8 Ways to Unlock Your Potential

In this post, we’re looking at 8 ways to unlock more of your potential.

Have you ever wondered why you haven’t accomplished more with your life?

Have you ever felt that you have great potential locked up inside of you?

Many adults I know feel this way.

No one ever truly reaches their potential, but it’s discouraging that so many of us never even scratch the surface of our potential.

I think it comes down to this diagram (“Success-Cycle”) which I’ve referred to many times before:

The results we create in life isn’t dependent on our potential 0r action, but rather what we BELIEVE about our potential, which then determines what action we take and leads to a certain result.

We then use that result (although skewed) as “proof” of our “lack of” potential.

But it’s essentially a skewed cycle feeding on itself.

If you had great “belief” in your potential you would take bigger action which would yield a better result, which then “prove” to you that you have “great” potential.

So chances are you have greater potential than you think, but it comes down to your own BELIEF in your potential.

Like I said in my video opening, when I first came to NZ I had no idea where I would end up or on what stages, but I did have self-belief.

And that is a big part of the success in the end. Without it, however, you will struggle no matter how much potential you have.

This month I want to look at a few ways you can exercise your “belief muscle” to unlock your potential.

I’ve learned a long time ago that nothing motivates like results, and by getting you results you might also start to believe in your own potential as I do.

So, are you ready to find out what you can do to unlock more of your potential?

Great!

Here are 8 strategies you can use to find out what you’re really capable of accomplishing:

Be bold.

This is the number one tip for unleashing your potential in the world.

Your limited achievements are likely due to the fact that you’re timid.

If you were out there doing your best each day, you’d be too busy piling up successes to read an article like this.

So here’s my advice:

Stop caring about the opinions of others and show the world what you’ve got.

Honestly, what’s the worst that could happen if you just asked the question, made the offer, shared the idea, made the invitation, made the phone call, or did the follow-up?

A great question to ask yourself is: “If I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I be doing today?”

Ask yourself this question and see what answer you get.

I’m pretty sure that if you made a list of all the potential things, opportunities, ventures, and ideas you could act on today – if you weren’t scared and were a bit bolder – you’d come up with more things than you realised you could.

Go ahead, give it a try.

Have bold goals.

To live up to your potential, you need goals because they provide a direction for your energy and effort.

But your goals have to match the life you’re trying to create. Small goals never lead to a big life.

Oftentimes when we pursue something big and bold, a certain part within us steps up to the plate and rises to the challenge.

It’s then that we realise how much more potential we actually have.

So ask yourself whether your goals are big and bold enough for the life you’re trying to create.

If they are not, you have to adjust your direction and what you’re going after.

Remember, goals function as a target.

If you’re aiming at the wrong target, you will hit the target, only to realise the mistake you made.

But it’s also important to avoid overwhelming yourself.

Goals should be big and bold, but not overwhelming.

When you find yourself procrastinating rather than enthusiastic, perhaps you need to assess whether your goals aren’t creating overwhelm instead of motivation.

If they are, make a change.

Combine your strengths and interests.

Do you really care about maximising your chess-playing potential if you don’t enjoy playing chess?

You’ll have the most potential in the areas where you show natural strength and have a high level of interest.

So many people spend so much time developing skills they don’t have it all (and never will) and creating a life they are actually not interested in at all. This begs the question, why do that?

Let me ask you:

What are you good at that you also enjoy? And how much time and energy do you actually spend on maximising that?

If you find your answers don’t line up, perhaps it’s time to do something about it.

The time that we live in right now, is the most exciting time in history.

We have access to more information, resources and people than ever before.

You can literally change your life by reading one book.

And whereas before information and books were reserved for the elite or wealthy, that playing field has been levelled.

Right now, you can go on to Amazon.com and get any book/resource you need to improve any area of your life.

Do you realise the power of that?

So if you want to know how to maximise or develop your strengths and combine them with your interests, there’s probably already someone out there doing exactly that.

All you need to do is find them, and learn from them.

Success leaves clues.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Find a model that works, and replicate it in your own situation.

Get expert assistance.

This idea follows from the last one.

Some of the leading experts in the world still have a coach or mentor.

Successful people, understand the power of perspective.

And they will pay to get an expert perspective on what they are doing.

Because they know that could give them the edge on their competition, or the breakthrough they want.

Unsuccessful people, on the other hand, are typically stingy and don’t believe in investing in themselves.

They will never pay for someone else’s perspective as they typically believe their own to be sufficient.

And that is why they will always stay unsuccessful.

Here’s the truth, whether you want to hear it or not, the right mentor or coach can help you reach your potential faster than you can do it alone. 

They can typically see things that are in your blind spot.

And by pointing it out they can fast track your results.

So, spend the time necessary to find a good mentor or coach

Make progress each day.

I call these small daily victories.

As I said before, nothing motivates like results.

But the real power here is realising that the results needed to motivate us don’t need to be big.

Small amounts of progress, accumulated over time, can result in amazing progress.

So stop doing what unsuccessful people typically do – they overwhelm themselves by setting a schedule or goals they can’t maintain.

Rather have this approach  – make some progress each and every day.

Work hard to achieve small daily victories. 

Because the amount of progress you can make in a year would blow your mind.

It might not feel like much when looking at today only, but over time the result could be staggering.

Develop habits that help you accomplish your goals.

There is a cool quote that says, “the way we live our days is the way we live our lives.”

If you truly want to create great results in your life, you have to get in the habit of creating great habits.

What we DO consistently gives us the RESULTS we get consistently.

There is no way around this.

Right now, you have certain habits that are hurting your dreams.

And these habits are within your control.

And the opposite is equally true – an effective set of habits all but guarantees success.

My challenge to you is to examine your goals and determine the habits that would make success likely.

That’s the first step.

Then you take those habits and turn them into what we call behavioural goals.

And you make achieving those behavioural goals part of the small victories you need to achieve each day.

The hardest job you have is creating new habits.

But once the right habits are in place, there’s little else to worry about.

So, create an effective routine and stick with it until you reach your outcome.

Determine your obstacles.

There’s always something in the way.

It might be a lack of time, money, or other resources.

Maybe you have a spouse or kids that demand a lot of your time.

Maybe you live in the wrong place.

After all, it’s not easy to maximise your surfing skills by living in the country.

Whatever yours are, create a plan for dealing with your obstacles.

• What can you do to overcome them, or at least minimise them?
• What do you need?
• What do you need to stop doing?
• How can you alter your life to make success more likely?

These are all important questions to consider, but once you find solutions for them, you might also find your dream within reach much sooner than you initially thought.

I truly believe in two approaches to life – excuses or solutions.

You can either make excuses about every obstacle between you and your goal or spend your time and energy figuring out a solution.

The vast majority chooses the first approach to life, but that’s not how YOU will reach your goal(s).

You know all the right questions to ask of yourself because I give them to you.

All you need to do is put them to work for you.

Expect success.

Write this down: If you expect failure, you’re bound to fail.

Our expectations have a huge impact on our behaviour and actions.

It’s called the Pygmalion effect.

In order to succeed, you have to expect success.

Even when you don’t know exactly what success would look like, you have to expect it.

You have to believe that success (in whatever form) is inevitable.

Here’s the reality – it takes an equal amount of energy to expect success as it does failure – why not give yourself the benefit of the doubt and expect good things?

If you have solid goals, good habits, and some discipline, there’s no reason to doubt yourself.

Moreover, you are part of this group, which means you don’t even have to go about this on your own.

You also have all the support you need.

Summary

Unlocking your potential doesn’t need to be complicated.

Oftentimes, the simplest and most obvious solution is the best one.

There are heaps of things you can do to start moving towards your dreams, but they all require the same thing,

STARTING!

You have to start somewhere, and then keep putting one foot in front of the other.

And when you had an obstacle, rather than back down, you keep moving forward.

You do whatever it takes to keep moving forward.

That is how the Successful of this world does it, and that is what is required of us also.

Make today the day you start living at your highest level.