4 Tips to Help You Reach Your Potential

You either have a vision for your life, or you are actively trying to work it out. That’s why you are reading this article. You also likely know that to achieve that vision, that you must find a way to reach your potential.  Those that are operating at or close to their potential are not only usually successful in achieving their vision, but they are very happy as well.

But potential untapped, is just that…potential.  As we get older especially, it seems to get easier to let this potential go.  To let it fade away into the back of our mind and start to settle.  It’s time to reverse that.  No matter if you are 18, or 40, or 70…It’s never too late to start your journey.

This post pulls some wisdom on reaching your potential from John C Maxwell’s “Failing Forward”.

See Yourself Clearly

The first step to reach your potential is to realize that all of us have both good and bad parts to us. None of us are all good or all bad, and we are not likely as good or as bad as we sometimes start to think.  Leaning too far in either direction is troublesome, but it seems most of our problems lie in starting to think too negatively about ourselves.  Find those parts of you that are “good”, and spend some time with them.

To start moving towards becoming the best version of yourself, you must start with an accurate picture of where you are today.    Sometimes it’s helpful to see yourself as others do, sometimes its hurtful.  Those that know you best can help you with this.  When receiving honest feedback, good or bad, from those that are qualified, it can help tune us to what we don’t need to worry about, and need to work on.

It’s best to only take advice from those that are closest to you, because sometimes we focus too much on what someone that doesn’t really know us says or thinks.  That’s certainly happened to me.  This can play into our fear if its inaccurately negative, or keep us from growing if its inaccurately positive.

You must seek to see YOURSELF clearly.  Here’s a quote I love from Jodi Picoult:

“When you’re different, sometimes you don’t see the millions of people who accept you for what you are. All you notice is the person who doesn’t.”

Our minds seem tuned to the things that stand out, and in a case like this, maybe that’s not reality.

Admit Your Flaws Honestly

This can be very uncomfortable, but is critical.  There are two reasons why:

1. Maybe you’re not proud of who you’ve been or something you did.  Healing is needed, and owning it is the first step.
2. It also means you have to admit your weaknesses.  It’s OK, none of us are good at everything.

Need to Heal

Many times, simply admitting to yourself that you are not proud of <whatever it was from the past>, helps start the healing process.  If we carry too much baggage around, its almost impossible to move forward.  Its literally like baggage that is physically too heavy. The great news is that you can start fresh today!  Regardless of what it is you are not proud of, you can start on the path to the new you today.  To do so, own up to it, and commit yourself to a new path.  The first step is to own it.

Weaknesses

Maybe you’re not good at details, or remembering names, or understanding the big picture, or generating leads, or fielding ground balls, or keeping yourself organized, or social media, or talking to people, or <whatever>….. Regardless, step 1 is to admit them.

To be operating at or near your potential, you are actually going to focus on and maximize your strengths (see next section), but there are likely to be some things that you aren’t personally good at that will require your attention to be successful.  Some of these are minor, and some may be a bit more important.  But the first the step is to admit to yourself what they are. Then you make an assessment of those flaws, and determine that if any are important for moving you forward.  For the ones that are, you have to solve the problem.  If these flaws are not critical to moving your forward, then ignore them.

For the flaws that do require attention, you can solve the problem in 2 ways:

1. Work on getting better at it yourself.  This may simply mean you have to get yourself to a “proficient” level, not necessarily an expert level.  For example, lets assume you aren’t good at remembering names.  Find some tricks or tips on the internet (like here and here), and take the time to practice and find the ones that work for you. Maybe you’ll never remember everybody’s name, but you can certainly get good enough at it that you won’t be embarrassed at a party, or during business meetings, or at the next family reunion.
2. Find someone who can do it for you. Of course, this only works for stuff that can actually be outsourced and you can afford (“afford” is an exercise in tradeoff of skill vs time vs money).  For example, let’s assume that you are not good at creating the logo, graphics, and marketing images you need for your business.  You can keep struggling with it, but you you may never arrive at a “good” set of images, and you will have spent countless hours on it, therefore wasting time that could have been spent on maximizing your strengths.  You need to find someone who can do it for you.  You can look for someone locally so you can speak face to face and describe your desires, or now with internet globalization, there are several low cost solutions that provide all you need.

Discover Your Strengths

“If your senses are numbed with delusion and denial, you will stop looking for these true strengths and wind up living a second-rate version of someone’s life rather than a worldclass version of your own”

– Donald O. Clifton, Now, Discover Your Strengths

Most success experts agree that the real KEY to REACHING your POTENTIAL is to discover what you are both:

• Good at
• Love doing

The uniqueness that you bring to this world lies at the intersection of those two, and understanding that uniqueness is the magic to reaching your potential.  Some of you already know what those strengths are. For you, stop wasting time and start acting.  Get on it…today!  Start building on those strengths passionately (see next section).

For many more, you may not even be sure what your strengths are.  So that is your #1 priority.  Today, tomorrow, next week…however long it takes.  And know this, the strengths on which you love to work may change over time, and that’s OK.  You are looking for the strengths on which you can start to build, even if a year or more from now you find that your focus has changed a bit since you first started.  Unless you pick a direction and start moving in it, you never get out of the starting blocks.

How do you find your strengths?  Ultimately, its up to you, but here are some ways to get you started:

• Look inside yourself.  OK, maybe this seems a bit simplistic, and quite possibly a frustrating suggestion. Ultimately, your own version of yourself is what you bring to this world.
• Ask those who are closest to you.  This may be friends and family, but it may also be work colleagues.  Just a simple question asking them what they think you are good at.
• Ask those who don’t know you very well.  Sometimes people with whom we have a casual acquaintance or just met can be very objectively observant.  It may be worth the discussion.  For example, if someone has commented/liked/shared your social media post, reach out that person and ask them what they liked about it or why they shared.  Answers to these questions can provide valuable insight into your strengths.
• Participate in a formal process.  Attend a workshop, seminar, or use the Gallup Strength Finder tool.  Many times local organizations like Chambers of Commerce host such events.  Also, if you work in a corporate environment, you may have access to these tools and events.  Take advantage of it.
• Find some other resources on the internet.   Blogs can be a great source of such information because many people can give you similar suggestions, but each have their own take.  Sometimes different voices, even if saying the same thing, can be just what you need to open your mind.

Build on those Strengths Passionately

Once you know your strengths, go maximize them!  Build on those strengths passionately and with enthusiasm and get even better.  A caution…you must understand that this may indeed still be “work.”  Success rarely comes as a result of the easy path, and even though these are your strengths, it doesn’t mean that you are naturally and easily already great at them.  But you have the potential to be great, and that’s the point.