Realizing Your Potential
During a recent conversation with a close friend, she expressed a lot of frustration with co-workers, and what struck me was the level of blame she laid on her co-workers for her frustration. She is an incredible woman who has overcome a variety of obstacles to achieve a lot of success. She, like many people, possesses a great deal of potential for higher levels of success yet her potential is clearly being blocked by her current state of mind. So I did what a good friend does – I challenged her by asking lots of questions. Ultimately, she asked me to coach and mentor her, and as I reflected on where to start the process, the starting point became very clear. Write a blog article containing some practical tips on how she can be better tomorrow by accentuating her potential today. If you have not reached your potential, here are 7 things you and my dear friend can do right now to remove the blockade that is holding your potential hostage.
Let Discontent Motivate You into the Right Actions
Stop complaining. It’s the wrong action to take when you’re unhappy with your current circumstances. Whatever you’re unhappy with, use it to motivate you. Anybody can complain. People who realize their potential do so by identifying the incredible opportunities brilliantly disguised as significant challenges.
Focus on Results, Not Activity
Examine your daily activities and routines and ask yourself, “What results am I achieving from my daily activities?” Chances are, most of what you do on a daily basis is like comfort food – it looks and tastes good but produces the wrong results. Solve this problem of habits by simply focusing on the results you want to achieve. By doing so, it will be easy to identify the right actions you need to take.
Think and Speak Success
Check your thoughts and language. Chances are, the majority of your thoughts are limiting thoughts, and the majority of your language will be reinforcing those thoughts. To change your thinking and language is not easy, which is why this success tip requires the next success tip to be utilized to ensure change occurs.
Allow Others to Challenge Your Excuses
Eliminate the use of the words “could”, “should”, and “would” because they are often associated with excuses. Jim Smith, Jr., who is my mentor and the author of “The No Excuse Guide to Success”, frequently says when you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them. Allow others to help you develop a habit of eliminating excuse-based thinking and excuse-reinforcing words.
Enable Others’ Success to Grow Your Own Success
Constantly seek opportunities to add value to others. Do it in spite of whatever excuses you may want to use for not investing your time and resources in them. Dale Carnegie, who wrote the leading book on relationships (How to Win Friends and Influence People), said the key to success is helping others get what they want. When you do, it will boomerang back to you tenfold.
Hang Around Make A Difference People
The quickest way to realize your potential is to hang around “make a difference” people. The more you do, the easier it becomes because “make a difference” people invest in those who want to make a difference for others. Make a list of people you know who are active in making a positive difference in other peoples’ lives. Connect with them. Make another list of the people you know who are making a negative difference in your life and the lives of others. Disconnect from them. Stack the deck in favor of those making a difference, and you too will be a recognized difference maker in no time.
Enable Problem Solving and Disable Problem Spotting
In his keynote speech on why people don’t reach their potential, John Maxwell said anyone can spot a problem. That’s true, isn’t it? He gave an incredibly simple and highly effective strategy for helping convert problem spotters into problem solvers. When someone spots a problem, require them to suggest at least 3 potential solutions and one of the suggestions must include them. You can see how effective that strategy is, can’t you? Over time, you’ll experience a lot less problems and a lot more solutions, and that will help you realize your potential.
By implementing these 7 simple success tips, you accentuate your potential today and significantly enhance the probability that your tomorrow will be better. So don’t delay, start taking action today!
What other tactics have you used to make a better tomorrow? I would love to hear them, so share them in the comments section below.
And as always, for more tips and strategies on achieving and sustaining your success, visit my website at www.ictscorp.com, subscribe to this blog, and follow me on social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook). By doing so, you will gain access to leading edge research on management and leadership development and have access to daily inspirational and motivational quotes that will drive your success trajectory upward. So don’t delay, follow me and think yourself to success today!
