If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
Every single person is born with unfathomed potential.
This potential unfolds like a sprouting seed that someday turns into a big strong tree that bears fruit.
But only if you nourish the seed.
The very idea of success and progress is captivating. It’s what inspires you to get a degree, reach for that promotion, or work on that summer body.
Few people, however, look for ways to expedite and improve the most important part of our potential: the journey or what some call the grind.
In other words, the path that leads you to our potential.
Before you get all excited in the hopes that by the time you’re done reading this article turning into a Krypton born (basically Superman) is a possibility, be warned that you’re not. This article is more about the Clark Kent to Superman, Bruce Wayne to Batman, and Diana Prince to Wonder Woman.
But what dictates that kind of transformation?
The journey? Not quite, it’s a bit deeper than that.
It’s about personality or character. Because that is the single most powerful thing that dictates how we traverse the journey to our goals. It determines what we can achieve.
Let these mentioned tips guide you to initiate your steps towards seeking your untapped potential.
Take The Drivers Seat in Your Life
Make no mistake, exploring your potential is a challenging task.
A task that most people are afraid to take up, or are at a loss where to start. For some fortunate few it takes just a fraction of a second to realize their capabilities. Like how a defining moment can change an individual’s perception forever.
For the less fortunate, it becomes a lifelong process. A journey where they are guided by mentors and principles towards living a fuller life and beyond their presumed potential.
What if Peter Parker (Spiderman) didn’t have it in him to deal with the struggle of self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and decided to just give up?
How do you feel watching a scene where the ‘man of steel’ wrestles with Lex Luthor?
Enthralling, right? Like you’re actually a part of the fight for the betterment of humanity.
What if in the middle of this universally decisive fight Superman decides to tap out because he ‘feels’ that he isn’t capable of winning this fight? He wouldn’t be a superhero anymore.
The point here is to show you that the single most important factor in shifting negative bearings into positive force is you.
Everything depends on you.
I would be lying if I told you that nobody has doubts and anxieties. Apart from my 4-year-old nephew, everybody I know has one concern or the other that wears them down (this lot includes me as well).
This doesn’t mean that we stop living our lives and fighting our fights.
You have the right and potential to live your life the best you can. But only you have the power to take responsibility to move your life forward.
So stop doubting yourself. Because you are more than enough. Don’t corrupt your personal growth with doubts and fears.
Be Yourself
Remember the scene where Elsa in the hit movie Frozen sings “Let it go” and that scene becomes a pivotal point in developing her character as a snow queen?
The point where she decides to “let go” of her fear of using her powers? That’s exactly what you need to do. Of course, I don’t suggest that you wear a magical blue gown and sing “Let It Go” and spin around all over your house.
What I mean is, give yourself permission to be who you really are, just as Elsa did during the song.
Embrace Change
The most powerful tool to help you move forward is to embrace change.
This decision must be a conscious choice. Make a commitment to yourself to start pursuing growth.
You can change the way you dress, the way you look or even change your location. But remember that nothing changes until your mind changes. You need to make a mental choice to invite change into your life.
It will become an impossible task to reach your full potential if you’re not willing to change.
As scary as change can be, it’s the main ingredient in success.
So you must call on change, embrace it, adapt to that change and improvise yourself in that change. Embrace, adapt and improvise.
One reason why a lot of people are afraid of pursuing change is because it’s full of potential risks. It’s shrouded in the unknown.
This is because change comes with the possibility of failure. This causes you to doubt yourself.
But what most people forget is that change also comes with the possibility of growth, happiness, and success.
The inception of change should be a conscious effort to stop questioning yourself and pursue personal prosperity.
Taking on change is a lot easier said than done of course.
It takes practice. Start with small changes and work your way up.
The more you embrace change, the more you will realize how much it can radically improve your life.
Fix Your Goals
If you don’t have any specific goals in life, your life can easily become stale and repetitive. You essentially tread water from day to day, without really getting anywhere.
And when you don’t grow, you diminish. Much like if you don’t exercise (grow), your muscles will fade away.
But when you establish clear goals, your work is already half done. It gives your life a sense of direction. A defined path to success in life.
In fact, one study led by Gail Matthews at Dominican University found that those who wrote down their goals achieved significantly more than those who didn’t.
When setting your goals…
Don’t pick any ordinary goals.
Identify your passion and set goals according to it.
This passion should fuel your motivation to achieve your goals.
Do it with passion or not at all.
Here’s another thing you should take into consideration with your goals…
Set your goals without the fear of failure.
What would you go for if you were a hundred percent sure that you wouldn’t fail? Go for it.
Let your curiosity, passion, and unanswered questions brew a goal that you can pursue. Or else they will forever remain those ‘what if’s’ in your life that drag you down.
Once you have that done, set a mental picture of your goal. Break it down into short-term goals you’d like to achieve in the next year.
Then narrow it down to what you’d like to accomplish in the next month. Once you’ve set your goals, write them down and make plans to accomplish them.
Just make sure that your goals always have a timeline. Otherwise, you will never get around to accomplishing them.
Meditate Every Day
What is it that man has not conquered?
The highest mountain, the highest peak, space, the depths of the deepest ocean, man has conquered it all. The irony in this context remains the struggle to conquer our own mind.
Meditation is the key to controlling the mind.
Meditation can bring our reckless mind under control. This builds an aura of peace in our mind enables us to achieve what we want to.
According to a study conducted by Harvard researchers meditation rebuilds the brain’s grey matter in just 8 weeks.
Without nerding out too hard, the point here is that this grey matter that we’re talking about involves muscle control, memory, emotions, self-control, speech, hearing and most importantly, decision making.
Distractions have the potential to delay and destroy your dreams.
To be able to reach your full potential requires you must have constant focus.
How do you think your most loved famous personalities cope with being a stressed out millennial? Almost all of them meditate and the list includes Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Russell Brand, Hugh Jackman, Miranda Kerr, Katy Perry and other famous people making their mark successfully.
Regardless of the intensity of the distraction or whether it is a good or bad distraction, it is important to be identified.
There’s no denying that we are living in the most stressed out generation of history. It is crucial to calm your mind, cleanse it and energize your mind to be able to think clearly. Thinking clearly will help you prioritize your plans and goals.
Meditation is a way to experience deeper aspects of yourself by transcending the body and mind. Discipline your mind to attain inner peace. Just as Master Shifu says “Anything is possible if you have inner peace.”
Be Positive
This is a key element. Negative thoughts and doubts are like an anchor that holds you down from sailing forth. Unchain yourself from the negativity.
What do you think would have happened to Oprah Winfrey if she had decided to call it quits when she was fired from her first TV job as an anchor in Baltimore?
Every setback has a hidden opportunity, if only we step back, take a breather and find the positive element in it. Oprah Winfrey now owns her own channel and has made it to Forbes third richest self-made woman in 2017.
Learn from her story and let positivity guide you.
Keep in mind that not everything works from day one. Every successful person has experienced countless failures in their life. But it never stopped them. It only strengthened them.
Where do you think experience and wisdom come from? They come from trials and failures.
Think about the state of mind you’d be in after every achievement. The feeling of being able to experience something you once thought you would never be able to do.
Be courageous consistently.
Your faith in yourself must be unshakable. Don’t beat yourself down for anything.
Train your mind to cultivate the art of awareness and compassion. Understand that achieving goals comes with a lot of challenges, pain, and failures.
Coming from the self-made woman herself is this pearl of wisdom; “There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.”
Keep Track
Once you identify what your purpose is, keep a list of every little victory you achieve. Every day. Keep it simple and clear.
Amidst the smooth sailing sea, days of thunder and storm are sure to strike. For days both sunny and sad, a success list can help remind you why you shouldn’t let go of your confidence.
If you want to take this one step further, write your achievements on a sticky note and put it in a big jar. That way you can visually see “everything good that’s in your life.”
When you start doubting your capabilities, let your success list or jar give you a reality check.
Feed your soul some positivity. Go through all of the positive things you’ve done. Read them out loud. Reading aloud will help your mentality absorb the positivity of that list. It will help the brain accept it as a fact.
Doing this says that you believe in it enough to say it out loud. This list must be a proof to yourself that you are capable of positive achievements.
Gratitude journaling is also a great way to cultivate a consistently positive mood.
Get A Guide
Majority of great personalities in the history of mankind had somebody to guide them.
A mentor, guru, or teacher who helped them realize and reach their full potential.
Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, the late Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, and Maya Angelou and Oprah Winfrey still remain are some fantastic examples of the mentor-mentee relationship.
The hardest part of accomplishing anything is getting started. Mentors nudge you towards the right direction in taking the first fearful step and the steps that follow.
Whatever it is that your list of goals includes, a mentor is going to help you achieve them. A new, unexplored path towards something new is going to bring along a lot of uncertainty.
Experience is something that money can’t buy. It can only be earned, or shared. A great mentor will share their experience with you to help you achieve your goal in the best possible way they know how.
Be Uncomfortable
Dreaming to achieve things beyond where you’ve already set your capabilities requires you to stretch beyond your comfort zone.
You must challenge yourself.
“Venture outside your comfort zone. The rewards are worth it” says Rapunzel in Tangled.
Discovering your full potential requires getting out of your comfort zone! The adventure of exploring what lies beyond needs consistent courage. Don’t be afraid to step forward.
Remember how Rapunzel had her magical hair chopped off towards the end?
It was a heart-breaking scene.
But then I realized that the story wasn’t about the beautiful hair and its healing magic. It was about being able to live exactly as they wanted in the end. The sacrifice was made with a bigger picture in mind. But in the end, the dream was accomplished.
In the same breath, your accomplishments also depend on the things that you are willing to sacrifice to achieve your new set goals.
Reaching your maximum potential requires maximum sacrifice. It requires taking calculated risks. Consider giving up your comfort and making even major sacrifices, if it means it will be a leverage towards discovering your top potential.
Be open to new experiences and don’t hesitate to try new things. Life is an adventure after all.
Action combats doubts. The sooner you begin the farther you can go. How much you sacrifice is how much you can achieve.
Be patient because great things take time – and I mean it. Remember that nothing can substitute hard work. Never give up on yourself because you can achieve greatness in whatever you choose to do. It all begins by making a choice. Make a choice to make a change. Focus on that one person who can lead you to where you want to be. Focus on you! Take steps to improve yourself instead of comparing yourself to other people. Move forward, grow, and set goals.
Don’t give up.