How to Develop New Powers of Action

One of the ways we tend to limit ourselves is to decide, in advance, that we cannot succeed at something, that we don’t have the education, the experience, the skill or the necessary training to accomplish that task. We imprison ourselves within our narrow range by this type of mental restriction. Instead of experiencing life, trying to do new things, we give up before we start.

A disciple asks: “Sometimes there are latent powers in us of which we are unaware. To do a work, how is one to know whether one is capable of doing it or not?”

The Mother observes: “How can one know whether one is capable of doing it or not! By trying. That’s the best thing. And if you do not succeed immediately, persevere. And you must know that if a strong urge, a very strong urge to do something comes to you, that means this work has something to do with you and you are capable of doing it. But one can have powers which are so well hidden that one has to dig long before finding them. So you must not get discouraged at the first setback, you must persist.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter I Latent Powers, pg. 8