Potential is... Concept, internal reserve of a person, its formation and development

• November 28, 2018
• Psychological terms
• Nastasya Krakhina

Determining a person's potential is not the easiest task. According to psychologists, in order to cope with it, it is necessary to use a scientific approach and evaluate a person, his character, behavior, etc. according to many criteria.

The article will discuss what potential is, how it is formed and developed. Approaches to its assessment will also be described.

Types of potentials

The potential of an individual is formed into a holistic picture from many other potentials. It is their level of development that determines how healthy a person will be psychologically and successful. In general, the following types of human potentials can be distinguished:

1. The potential of the mind. It can be characterized as a person’s ability to improve their own thinking. When you have to solve various kinds of life problems, the mind becomes mobile, realistic, creative, systematic, divergent thinking is involved. However, a person with undeveloped mental potential often becomes depressed when problems arise and may feel tired of life.
2. Will potential. It reflects how capable a person is of self-realization, setting goals and what adequate ways to achieve them he will choose. According to scientists, in cases where the potential of the will is poorly developed, a person experiences mental problems (most often neuroses). However, when they manage to cultivate the will in themselves, it becomes easier for people to live, they manage to determine their place in life, create a personal value system and build a strategy that helps achieve their goals.
3. Potential of feelings. It characterizes how rich a person’s emotional sphere is and how adequately he can express feelings, as well as understand the emotions of other people. The realization of this potential determines how happy a person feels. If the potential of feelings has not been realized, a number of psychosomatic disorders arise. Prevention from various mental illnesses and psychological disorders is the ability to look at life positively.
4. Body potential. Every person should understand that his body is part of his personality. Therefore, the ability to improve it and listen to it is an extremely important part in developing potential in general.
5. Social potential. The level of his development determines how easy it is for a person to establish contacts with people around him, develop a communicative culture and adapt to social conditions.
6. Creative (creative) potential. It determines how capable a person is of activity, self-expression, and transformation of the world. Creative activity and the realization of this potential is the basis of psychological maturity.
7. Spiritual potential. As a rule, it determines a person’s lifestyle and how he develops his spiritual nature.

Everything listed above is the basis of a person’s psychological stability. If any of the potentials is too poorly developed, an imbalance is possible, which leads to internal conflicts.

Having understood what the internal reserve is, you need to find out whether it is possible to develop it. Further, in the article, the concept of “human potential” will mean the totality of all potentials combined into a single whole.

Pedagogy

In pedagogy, there are a number of terms used to define certain abilities of students. In addition to creative potential, one can also name cognitive, value, communicative and artistic. The development of all the child’s capabilities plays a significant role in the formation of a harmonious personality. And, therefore, the main types of education in modern pedagogy is the uniform development of all the potentials listed above. Therefore, the educational process in primary school is aimed, first of all, at the development of creative, cognitive, communicative and artistic abilities.

Assessment of internal reserves

Scientists prove that the skills of parents are transferred to the child at the moment of conception. Thus, it can be argued that much in a person depends on his genetic predisposition. Therefore, when determining the potential of someone, one should study the qualities and abilities of his parents. This is how natural potential is formed - the basis that lies in the psychological component of human health.

The second aspect of assessing a person’s internal reserves is to determine his ability to concentrate. It is worth noting that this ability plays a big role, since it is it that allows a person to solve complex life problems. The ability to concentrate allows you to develop qualities such as stability in stressful situations and the ability to survive in difficult conditions.

When assessing a person’s potential, it is necessary to take into account how communicative a person is, as well as how easily he manages to win people over and influence them. It should be understood that only communication that is positive (that is, normal, relaxed and conflict-free) needs to be assessed. They also pay attention to whether a person knows how to find compromises and “smooth corners.” This point is important when assessing potential because it makes it possible to understand how harmonious a person’s life is and determine how easy it will be for him to achieve his goals.

In addition to the above, when assessing potential, it is necessary to take into account a person’s luck, his attitude to failure, habits, interests and hobbies. However, the most important thing is that it is necessary to assess a person’s potential in a relaxed, usual environment for him. It is precisely these conditions that will allow it to open up and give the most accurate results.

Biology and Physics

A neuron is a structural and functional unit of the nervous system. The membrane potential is a kind of reserve of a neuron in a non-excited state. In biology, the term discussed in this article is used quite often. In this way, certain physical processes are characterized. In addition, the word is used in relation to various biological objects. In physics, potential is a quantitative characteristic of fields (electric, magnetic, gravitational).

Capacity development

It should be borne in mind that those internal reserves that were laid down by nature can not only be strengthened, but also developed. Sometimes this process occurs by itself, under the influence of difficult life circumstances.

Unlocking potential is a task that consists of two components - to understand what was missed and to build a plan for further action. For example, a girl in childhood had the ability to draw, but life circumstances forced her to forget about this hobby. She entered a university, received an education in finance and got a job as an accountant. Over time, it became difficult for her, and she realized that the work she was doing did not bring her pleasure. She gathered her last strength and began to draw pictures in the evenings. The pleasure from this process began to cover everything negative that was happening around. This happened under the influence of the fact that the girl gave free rein to her potential, which was “locked away” by lack of time and other matters.

Creativity

One more aspect deserves attention. Psychology identifies creative potential as a separate topic. This quality determines the individual’s ability to carry out creative activity, express himself and go beyond standard knowledge. “Creativity” in this case involves behavioral, emotional and cognitive aspects.

If we talk about personality potentials in psychology, it is worth noting that CP is the most valuable and practical quality. A person with creative potential is able to realize himself in an extraordinary way not only in any activity, but also in feelings, sensations, and behavior. Such people are able to change and go against stereotypes. They are distinguished by unconventional thinking, the ability to formulate original ideas, as well as ignoring the usual framework and boundaries. They have diverse interests and are always happy to learn new skills and knowledge. Such people make others want to get to know them and communicate better.

When you need to start unlocking your internal reserves

There are several signs that a person urgently needs to start unlocking his own potential. These include the following:

• lack of energy to do something to change your life for the better;
• problems at home, at work or in relationships with loved ones;
• the emergence of thoughts that life is passing by.

These are all signs that the internal reserve that was in a person has exhausted itself. At such moments, you should find sources and begin to develop your potential in order to correct the situation.

Economy

From the above we can summarize. Potential is the sources and capabilities that can be activated to achieve a certain goal. Each state sets itself certain tasks. The main goal is to achieve the cultural and material standard of living of the people. Economic potential is a set of sectors of the national economy designed to produce the necessary products and provide services to the population of the country. Economically, states differ from each other in the volume of labor resources, the level of development of agriculture and construction, and the achievements of scientific and technological progress. All these features are factors that determine economic potential.

Internal sources

Speaking about internal sources, psychologists recommend the following actions:

1. You should start reading various spiritual literature (this could be books on psychology or esotericism, various teachings of philosophers, etc.).
2. You need to find time to meditate.
3. You need to start keeping a personal diary.
4. You should remember your past successes.

This will all help to get inspiration and understand what a person is missing at the moment.

Research by Erich Fromm

It is generally accepted that potential is, in psychology, a person’s ability to multiply his internal capabilities, develop, be productive, and effectively interact with other people and the world around him. The famous German sociologist Erich Fromm devoted his life to this quality, as well as to the study of the process of personality development.

The scientist believed that each person is unique in his own way. He assured: it is the realization of one’s inner potential and personal development that is the main goal of each of us. If a person strives to express his “I”, not paying attention to obstacles, external stimuli and temptations, then he gains real positive freedom and gets rid of antisocial aspirations. What does it mean? Positive freedom is the fullest possible realization by an individual of his abilities and the parallel maintenance of an active lifestyle.

External sources

External sources are circumstances, people and situations that will make you understand what is missing to unlock your own potential. This could be communication with a psychologist, coach or spiritual mentor, attending various trainings, etc.

It is worth noting that communication with children and animals helps a lot. In addition, personal potential develops well through helping those in need.

In the dictionary D.N. Ushakova

POTENTIAL, potential, male. (from Lat. potentia - strength, opportunity). 1. A physical concept that characterizes the amount of potential energy at a certain point in space (physical, technical). Gravitational force potential. Potential difference. 2. transfer The set of means, conditions necessary for maintaining, maintaining, preserving something (neol. political). War potential (resources for waging war). “There is now no more urgent and noble task for both large and small countries than all possible assistance in the organization, strengthening and inviolability of the entire potential of the world.” Litvinov.

Recommendations

G.M. Zarakovsky believes that it is possible to develop and unlock potential through decency, justice, kindness, loyalty, optimism, friendliness, sincerity, productivity, effectiveness, naturalness, self-development and reflection. Based on this, we have prepared several more practical recommendations.

To release your potential, focus on three things:

1. Setting goals. Think about what tools will help you become yourself, navigate your way through life, achieve success and become happy.
2. Achieving goals and overall productivity. Think about how you will motivate yourself.
3. Stress resistance or resilience. Learn to remain productive regardless of external circumstances.

Be an organizer, performer, motivator and controller in your life. Learn from those who are able to bring their ideas to life, but do not imitate them or obey other people.

​Take real steps

It takes a lot of courage and desire to reach your potential. These are steps into the unknown. But don't be afraid to do them. There are no guarantees that everything will work out. The efforts may not pay off at all. But leaving your comfort zone will do more good than harm. Many people in this situation are familiar with doubts:

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• “What if I can’t?” – this may be the case;
• “What if everything only gets worse?” – and this cannot be ruled out;
• “normal people don’t need to leave their comfort zone, they feel good as it is” - it’s hard to argue.

It is common for the human mind to justify laziness with various reasons. Just to do nothing and not strive anywhere. But what happens if you still try to change the usual course of your everyday life. No one can guarantee success, but it’s still worth taking the risk. The state of risk itself is valuable. Over and over again, it will become easier for a person to open up to new opportunities. He will be able to learn dancing, another language, get a new qualification and learn many interesting, previously unexplored things.

​Useful questions

Is it difficult to reach your potential? Adults often complain about the abundance of various worries in their lives that prevent them from achieving their goals. Although, many of them do not even try to remember their dreams under the weight of problems. What will help them start dreaming again? To do this, it is recommended to ask yourself the following useful questions.

1. What fascinated you most in childhood (games, hobbies, sports). What school subjects inspired you?
2. What do you remember about adolescence (interesting people, activities, plans)? What exactly was valuable about this?
3. Which childhood dreams were realized and which were not? And why?
4. What inspired you a few years ago? Are any of the above still relevant?
5. How would you like to see yourself now? Do you want to become more sociable, cheerful, or vice versa?
6. What personal talents have not yet been used?
7. If you unlock your potential, how will it help other people? Will it benefit others?

​Finding hobbies

What's the easiest way to find something you like? Of course, try it ! If a person has never played the guitar, how will he understand that he has talent for it? The same applies to knitting, embroidery, singing, carpentry, etc.

It is important to find an activity that inspires you to get up in the morning and achieve more and more new results. That is why you should carefully look around you and determine what you already have for a new hobby, and what you need to buy in addition.

The main thing instilled in the search for talent is: “Try and find out.” Thanks to new sensations, a person tests himself for willpower, courage, and the ability to go beyond the usual boundaries. Perhaps someone will find their destiny, which was given to them from birth. Difficulties should not repel, but only strengthen faith in achieving the best result.

You can set goals to explore new hobbies. So, fresh skills will be added every week.

For example, spend one week playing the guitar, and the second week take care of animals in a zoo corner. The third is to learn new ways of skating. This way, you can quickly determine your true inclinations.

You shouldn't be afraid of mistakes. If you don’t taste this world, it will be difficult to learn something new. It is important to listen to your inner feelings.

Similar words

Potency Potentiation Potential Potentiometer Potential Potentiate Potentiometry Potentialoscope Potentiation Resting potential Potentiated Potentiality Flow potential Potential well Action potential Potential forces Deposition potential Ionization potential Ignition potential Potential barrier Damage potential Potential energy Retarded potentials End potential plates Thermodynamic potentials Electrostatic potential Post-tetanic potentiation Electromagnetic field potentials End plate potential miniature

Synonyms

To be in the trend today, it is not enough to understand the meaning of the term we are considering; it will not be superfluous to be able to choose a synonym for the word “potential”. So, the list is as follows:

• opportunity;
• reserve;
• stock;
• makings.

As you can see, there are not many definitions with similar content. What do all the nouns in the list have in common? What they have in common is being hidden from view. Simply put, all list items are not reality. The reserve can probably only be demonstrated when it comes to military power or products. Imagine, for example, people are preparing for a holiday, and someone says to relatives: “Oh, if only you could see your mother’s supply of food for the holidays.”

And in all other cases, reserves, reserves and capabilities cannot be presented to the world before they appear. When a football or hockey coach says that they will look for internal supplies or reserves, this means: the club’s management is not allocating money and they will have to make do with their own funds. Sometimes, however, in such a situation, young people shoot up, and new stars appear on the sports horizon, but this can never be predicted in advance.

Skill building

After identifying your new talents, you shouldn’t stop there.

Talent is like a seed . This is just a deposit that requires a lot of effort. It needs to be watered, weeded, fed with fertilizers - everything that will help it grow into a full-fledged plant. It's the same with talent. All great people have gone through similar trials.

You can't even pull a fish out of the pond without effort. This proverb could not come at a better time.

Adhere to the principle “Nothing is impossible!”

Such a statement, of course, can be called too bold. But successful people sooner or later had to follow him. They set goals that seemed impossible and overcame this milestone as winners.