Three Possibilities for Not Maximizing Potential
Yesterday I wrote a short riff on not maximizing potential. I framed it around the question: Are You Maximizing Your Potential?
My theory is that most people know in their gut if they are or are not maximizing potential. Today I want continue this thought process by identifying three possible reasons your gut is telling you that you’re not maximizing potential.
Three Possibilities for Not Maximizing Potential
1) You were a high achiever early in life, but now you look back and feel you missed out on opportunities.
Frequently, high achievement early in life leads to even higher expectations for achievement later in life. You feel that you haven’t met these expectations. This feeling could be the result of:
- Unfulfilled promises you made to yourself or your parents
- Childhood dreams that are slipping away
- Achievements you never earned that at one time seemed possible
2) Early in life you were dealt a hand filled with obstacles
Overcoming obstacles from birth is like starting a race in which everyone else is given a head start. Now that you have come of age, you clearly recognize the advantages of other people. You know in your gut that if you were given this head start (or just a fair start) you would have achieved more by this point in life.
3) Your Found Your Life’s Purpose and It’s Monumental
Everyone around you tells you that you are maximizing your potential. When you are being rational, you agree. However, being rational is not going to help you achieve your life’s purpose. Your life’s purpose is bigger than you. You are trying to solve a monumental problem in the world. Your work is not done until this problem is eradicated. Your drive to redefine the possibilities of maximum potential is part of your core.