What is it about a new year that gets us humans all fired up? We rush to make goals, but by the second week of February, 80% of us have left those goals in the dust. Perhaps it’s because we get caught up in a frenzy of what other people are doing. Perhaps it’s because we don’t understand our true potential, and we’re not being true to ourselves.
2020 didn’t quite work out the way any of us wanted. But we learned lessons (hopefully!), and we know we can do better in 2021. Make 2021 the year you ditch random goals assigned by society, and instead focus on reaching your personal true potential.
Make the Decision Now
If you want to discover, and reach, your true potential, you have to want it. This is obvious, but it’s also easy to overlook. You need to make a conscious decision that you are going to follow a path of personal growth. You need to be prepared to examine yourself, seek for help when you need it, and stretch yourself when necessary.
Get to Know Yourself
How can you reach your true potential if you don’t know yourself? Most of us actually don’t take the time to truly get to know ourselves. We follow a path prescribed to us by our parents, our communities, our churches, and our schools. Without truly knowing ourselves, we struggle to find meaning and understanding into what we really want to do.
But how do you get to know yourself?
It takes deep introspection. Take some time to record your thoughts about your life. Look at the different categories of your life — personal, career, financial, emotional, family, health, hobbies. Where do you find meaning in these areas? What are your strengths in these areas? What are your weaknesses?
Ask people in your life to list your strengths and weaknesses as well. This can be hard to face, but it is helpful to get an outsider’s perspective into how you present yourself. Be receptive to what people say, and be willing to seek coaching and help to change in areas where you need.
These questions can help you understand yourself — and your true potential — better.
- What do I love doing?
- When I don’t have anything to do, what do I do?
- Are there any chores that are easy — or even enjoyable — for me?
- Who do I enjoy spending time with?
- What makes me feel passionate?
- Who do I want to help?
- How will I be remembered?
- What makes me smile?
- When I was a child, how did I spend my free time?
- In school, what classes did I like?
- What makes me lose track of time?
- What do I like to read?
- If I didn’t have to make money, how would I spend my time?
Don’t Follow Someone Else’s Criteria
This is YOUR potential you’re seeking and reaching. Set your own rules and criteria. Your sister may have benchmarks for success in her life that don’t match yours. You don’t have to follow her standards.
But when we’re surrounded by people accomplishing amazing things, how is this actually possible? How can we not compare ourselves to their successes?
One way to do this is to adopt a mindset of growth. Instead of focusing on outcomes, focus on where you have improved. This allows you to be more realistic about yourself, seeing yourself for who you are.
For example, when you go to bed at night, don’t criticize yourself for leaving the dishes out. Focus on what you did accomplish that day — the successful sales call you made, the time you spent with your family, the load of laundry that got done (even if it didn’t get put away!). This sounds small, but when you get in the habit of focusing on your daily successes, you will be more satisfied with your bigger offerings in life. You’ll see your potential more clearly, and you’ll understand how to reach it.
Keep a Victory Log
Speaking of successes, keep a victory log.
What’s a victory log? It’s just a place where you record your successes. Write in on paper, or keep a doc on your phone. It doesn’t matter how you keep track, but be sure you are keeping track.
Here’s the magical thing that happens. When you write down a success — say, getting your first sale at your new job — it motivates you to keep going. Additionally, when you go back to review your victory log later, you’ll clearly see growth. You’ll see that at one point, that first sale felt insurmountable. Now, you make several sales a week. And if you’ve been keeping track, your victory log has only grown with bigger and better accomplishments.
Your true potential emerges in the space of your victory log, so take this seriously. Write down small successes too, like making your first sales call, jogging around the block, or learning how to make a new dish. As you go, you’ll be reminded that your bigger successes are really just small successes stacked up.
Remember — Failure Is Good
We hope we don’t get faced with another global catastrophe in March of 2021, but the pandemic of 2020 has taught us that when unexpected challenges come up, we figure out a way forward. Sure, it may take several days (weeks, months) of adjustment. Sure, we may never go back to “the way things were.” But we adapt, and we change.
Failure — or curveballs — does that for us. Adopt a mindset that failure is just something to learn from. If your product launch totally bombs, you’re not worthless. Don’t tell yourself you’ll never find your potential. Look at the failure and ask what happened. What can you learn? How can you do it better next time? Failure isn’t bad; it’s good when we choose to learn from it.
Get the Right Support
Put yourself in proximity with supportive people who are also working toward their true potential. Form a group at the office, join a co-working space, find a supportive online group, or reach out to friends and family. Hire a life coach or business coach, or seek a mentor from among your professional groups.
Distance yourself from people who drag you down, and be careful of people who are pessimists about their own life.
Being around encouraging people will help you continue to grow in your potential.
Coworking Connection in Murrieta and Temecula is a great option for surrounding yourself with likeminded, potential-seeking people. Give us a call at 1-800-762-1391. Our affordable options will expand your current possibilities and capabilities, giving you the room, creativity, and connection you need to find your true potential in 2021.