You go to an office every day. it's a 9-5 gig. (read as 7:30 - whenever for some of us) You're somewhere between competent and excellent at your job, and the people you work with seem to like you and the value that comes with working with you. Let's even call you a model employee. But you're hiding something. I know it, and you know it, and the people around you know it too. 

They say "Wow! You'd be a fantastic...", "You sure seem to know a lot about..." or my favorite "Have you ever thought of being a..."

It hurts at first. You might ask yourself: "Aren't I good enough at my job that these people will just accept me for who I am? What is it about me that makes them think I need to be anything else?" But they keep bugging you. It's deflating and demoralizing. You just don't have it in you to deflect one more excited utterance.  

As people point out the characteristics in you that might make a good chef/baker/writer/teacher, you're reaction could be to tuck that part of you away, so it won't be called out, and you won't feel so exposed. 

Please don't do that. 

That uncomfortable scrutiny you're feeling is the side-effect of a rare and powerful gift: leadership. Chances are you just taught or inspired somebody. You surprised them by displaying a part of yourself that they admire, maybe even something they aspire toward. 

'Changing the game' by coming up with the genius idea that makes you rich, famous and influential is hard. But, we can all examine the things that make us a little different from the folks around us, and embrace our individuality as the path to our own unique version of success.