untapped potential??

people are always telling me "you have so much potential"... i would like someone to tell me how exactly i can tap into this! do you ever see such wonderful, creative works of art that SHOULD inspire you to want to create something wonderful yourself but instead just feel defeated before you even begin? i THINK i have some marvelous things wandering around in my brain but it's very foggy up there and i can quite see them clearly. i only see these things in fleeting glimpses... so frustrating and a bit discouraging! i know they're in there but i don't know how to get them out~
i've been looking at a lot of polymer clay stuff and i'd like to attempt doing something more than my basic nintendo and studio ghibli charcters (although i must say, they turn out pretty cute). there is such amazing detail that people put into their creations that i feel... defeated. yup. that's the perfect word. (check out this as a gateway to what i'm talking about ~ http://polymerclaydaily.com)
sometimes, i think i could draw out what i see inside the murkiness of my head but it never turns out. aaaaaaaargh. what to do to let this "creative potential" out into the real world....
ever wonder what it must be like inside the brain of tim burton or hayao miyazaki? it must be so clear and bright and vivid. they are my imaginative gurus! oh, to be able to make the visions tactile~ what bliss eludes me!