Potential Is All Around You

3 minutes

Have you ever been told that you are not living up to your potential? If not, let me make it clear, you are not living up to your potential.

I’m not condemning you. This is a simple conclusion. As humans, we tend to avoid things that make us uncomfortable, and to get to our potential, we must get uncomfortable.

How often did you not raise your hand in class because you might have been wrong? You didn’t study for an exam, or you didn’t get a report done for work on time.

I was an expert at making excuses for not getting things done on time. There was always a reason that caused me to fail. The only problem was that I just didn’t get it. I had the ability to do it. I just didn’t do it.

Own Yourself

I can guarantee that I often created the problems that hampered my work. This post is late because I chose to work on other things than this post. The other work was important, but it is not the work’s fault for this post being late. Today, I made the choice to do other work.

I am OK with it being late. I consciously decide to do those other things to facilitate some other important things I am doing. It does not change the fact that the post is late. What I decided was that not meeting my self-imposed deadline was acceptable. I hope you agree, but if not, it really does not matter. My ability to get this done didn’t change. I could have had it done earlier.

Potential And Choice

The choices we make affect the way our potential plays out. If I have ability, I can do something. I am the one who chooses to do it or not, regardless of circumstances.

It reminds me of my desire to play piano. When I was a teenager, my parents offered to pay for piano lessons. I chose to not take them, though I wanted them.

In the moment, I decided that my parents did not have the capability of paying for those lessons and covering other costs in the family. I found an excuse to keep from unlocking potential I knew I had.

Recently, I was discussing my inability to read music with some friends when I noted that my 7th grade teacher taught us the treble clef notes incorrectly. The 7th grade was a long time ago. I realized that in effect, I was allowing that story to keep me from learning to read music. Why? If I learn to read music, then I have not excuse to not learn an instrument. (We have a piano and violins in the house.)

Ability And Doing Are Not The Same

Just because you can do something does not mean you will do it. In fact, you are not very likely to do things you have ability to do. You may be say that isn’t so, but consider what you have done today. Did you do everything you are capable of doing? Of course not.

It requires decision making to get things done. My great-grandfather, Edwin Fincher was a horse trader. He had to choose horses to buy or sell. He didn’t buy, nor did he sell every horse that he came across. It would not have been wise to do so.

Find for yourself the potential you want to work on this week. Pick something simple if you need to, but choose something and start working on it. You will probably get a little uncomfortable. That is OK, and expected. Just keep going. You still don’t know yet what you still can accomplish.