You were born with potential

If you think you are good for nothing. You are mistaken. You are even wrong about everything.

William Duggan

There is a potential in each of us to do many great things. And it’s important not to miss out on it to exploit it fully. Think about it, choose your path and reveal what you are capable of.

Know yourself and believe in yourself

On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you think you know yourself? Do you have enough insight into yourself to know what your strengths and weaknesses are?

The last question is relatively classic in a job interview and in my opinion in this context, it is not relevant. However, it becomes central if you really ask it of yourself, without lying or passing off your faults as qualities. Everyone has faults and qualities. There is no point in hiding them. Be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses.

You can only grow by getting to know yourself.

But it is far from obvious, I admit. For myself, on this scale, I think I’m between 6 and 7. Although I’ve been interested in personal development for a few years now, and I’ve grown and learned a lot about myself, I still have a lot of things I’d like to discover and confidence to gain.

Confidence is a key point. Have confidence in yourself. It will make you want to move forward and go further in your projects.

Be your own first fan.

You believe in the potential of others, so why not believe in your own potential?

Choose your areas of focus

There is a quote from Lewis Howes in the book “The school of greatness” that stuck with me.

“There are a million ways to be great and a million more things to be great at. Most of them don’t come with a medal or a giant check.” These things can be: being a parent, being generous, being an artist, being an entrepreneur, being thoughtful, … You don’t have to aim for the extraordinary to develop your potential.

His sentence stuck with me because it reminded me that you don’t always have to be very ambitious only for exceptional projects or activities. You can be good at a lot of things and you have to take advantage of it because that’s what makes you happy.

For my part, I have chosen to be available and attentive to my loved ones as an affordable area. For me it is important to be present, even just by message, for the people who matter most to me. Nothing extravagant about that. I try to answer quickly to the messages, to be present and to propose moments to see each other, to have some attentions for them,… It’s my way to show them that they are important to me and I use my social and creative potential for that.

What about you? In what area do you want to develop your potential? If you don’t know where to start, think about these points:

• What activity puts you in a state of calm and joy?
• What is the one trait of your personality that you particularly like?
• What personality trait would you like to see expressed more?
• What activity do you find you don’t have enough time for?
• Is there an activity or personality trait where you feel you could go much further in exploring it?

Take action

Do you have more ideas about where you want to express your full potential? Maybe you already do, in which case, congratulations! You’re on the right track to achieving your full potential. Keep at it.

For new areas, it’s time to move:

1. Define the actions that will lead you to your goal (whether they are small things or time-consuming tasks)
2. Start with a small action. The one that doesn’t take too much time, energy or organization. By doing this, you are getting started.
3. Set up a weekly routine. This works for both activities and personality traits you want to develop. Set aside a time at least once a week to move forward.

And remember: you don’t need to set a goal of being the best on the planet. Be good at what makes you happiest.