HOW TO MAXIMISE YOUR POTENTIALS

WHAT IS POTENTIAL?

Dictionary Definitions:

Capacity to develop: the capacity or ability for future development or achievement. – Microsoft® Encarta® Dictionary

Natural abilities or qualities that may possibly develop and make someone or something very successful or useful. – Longman Dictionary

The inherent capacity for coming into being. – WordWeb Dictionary

A Personal Definition:

Potentials are the gifts, the talents, the endowments, the riches, the resources as well as the blessings inherent in a human that are yet to be expressed in his/her actions, interactions and works. Once these find expression, they cease to be called potential and then become skills and abilities.

HOW CAN YOU DISCOVER YOUR POTENTIAL?

¡ By self-examination and reflection

¡ By self-expression in various activities

¡ By being adventurous, and learning from trials and errors

¡ At formal trainings such as workshops, seminars, conferences etc

¡ Through informal interactions with families, friends, colleagues etc

¡ Through divine revelation

¡ By chance and unpremeditated happenings

¡ During a coaching session

HOW CAN YOU LIVE/MAXIMISE YOUR POTENTIAL?

¡ By setting life and project goals

¡ By drawing up a roadmap to achieve the set goals

¡ By always taking actions – instead of idling away or procrastinating

¡ By holding yourself accountable for living out your potential

¡ By adopting a steward’s posture toward your potential, knowing full well that you will have to give account to God, the Depositor for whatever potential has been besotted to you (remember the parable of the talents in the Bible)

¡ By making the most of time and opportunities, and wasting none

¡ By giving of yourself whenever occasion demands

¡ By getting a mentor or an accountability partner who will guide or hold you accountable to your ideals

MEANS OF EXPRESSING ONE’S POTENTIALS

Potentials are expressed through the following:

• Actions
• Interactions
• Works
• Service

AVENUES FOR EXPRESSING ONE’S POTENTIALS

• The family
• The workplace
• Business ventures and entrepreneurship
• The society
• The church or other voluntary societies

SOME QUOTES ON POTENTIALS

The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. - Eddie Robinson
 

The potential for greatness lives within each of us. The key to achieving greatness is found when we discover and then develop our dream. - John Maxwell

Adventure isn't hanging on a rope off the side of a mountain. Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day to day obstacles of life - facing new challenges, seizing new opportunities, testing our resources against the unknown and in the process, discovering our own unique potential. - John Amatt

No one fulfils his purpose, develops his potential, or consistently help others without goals. Your goals determine your priorities – and your priorities determine whether you’ll reach your goals. - John Maxwell

Nothing is more effective when it comes to reaching potential than commitment to personal growth. - John Maxwell

Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential. Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British prime minister during WWII

I’d rather reach 90 percent of my potential with plenty of mistakes than reach only 10 percent with a perfect score. - John Maxwell

To keep moving to a higher level and reach your potential, you… have to be willing to… trade security for significance. - John Maxwell

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. - Ellen Goodman