunter