living up to your potential

I don't think there is anything more frustrating than feeling you are not living up to your true potential. What makes it even worse is when you feel like you might actually have the potential to create or do something worthwhile. Whether you are a writer, artist, painter, teacher, plumber, electrician, doctor, or mechanic; it doesn't matter. Everyone has some sort of ideal of what they should aspire to. What happens when your ideals don't match the reality? Or what you perceive as your reality. Are you harder on yourself than you would be on others? Do you cut others slack and then string yourself up with the leftover?

So how do you overcome the feeling that you aren't doing enough? If you are a creative type, is there a map that will lead you to your muse? How do you balance what you need to do and what you want to do? What is the combination to finding a true balance between creativity and responsibilty?

If you are an artist, do you ever feel overwhelmed by your ideas? Do you feel like there are too many swimmming around in your head? Are there too many things you want to do? How did you weed through them?

If you have any ideas, please share them.

-Scott