Squatted to rise and baked on the squat

I was raised by my grandparents for most of my life. It was where my Mom would drop us as she was sorting out yet another divorce and so I have this vast collection of really old sayings. Some of them are really strange and I have even had to look them up to find their meanings. The one above sums up a lot of situations that I have had in my life. You see, I ran into my old lover today... he fits this quote to a T.
First let me explain how the expression came about. Picture how some one would squat down so they could really jump high.. now add a little wisdom about when your cooking old fashion biscuits. You see after you cut them out of the dough, you put them on a baking sheet and place them in a pre-heated oven. IF all goes as planned, they should rise and be nice and fluffy and then cook that way. If things don't go so well, then they will not rise and unfortunately cook that way and you get flat hard hockey pucks for biscuits...
People, relationships, jobs, moves to a new city you name it. .. Great starts full of potential and high hopes. But some where things go terribly wrong and they never fulfill that great expectation that we had for them.
Take my ex lover (please) lol .. no seriously, He's a great example of this. Great guy, nice, outgoing, friendly, happy (or so it seems on the surface) and has years and years of experience in bodybuilding. Has made it to pretty high levels in the sport. Talks a great game. Will tell you about how he trained this person and knows that person. How he has won contests stretching back to the being of time. Has his own personal training business that should be going balls to the wall yet.....isn't. When he was put to the test to get someone ready for a bodybuilding show, he failed miserably. When asked if any of these people he's trained will write a recommendation for him, he has no one who will. So what gives? Well as I later found out by being as close as he would let me get to him and his personal situation, it takes more then all the potential, all the talk and all the prior history in the world to make something happen. You need drive, unrelenting drive. The nothing in the world is going to stop me kind of drive. The I'm not sitting around telling stories of glory days I'm doing it now! kind of drive. Otherwise well, you kind of end up just like the biscuit.. you fail to raise to your full and present potential. While your squatting down to make that big leap to be something, you never do anything and bake right there on the squat.
I still care for this person but I am no longer snake charmed by him as the saying goes. In a way I feel kind of sorry for him. Such a waste..all that potential to be one of the great trainers, to have a thriving business going, to have someone like me in his corner, but because he lacks the serious drive to make it happen, nothing does.
I keep the quote by Calvin Coolidge 'Nothing can take the place of persistence.'posted through out my house. What you may lack in God given talent you can make up for with drive. But all the talent in the world means nothing if you never get off your ass and use it.