The article explains:
- What is human potential
- Varieties of personality potential
- What prevents you from unlocking your potential and achieving success?
- 10 rules for unlocking your potential
- 5 skills to find and unlock your potential
- The best books about unlocking your potential
How to unlock potential and allow it to be realized? Of course, you also felt something like an unexpressed feeling inside you. Perhaps this is not a sung song or written poems, or perhaps a helping hand not extended in time. Like a pulsating lump, this something asks to come out, but something prevents it from coming out.
This is your potential, revealing which in time means taking a step towards your hidden capabilities and abilities. What's stopping him from going out? Fears, fear of inadequacy, even perfectionism... There can be many reasons. But if you don’t unleash your potential, you’re unlikely to achieve heights in your creativity, career, and relationships.
What do we mean by potential?
In psychology
Psychological sciences have given us a concept called “personality potential.” Since this area cannot be classified as precise, there are several interpretations of this term.
Inner potential is a person’s ability to demonstrate and increase their inner talents. In fact, this is a resource of the body, its hidden reserves, which manifest themselves over time. At the same time, it is constant and has an end; it is impossible to draw on it throughout your life. There are also a number of limitations, such as psychic abilities.
In philosophy
The word, which comes from the Latin word potentia, has its own interpretation in philosophy. The term used by philosophers partially echoes the definition given to us by physicists.
First of all, these are sources, stocks and reserves, both external and internal, which a person can use at any time with effort. Moreover, they are needed for a reason - a person uses his potential to solve a specific problem and perform a specific type of work.
The concept is used not only for people and their characters, but also for sciences or even objects.
In sociology
In this science there is a term “social potential”. The concept is also used quite widely. The first level is personality. The latter is a region, country or even ethnic group. At the same time, in order to move on, you need to give full release to the reserves at the previous stage.
The definition that sociology gives us is as follows: “This is the totality of the existing and hidden forces and moral qualities of an individual person.
Advice
To unlock them, you need to expand yourself, for example, by increasing some strength or working on character traits.”
Unleash your potential by letting go of your false beliefs!
- Why do we have limited potential and how to unlock our potential?
- Have you been to the circus lately?
I know this is a weird question in a self-help article, but just be patient.
At the circus you'll find clowns, gymnasts and animals of all shapes and sizes, and there's one animal you're almost guaranteed to find. This is an elephant. If you think about it, you will remember that the elephant is a huge and very strong animal. If he ever decides to escape, it could cause serious chaos and destruction throughout the area. The question is why doesn't the elephant try to escape? Every time a new elephant is brought to the circus, it is chained to a heavy iron ball. The elephant is trying its best to escape. For some time the elephant constantly tries to escape, until finally he loses hope of ever being free. The elephant has built up a false belief that it is impossible to escape. Even when the chains are removed, he will never try to escape again.
Versatility of potential opportunities
Creative
In the context of creative potential, this is the reserve of strength contained in the body of any person. Everyone has it, such abilities can be developed and one’s boundaries of what is possible can be expanded. Even a newly born child has its own creative side.
Determines a person’s desire for constant self-development and rapid career growth. Helps you achieve excellence in a certain area and not stop there. Affects the acuity of thinking and brain activity.
To develop it, you will have to learn to take initiative and be a leader. You need to become a confident person. Any business started must be completed, even if it is not easy.
Creative
This is a certain interconnected set of simultaneously creative and intellectual abilities of a person, often hidden. It is applied not to an individual, but to some kind of enterprise. On its basis, the concept of “creative potential of management” is formed.
Helps determine whether the person being researched can come up with something new. When developing our ideas, we all use other people's ideas, cultural characteristics, and competitors' ideas. However, some people will be able to create something original based on the old.
To develop it, you need to learn to invent. Try to draw a fictitious animal or come up with a non-existent male or female name. Read names backwards or decipher abbreviations.
Labor
Mainly used in management or when calculating the labor potential of the entire organization. This concept refers to the ability of an employee to bring benefit to his company, albeit not obvious. In fact, it determines its productivity and importance in the labor chain.
Consists of several parts:
- Physiology - health, absence of mental illness, conditions that a person requires for work: endurance, ability to perform certain activities.
- Qualification - the presence of special skills or abilities, the amount of knowledge in a certain area, the ability to perform this or that activity, to work with some complexity.
- Personality - the presence of appropriate qualities, skills and love of work, civic responsibility and moral maturity, the ability to be a leader, professional literacy.
To develop this category, you need to regularly improve your qualifications and read relevant literature. Go through various courses, learn to be responsible and fair.
Energy
In this case, unlocking your inner potential means learning how to use your own energy rationally. Previously, the concept was used only in the field of bioenergy, but is now actively used in psychology and other sciences.
It allows you to understand how much a person has a desire to live, happiness, how fulfilled he feels.
In fact, you can determine how much internal potential a person has and how developed it is using a simple test. You need to ask if he is happy. If the answer is yes, then everything is fine. If “yes, but” - it’s time to change something in life.
To develop, you need to cast aside doubts and start taking steps towards happiness. Get rid of unnecessary people in your life, do not get involved in conflicts. You can resort to meditation or prayers of calm.
Social
As mentioned above, this is a set of all possible qualities, abilities and skills of a person, some of which he will be able to realize in the future. For example, social potential may be the ability to draw, the presence of a creative streak in the character, kindness and responsibility.
The reserve is realized only at the time of active activity. That is, an artist can only prove himself in the process of creativity and career advancement.
To do this, you need to develop your best qualities, again improve your professional qualities and look for pleasant traits of your own character, getting rid of the worst.
Interior
The concept refers to all the terms already listed above. Most abilities are expressed explicitly. A person is engaged in something and works in an area where he has already been able to achieve certain heights. This is called external potential.
Internal - these are those skills and qualities that are hidden in a person’s personality. They can be stored in his mind for years, but not manifest themselves. For example, a successful manager can be a great musician. But in childhood, parents did not notice this tendency and did not begin to develop it.
To manifest, you need to analyze your own character, keep a diary and see what professional field you are drawn to. Think back to what you liked as a child and where you were successful in the past.
Human
The so-called human potential is a set of certain physical, mental and intellectual qualities of an individual person that can be revealed. Moreover, all features are used exclusively for solving professional or everyday problems.
The concept is often used in management or personnel selection. Calculating the human potential of individual employees or an entire department allows us to predict the success of the enterprise and correctly form working pairs and teams.
To develop such qualities, you need to develop yourself comprehensively. The boss, in turn, must put everyone on an equal footing, eliminating social and gender barriers.
Personal
Finally, personal potential is a concept that comes from psychology. Inextricably linked with the internal. It talks about whether a person can further develop and increase his abilities. Helps predict what the hidden reserve of a personality is.
Again, it consists of several parts:
- Health, both mental and physical. The presence of certain diseases, disabilities, disturbances in the functioning of the body.
- Having a meaningful life, a favorite activity and hobby, relatives and friends, a feeling of true happiness and satisfaction.
- Intelligence, level of reason, including emotional, scientific abilities and inclinations.
To reveal it, you need to analyze your own personality and develop your best qualities. You need to do only what you like, quit boring work and try to realize yourself. Otherwise you will have no future.
Overcome internal barriers and laziness
Sometimes my clients say at receptions that they have no desire to move forward because they get tired of even a small amount of work. My opinion: the reasons for laziness and apathy lie at the unconscious, energetic level.
Sources of idleness and carelessness:
- the chosen activity has become devalued for you, your self-esteem has decreased;
- you don’t feel love for this work, project, direction;
- your partner is superior in potential, experience, development;
- a decline in muscle activity leads to a decrease in spiritual potential.
Laziness occurs when you put off work until later, even if it doesn't take much time. To change the situation, draw energy from your heart. This strength is the basis for the disclosure of internal resources. Analyze what influenced the appearance of laziness, recreate the conditions when everything was fine.
Blocking factors
Neglect of a favorite activity
Most types of internal potential are directly related to hobbies. Popular wisdom says that a person can achieve success in any field only after he loves his job and makes it a hobby.
This is interesting
Every person has their own hobby. However, a considerable number of people are afraid to somehow monetize their hobby. They go to work they don’t like, and in the evenings they knit beautiful toys. But they think that you can’t earn much from knitting, and in general it’s undignified to do something like that.
Fear of not being realized
Often, in order to reveal your inner abilities and capabilities, you need to take the first step towards a new life. You will have to give up everything you have, leave the job you don’t like and start doing what you really love.
But most people are afraid to change anything significant. They are not ready to take radical steps because their lives are ruled by fear. Fear that they will not be able to achieve the same success and will sit without money, friends and a soulmate. As a result, everything remains the same.
Fear of not meeting someone's expectations
A considerable number of people do not live according to their scenario. They listen to other people's opinions and try to live up to the outside ideal. All actions are assessed through the prism of “what will my friends, mother, loved one or child say.”
As a result, any attempt at self-realization fails. A person who decides to change his position, for example, listens to phrases like “what if you can’t” and remains in place. He is no longer afraid of being disappointed in his life, but of upsetting others by ceasing to be ideal for them.
You create your own world
The mind's ability to create reality is perhaps the greatest discovery in human history. Everything that exists in the material world was first a thought or idea generated by someone's mind, and then embodied in reality! Everything in life begins with a thought, desire, hope or dream in our mind or in the minds of other people. Thoughts create and transform the world.
The main conclusion of any religion, philosophy, metaphysics, psychology and success is this: “You become what you think about most of the time.” The outer world becomes a reflection of the inner world, mirroring and materializing your innermost thoughts.
Thousands of successful people were asked what they think about most of the time. The most common answer was: they think about what they want to achieve and how to do it.
Losers think and talk mostly about what they don't want. They go through their problems and anxieties and look for those to blame. And the lucky ones are focused on what they want most in the world.
Life without clear goals is like driving in a thick fog. Regardless of the power and equipment of your car, you drive slowly, unsteadily, with difficulty moving even on a good road. Goal setting instantly clears the fog and allows you to focus. Clear goals will allow you to step on the gas and rush towards what you crave most.
Definition of life values
What's priority
First of all, to realize your life and inner potential, you need to understand which direction is best to move. You need to put your thoughts on paper. Write down a list of all the goals you want to achieve. Write what you have dreamed of since childhood.
After that, arrange the points in descending order of importance. Put first what you really dream about. The latter are not very important desires or goals imposed on you by the people around you or your family.
Incompatible things
Take a close look at the list. Social potential is a combination of a huge number of qualities and skills. It is simply impossible to achieve everything that is considered a measure of success in society. It is advisable to focus on one direction.
Therefore, from the list of life priorities it is necessary to cross out those things that are incompatible with higher priority things. For example, if a girl wants to start a huge family and see the world at the same time, she will not have enough time to build a great career.
Understand your own aspirations and interests
Potential is identified not only for its profitable use. I recommend assessing your usefulness to the environment: how you fit into society and realize yourself as an individual. If such circumstances go well, then direct your energy to generating income.
Steps to Find Interests and Aspirations:
- Get to know your personality, decide how you want to live your next years. Pay attention to dreams and fantasies, subconscious aspirations.
- Set yourself easy goals, move from simple to complex. Achieving it step by step will increase the value in your own eyes. Success does not always depend on the difficulty of the task. It is important to correctly distribute your capabilities and find the main directions.
Don’t look for a reason to abandon your plans if difficulties arise along the way. Do you want to work with foreign partners? Learn languages to interact directly, without a translator. Do you want to pursue a political career? Take courses on influencing people, understand economics, the basics of social connections, and other relevant issues.
During trainings at the Academy of Conscious Thinking, I give the basic message so that a person’s potential is fully revealed. Gather your strength and find ways to overcome obstacles!
What does realizing potential look like?
In fact, this concept only sounds incomprehensible and scary. Most people believe that realization is directly related to bioenergy and some semi-occult practices. In fact, working on yourself depends more on psychology.
A person must constantly change himself and his character. Just sitting still and thinking that something is wrong with you will not work. Realizing your own potential is a huge job. In fact, it is similar to studying at a university, only there will be no teachers above you.
Final thoughts
The success you find from living to your full potential is its own reward. One day we will all look back and think, “I wish I had done...”, “I had a chance to be... but I was scared.”, “I could have been great... if only I had put in the time.
I hope that in this article we have provided you with both the motivation and tools to push yourself to reach your full potential in life so that you will not regret it when you look back.
What rhythm to set
When developing a personality and discovering skills and abilities that have been dormant in character until this moment, you need to maintain a balance between the desire for speedy changes and excessive slowness. Constantly staying in the same place, feeling sorry for yourself and being afraid is a bad option.
Advice
But you shouldn’t rush headlong into a burning pool either. Maintain the most comfortable pace for yourself, choosing it individually. Set yourself a specific deadline, for example, by the end of next year I will sign up for vocal courses and learn to sing. When making important decisions, on the contrary, take your time and weigh all the pros and cons.
Motivation is an incentive to action
How to motivate yourself to act and achieve positive changes? How to overcome your own limitations? What can we do to develop and use our full potential? There is an effective way to do this. Take action!
People who achieve outstanding results do things differently. They have effective methods to continually increase and develop capacity at a faster pace than others.
- They constantly challenge themselves, raise the bar, which is why they constantly develop and gain an advantage.
- They are good leaders and inspirers
- They know how to motivate and develop not only themselves, but also others
- Know how to motivate people to take action, push their limits and use their full potential
Fighting the traps of the mind
Generalizations
This is a common technique by which advertising materials try to sell their product. They deceive the buyer by saying that some offer applies to everyone, without backing up their words with any facts. However, a person himself is inclined to generalize some things.
For example, he says to himself: “No one has ever been able to succeed in knitting toys.” If you catch yourself using a similar phrase, ask a couple of clarifying questions. For example, ask: “Is it really true that no one could get rich? And who makes collectible teddy bears worth millions?” The stereotype will break on its own.
Attention Blurring
It’s difficult to achieve something if you constantly run around different industries and try to accomplish all your goals at once. This effect is called blurring of attention - a person cannot focus on something specific, he tries to keep up with all the hares at once.
To combat this, you need to make a list of life priorities. Force yourself to focus on the first points. Set strict deadlines that will prevent you from doing anything else. You can reward yourself for success.
Maximalism
Women who are prone to maximalism often express rather harsh thoughts. For them, the world is divided into white and black. Achievements can be either maximum - first place on the Forbes list - or worthless, even if the second place.
To get rid of maximalism, it is enough to put things in order in your own thoughts. It's time to stop building huge logical chains based only on your own paranoia and fears. You only need to think about the near future. Understand that any step towards your own happiness is not “small”, it is a full-fledged step forward.
Catastrophism
People who consider themselves catastrophists quite often prepare for the worst outcome. They constantly work themselves up and are paranoid, saying that if I quit my job, I will definitely die in poverty. Or - I’ll invest in my own training, nothing will come of it, and I’ll waste my money and only embarrass myself.
To combat such a trap, you need to stop screwing yourself up in time. It is worth stopping your own fears and understanding that not every undertaking ends in disaster. A good option is to look for other people’s examples and success stories.
Living by someone else's standards
As mentioned above, following other people’s advice and algorithms is a very bad idea. Each of us has our own path in life. Different people have different characters, abilities and skills, so they must follow different paths.
Therefore, a person must stop in time and understand that he is not trying to achieve his own goals. You need to discard the stereotypes of your social circle. Should a girl have children and stay at home? Who said that? Is a woman who is not fulfilled in her career a slacker? Stupidity.
Clarity in everything
Your inner potential is limitless and inexhaustible. Within you lies the ability to achieve any goal you set for yourself. Your most important responsibility to yourself is to spend as much time as necessary to clearly define what you really want and what you are striving for. The more clearly you see your goal, the more potential you will be able to unlock in yourself.
You've probably heard more than once that a person uses 10% of his capabilities. Sad fact: according to research from Stanford University, the average person uses no more than 2% of his mental potential. The remainder rests peacefully in storage. It's as if your parents left you a fund of $100,000, and you only used $2,000, leaving $98,000 to sit untouched throughout your life.
We break down the global goal into daily ones
Rules for compiling a list
This can be done on a quiet day, not filled with daily worries and household chores. You just need to sit down at your desk, calm down and get rid of unnecessary thoughts.
Play relaxing music, preferably without words, so it doesn't distract you too much. Put all your dreams on paper. Don’t be afraid to remember your childhood, because a real and unclouded personality manifests itself only in youth. Try to formulate the proposal clearly, without doublethink or loopholes.
Rules for setting priorities
It will take more than one day to figure out which goals to put at the top of the list. This requires deep introspection. Think about what is really a priority for you. Make important what will truly lead you to happiness.
But don't forget about common sense. Try to achieve something that sounds real. It is impossible to become the richest person on the planet - for this it is not enough to just be a genius, you need to have unprecedented luck. But increasing your income level by 10 thousand per year is quite possible.
Rules for focusing on achieving daily goals
You need to approach the task well-rested and sleepy. There is no need to do something contrary to the resources of your own body. Get rid of all distractions, close social networks, turn off the Internet if you really need to.
Make a schedule. It is not necessary to calculate your day by the hour, but at least write down approximately what you will do and when. Set aside a couple of hours a day to work on yourself.
Automatic target search function
Imagine putting a homing pigeon in a cage, covering it with a blanket, putting the cage in a box, and the box in a closed van. You can drive a thousand miles in any direction, but if you then open the van, take out the box and release the pigeon, it will fly up, circle a couple of times in the air and fly back to its nest. This is the only creature on earth, besides humans, that has such an incredible cybernetic function of searching for a target.
Humans are also endowed with a similar ability to achieve a goal, with just one wonderful addition: when you visualize the end goal absolutely clearly, you don't have to find out where it is or how to get there. After identifying it, you immediately begin to move towards your goal, and that in turn moves towards you. At the right time, in the right place, you and your goal will meet.
Thanks to this amazing mechanism hidden in the depths of your mind, you achieve any goal. You always walk towards each other: if your goal is to quickly get home and sit in front of the TV, this will happen; If you strive to create a wonderful life full of happiness, health and prosperity, you will achieve this. The mechanism operates somewhere beyond our awareness. Like a computer, it functions smoothly, providing you with everything you need.
Nature is indifferent to the size and scale of your desires. If your inhibitions are modest, the automatic goal achievement mechanism will help you satisfy them. If you think globally, the same mechanism realizes your biggest plans. The quantity and quality of goals depends on you, and only you.
Acquiring healthy habits
Revisiting failure as an empirical experience
Since energy potential is primarily an indicator of internal harmony, you need to treat yourself easier. Every person will have failures. All great geniuses began on a thorny path, where they regularly stumbled and fell.
But a mistake is not a sign of an incompetent person. This is not a symbol that you will never be able to achieve anything. This is just experience that will be useful in building your next achievements. Once you fall, you will understand that you can’t do that, and you won’t make a mistake again.
Maintaining a sense of purpose as failures accumulate
The second point is directly related to the first. If a person constantly makes mistakes and is haunted by failures, he begins to be disappointed in himself. After every mistake, the desire to turn away from a difficult path constantly grows.
It is important
But escape is not the answer. Learn to keep your head straight after any blows of fate. Don't think about what didn't work out. It’s better to talk about what you have already accomplished, what success you have achieved. Think that you have the strength to start changing, and this is already worth a lot.
Breaking down any complex task into manageable steps
Don't be maximalists and globalists. Human resources are significantly limited. No individual can go from rags to riches in just a few days. Working on yourself is a long and difficult task.
Therefore, take small but comfortable steps. The goal of “becoming rich and living happily” needs to be divided into several subgoals and moving towards them gradually. Otherwise, the already described problem of defocusing attention arises.
Maintaining a Positive Thinking
It has already been proven that people who tend to be positive live longer and achieve greater success. Their quality of life is much better and their health remains in better condition than that of pessimists.
Therefore, it is useful to maintain a positive mindset in any situation. You shouldn't constantly prepare for the worst case scenario. Think about how there are many rewarding moments in life. Look at all your successes with a smile. Remember that the world is not as harsh and caustic as it seems. There are many people here who have managed to achieve success. So can you!
Other people's victories as a source of inspiration
Learn to be inspired by other people's victories and success stories. Read various autobiographies of people who were able to rise in the same industry that you are aiming for. You can even take their advice.
But don’t take someone else’s life path as a panacea. You may not be so lucky. And if a famous person was able to achieve everything by the age of 30, this does not mean that you are a failure.
Maintaining an internal focus of control
Remember that the most important thing in achieving success is complete internal self-control. Not a single person has yet been able to fully reveal his reserve, constantly falling into hysterics.
Just knowing how to realize your potential is not enough. You need to learn to constantly monitor your emotions. When eliminating negative character traits, monitor their first manifestations in a timely manner.
Accepting achievements as part of a conscious life strategy
Every achievement should be accepted with pride, but under no circumstances should it be a reason to stop. Conscious living and self-development require constant progress. If you were able to achieve something, there is no need to stop.
Just take your success for granted. Any victory is a step towards a global goal, but nothing more. If you learn to perceive life this way, you will achieve a lot.
Work hard
Potential (10%) + work (90%) = success. Having discovered their own hidden capabilities, most people start a new project, hoping for good results. Only a few achieve results.
So people come to me who were unable to correctly use their potential and were not prepared for organized work. Often they take as a basis the success formula of people similar to them, but for them such conditions lead to failure. Why?
Labor combined with will is the main engine of success. Many people understand the importance of persistent work, but prefer to remain in the usual stability. Familiar work takes less energy than work that is new. Constancy and immutability are sagging, stopping and moving in the opposite direction.
Qualities required for success:
- love for your work, business;
- hard work, perseverance;
- desire to achieve results.
You cannot completely immerse yourself in work and forget about rest, even if a person has discovered unspent potential in himself. Don’t chase big incomes, calculate the energy expended and the moral costs. When physical and intellectual energy is overexpended, indifference and burnout appear.
How to restore energy
Emotional nourishment
Learn to restore your energy in any way possible. It's better not to draw vitality from people - no one likes emotional vampires. Just, if you feel very tired, pet the cat, for example.
From time to time, get out into nature with friends and genuinely have fun. Take up a favorite hobby and devote a lot of time to it. Find your outlet - and life will become much easier.
Visualization
When you no longer have enough strength to move forward, remember why you overcame all this difficult path. Once again visualize your own goal, imagine yourself as the head of a successful family or business woman.
This psychological technique will allow you to be filled with lost enthusiasm and new motivation. You will again want to fulfill your desire and will run forward at great speed.
Keep a diary
With the help of a diary it is very easy to understand yourself, your desires and problems. When a person cannot decide on his dreams for a long time, recording everyday events helps a lot.
This way you can find out what exactly brings joy from everyday worries. If someone likes to communicate with children, then maybe it’s worth working with them?
Daily entries have helped many in determining their life preferences.
Success means having time to share personal success
“Successful people,” as they are often called, use this extra potential to achieve progress and outstanding success in work, business and life.
That person is Robert Glaser, founder and CIO of marketing agency Acceleration Partners. Robert, in addition to being a successful entrepreneur, is passionate about supporting people and organizations to build and develop their potential.
Robert Glaser
In 2015, Robert Glaser began sending inspirational emails to his employees every Friday. In them he wrote not about current professional affairs and business, but about personal development.
He was inspiring and described practical ways to improve. In this way, he wanted to encourage his colleagues to improve their lives in various aspects, thereby helping them to better use their potential. Interest in the weekly newsletter exceeded Robert's wildest expectations.
The employees eagerly awaited his next interesting and encouraging letters. They also began to share them with their relatives and friends. They saw value in them because these letters motivated them, helped them take action and become the best version of themselves. This led to great success not only in professional but also in personal life.
The process of motivating other people stimulated Robert Glaser himself. After all, there is nothing more convincing than your own good example. This encouraged him to develop himself and helped him rise to a new level, constantly developing his own potential.
Robert Glaser's Friday Forward newsletter is currently subscribed to and regularly read by more than 100,000 people, including many business leaders from various organizations, in more than 50 countries around the world.
