DAILY SLICES OF LIFE

 Unlocking your Potential

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential; …these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”

         This wonderful and powerful observation on unlocking one’s personal potential, and achieving personal excellence was made in the 5^th century BCE, by Confucius, one of the greatest and most respected of the ancient Chinese philosophers. His philosophy and teachings have served to greatly influence people’s behavior around the world throughout the ages, and have continued to be influential even in today’s highly competitive societies. He is credited with emphasizing individual and group responsibility, improved social correctness and relationships based on sincerity. He stressed further that all one’s actions, before they can be considered complete, must include kindness, justice and personal excellence. Every person was morally and socially bound to strive for excellence in everything he does, and duty bound to try always to unlock and fulfill his full potential. It not enough to just be better than all others, but rather, one must aim to be the very best he can become.

          Human beings, quite unlike every other member of the animal kingdom, are by nature endowed with innate abilities to make use of their special skills as building blocks to achieve desired goals and successes. How they make use of these unique talents will go a long way to unlocking their full potential, and allowing them to uncover their hidden abilities and strengths, and in so doing, allow them to grow and progress in life. It is this capacity that allows them to make full use of their innate ability to recognize, understand, and manage their own emotional needs and requirements. Without this they will never be able to unlock their true potential, nor will they be able to influence others to achieve more. All the great progress the world has enjoyed was achieved by people endowed with good insights and the ability to fully exploit their potentials. History is replete with their names and their stories and their many successes. They include people from all over the world, and from every walk of life.  And they all seem to exhibit a number of common features that include, sound insight of their needs, a clear goal to aim for, and strong motivation to continue on to completion. This is what Philip Arnold, a respected American public speaker tried to stress, when he observed:

“Your inner potential cannot ever develop without your willingness and conscious participation.”

          For the great majority of mankind however, the quality of life they choose to live appears to be far below this standard. Instead, the behavior that is preferred is one that is based on how they see and define themselves against a background of their past experiences. Rather than defining themselves by a standard founded on their true potential and capabilities, they are content to use past performances as their guide for future direction. This has the ultimate effect of producing a restricted life, dictated by their current ability, without giving any consideration about who they are, and what they were capable of accomplishing. This choice, although relatively convenient and easy to implement, will result in a significant loss in enriching performance and satisfaction. Instead, the only option that ought to be used must be the one that fully involves future potential and capability; -not just who he is, but who he is capable of becoming. This is precisely what Thomas Edison, the great American industrialist and inventor meant, when he advised:

“Don’t let your past define your future.”

         Unfortunately, all but a relative few of us ever make use of the opportunity to take the necessary actions to give ourselves the chance of full expression. The reasons for this reticence are far more related to our own feelings of fear and inadequacies, than with any lack of ability. Each time we allow ourselves to dwell on thoughts that lead us in the wrong direction, we not only avoid making the right ones, but worse, we actually succeed in increasing the negative illusion of our limitation, and consequently enhancing our chances of more failure. Walt Disney, undoubtedly the world’s most successful entertainment entrepreneur, very clearly understood this, as he successfully rose above his fears and inhibitions to make full use of his own potential. He offered this very basic but effective explanation for the successful unlocking of his vast potential:

“We keep moving forward, opening doors, and doing new things because we are curious; -and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

         But unfortunately, for every person who succeeded in unlocking his potential and fulfilling his desires, there are undoubtedly many others who might have been equally, or better endowed, but who spent their lives desperately searching for, but never succeeding in finding satisfaction. More often than not, they failed, not because of lack of desire or effort, but rather, because they were busy trying to impress others, or to copy them, or alternatively, they persisted in looking in the wrong directions. This deeply embedded sense of insecurity and insatiable need for reassurance is perhaps the greatest weakness in mankind’s psyche. It interferes with his ability to recognize and fully appreciate his true potential, to focus on his own internal compass, or to trust his own judgment. It is no surprise therefore, that most of them give up the quest, and instead, choose the easier route of following others.

         No one can truly appreciate his own potential by looking outside for guidance, nor can anything be achieved by blindly following others. The search will only become meaningful and useful, when the person first makes the effort to understand himself and his abilities, while he identifies his weaknesses and his strengths. This journey can only begin with a conscious awareness of the inner self, and by finding ways to create a connection with his innate potential and the infinite possibilities it offers. Finding this will always trigger an epiphany, and invariably instills the impetus needed to move forward. Armed with a new found confidence he can stop the negative thinking of inadequacy, inability and incompetence, and replace them with understanding, confidence and desire to succeed. These are the entrepreneurs, the leaders, the successful explorers and all the others who together have changed the world.

          But this event rarely comes by chance, nor are they ever passed on from generation to generation. It always begins from deep within the individual’s being, where his spirit resides, and with an ego that will not rest without fulfillment. Rather than accepting mediocrity, it requires honest acknowledgment of one’s needs, an insatiable appetite for improving, and the courage to commit to change. Only by fully and successfully exploiting one’s potential, can there be no intention of accepting failure to be the end, rather than part of the journey, nor will there be courage to confront the doubts, the disappointments or the patience to finish the journey and confront the many obstacles on the way. This I suspect, is what this unknown author tried to convey, quite simply and effectively, when he advised:

 

“To uncover your true potential, you must first find your own limits, and then have the courage to blow past them.”

 

-Indeed, nothing or no one can prevent anyone from truly unlocking and reaching his full potential. The challenge lies in the person to fulfill his potential by identifying his dreams, exerting the necessary determination, character, and skill to find the courage, and then pursuing the course to the end.

 

 

 

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