Have you ever thought of where the richest place on earth is?
“The wealthiest place on the planet is the cemetery. There lies buried the greatest treasure of untapped potential.” -Myles Munroe
Potential is a powerful word which resonates with possibility, optimism, and hope. On the flip side of the coin, unfulfilled potential is its polar opposite counterpart. Unachieved potential implies pessimism, unrealized promises, and dashed dreams.
How confident are you in what you are doing NOW to avoid not living up to your potential? The good news is that your potential doesn’t have to lie forgotten in the cemetery of buried treasures.
Checkpoint
This is your 6-month checkpoint. We are halfway through the year; are you on track to finish the goals, projects, or ideas you wanted to achieve by years end?
Realizing your potential starts with how you think. Let’s look at six key things you must do to ensure that you finish the year strong and increase your chances of living up to your potential.
To Live Up to Your Full Potential You Must:
1. Write a Bestseller
Who is writing your life story? Unfortunately, many times, the main contributors to your story are either negative factors or voices of those who have no authority providing content to your book. Some imposters who contribute to your authentic work are:
- Fear
- Discouragement
- Skepticism
- The Opinions of Others
Sadly, many people long to be the characters in someone else’s story rather than being the hero and author of their own.
All epic sagas are stories of resiliency and triumph. If you want to have a blockbuster life story, you must set a firm intention and write yourself into the hero’s role. As you write your story, identify your strengths and talents. Ask yourself the essential questions:
- What conflict are you facing that you must overcome to avoid failure and succeed?
- What foes do you need to vanquish?
- What inner strength do you possess to help you overcome obstacles?
Obtain a bird’s eye view and recognize the imposters that are contributing to your story so you can minimize their influence over your thoughts.
It’s time to grab the pen and become the author of your life story. When you do, make it a bestseller filled with adventure, beauty, and victory.
“When writing the story of your life, don’t let anyone else hold the pen.” -Unknown
2. Learn to Think for Yourself
Do you make other people’s beliefs your own without thought as to what your personal beliefs are?
If you genuinely want to find independence and fulfill your God-given potential, you MUST learn to think for yourself. To tap into the power of your potential, it’s imperative that you have a mind of your own and make sound decisions based on reasoning, deduction, and discernment.
Independent thinking leads to self-reliance. Developing and possessing critical thinking skills is a legitimate game changer. It also is the difference between a life of mediocrity and one of fulfillment, meaning, and endless possibilities.
To start independent thinking:
- Cultivate a mindset of curiosity and wonder.
- Learn to utilize your reasoning skills rather than just blindly believing everything and everyone.
- Understand the difference between facts, opinions, and inferences.
- Start solving problems for yourself.
Unlocking your intellectual independence, and taking personal responsibility for your own thinking, are actions that lead to an empowered life.
“Education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think.” -Albert Einstein
3. Redefine the Word Challenge
How many times in the past few months have you seen invitations to challenges? There’s the: 30-day weight loss challenge, 90-day wellness challenge, the plank challenge and an endless plethora of group challenges.
The goal of these challenges is to win. Learning to see challenges through the lens of contests and opportunities to win gives you a life-changing paradigm.
I recently read a book about the extraordinary life of Dr. Ben Carson, prominent neurosurgeon, and the first doctor to lead a team that separated Siamese twins joined at the back of the head. Dr. Carson is known around the world for his breakthroughs in neurosurgery and the miracle surgeries he performed on children who others had written off as hopeless.
What most people don’t know is that Ben Carson had been battling incredible odds stacked against him since he was a child. He was raised in the inner-city of Detroit by a single mom with a third-grade education. Ben’s circumstances told him he wouldn’t amount to anything.
However, his faith in God and his relentless desire to view his challenges as opportunities to win propelled him from an unmotivated failing student to becoming a world-renowned neurosurgeon. In addition to that, he also holds more than forty honorary doctorates and was named one of eighty-nine Living Legends by the Library of Congress.
A dominant theme throughout Dr. Carson’s life story was his ability to view challenges as opportunities to win.
One helpful strategy you can implement immediately to help you switch your brain to view challenges as opportunities is to:
- Identify current challenges.
- Cue yourself with a new word to replace the word challenge; such as opportunity, win, or possibilities.
- Remember your formula: CHALLENGE = WINNING.
You can view your challenges as obstacles, trials, and struggles or you can see them as occasions for you to shine. The choice is always yours.
4. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
“Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.” -Jordan Peterson
Every moment you wish you were someone else or have what they have is wasted time you will never get back. Comparison robs you of embracing your authentic self.
Think about it, when the voice of comparison speaks, it usually chooses one solitary arena to focus on such as the achievements, power, or statuses of others. It then goes on to magnify that arena as if it is the only factor in the equation that matters.
When you are tempted to compare yourself to something or someone – instead do a reality check:
- Is the voice of your inner critic casting doubt on who you are and what you are capable of doing?
- Recognize that comparison is a thief and it is based on exaggerated, skewed logic.
- What embellished quality or qualities are you magnifying in others and minimizing in yourself?
- Make an honest assessment of your thoughts, control your emotions, and then close the door in your mind to comparison.
Learning to embrace your authentic self leads to a life of greater freedom and independence.
5. Identify Your Predominate Toxic Thought
Do you have a negative predominate thought that is continuously running through your mind like incessant chatter? Predominate toxic thoughts are played on repeat and may sound like:
- I should have…
- If only I…
- I can’t figure this out…
- I don’t know what to do…
- I can’t get this out of my mind
Now and then we all have negative thoughts that dominate our thinking. However, if these thoughts are left unchecked, they will derail your goals and thwart you from reaching your potential. What is a dictating thought that you tell yourself over and over again that is not serving you? It’s time to address those thoughts, so they are not holding you captive and preventing you from moving forward.
Your mind is a commanding force, and whether you realize it or not, your energy is based on your prevailing thoughts. If you want to be discouraged, disempowered, and defeated, then continue to focus on those thoughts.
If on the other hand, you want to soar past toxic mindsets and embrace energies of vibrancy, determination, and inspiration, you need to:
- Stop ruminating over those thoughts.
- Shut down the chatter in your mind.
- Choose the powerful energy you desire.
Taking control over your thoughts is a powerful action that fuels optimism and resiliency.
6. Embrace Momentum
Momentum is motion and constant movement; it’s forward progress that proves time after time to be your best friend.
Because momentum is such a powerful energy, it often determines whether you win or lose. If you think I’m kidding take a look at sports where it is best illustrated. When a team has momentum, and they stay consistent with it, they usually win. Once momentum gets going, it is tough to stop.
When you lose momentum, you become vulnerable to defeat. The key to not losing your momentum is obvious; keep moving regardless of your circumstances.
If you find you’ve lost your focus, and are procrastinating, try using this strategy to get your momentum back:
- Get a stopwatch and set the timer for 5 minutes and move in a positive direction followed by a 5-minute break.
- Reset the timer for 20 minutes and take another 5-minute break.
- Continue in this pattern sequence until you feel you’ve got momentum back on your side.
The key is to keep moving.
“People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed.” -Tony Robbins
Finish Strong
If you want to increase the chances of accomplishing your goals this year and avoid burying your potential in the cemetery of lost dreams, you MUST take these 6 points very seriously. Once you focus on doing these things, you’ll upgrade your life immediately.
You will have more energy to perform your daily tasks.
You will be a more confident person.
You will consistently experience empowerment.
You will have a greater sense of freedom over your life.
You will have the power of momentum on your side.
The decisions you make today become the stories you tell tomorrow; make them memorable.
Ready to Dig Deeper?
Want to increase your chances of achieving that next level of success? Download my FREE Achievement Predictor Questionnaire to Discover 8 Factors that Predict Your Success no matter where you are today.
Rita helps her clients:
• Embrace their true potential
• Change their limiting beliefs/thoughts
• Create Purpose
• Live Empowered, Confident, and Successful Lives
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