Greetings, friends!
The world is arranged in such a way that all people achieve different heights. Someone becomes a successful businessman or famous artist, and someone experiences difficulties with ordinary career growth. And this is not always directly related to a person’s abilities. It’s just that not everyone knows how to unleash their potential and be able to realize the talents presented by nature. Today we will talk about what is usually meant by personal potential, as well as how to reveal and realize it.
What is potential?
Potential is a set of abilities and development opportunities available to a person, using which he can achieve success in a certain area. Or maybe not. This is precisely the meaning of this concept. If a person will purposefully move forward, without deviating from the path and without making stupid mistakes, he will be able to realize his potential. If he starts to waste resources for other purposes, his potential will not be realized.
The term “potential” is derived from the Latin word potentia, which can be translated as “power”, “power” or “opportunity”. When people talk about human potential, they usually mean a set of abilities that allow it to do useful work, engage in creative activities, learn effectively and develop in the right direction.
This concept includes the intellectual and cognitive abilities of a person, his communication skills, the ability to think creatively and find non-standard solutions. It is also usually associated with a specific field of activity. So for an athlete, potential is good health and metabolism, a complexion suitable for a particular sport and good proportions of the skeleton. Without these prerequisites, even the most diligent athlete will not become a champion.
From the point of view of psychology, personal potential is a set of hidden capabilities of a person that he can use to achieve success in any area of his life, including career, hobbies and personal happiness. The capabilities and opportunities available now are taken into account, but with the expectation of what result they will help to achieve in the future. Each productive use of abilities is a small step towards unlocking potential.
Components of personality potential
It is customary to distinguish 5 components of personal potential:
- Epistemological (cognitive). Cognitive abilities are developed differently for everyone. And the potential of a person depends quite strongly on the level of intelligence and the quality of perception, as well as on the ability to memorize new information, to retain the acquired experience and apply it in the future.
- Axiological (value). This component is determined by morality, morality and other value systems that a person acquires in the process of growing up and socialization.
- Creative. This includes the skills and abilities to find non-standard solutions, create, invent, critically reflect on the situation, generate and implement ideas.
- Artistic. This is part of the creativity associated with a sense of taste, the ability to create artistic and other works of art, or just make beautiful things that other people like.
- Communicative. This component implies a high level of social intelligence, which allows a person to establish contacts and achieve mutual understanding with other people.
How to fulfill your potential?
The first thing for self-realization is an understanding of your key goals. Only knowing where you are going can you move efficiently enough. And even if you’re still undecided about your lifelong goal, intermediate goals that inspire and motivate you will also work. Also, you can read a separate article on how to find a purpose in life.
But be prepared for the fact that real goals are not achieved quickly and simply – to realize your potential you need to work hard for many years. And to increase your chances of success, use a few simple tips from successful people.
1. Decide on the area that you are most interested in
If you are seriously considering how to reach your potential, you should start by making sure that the chosen field of activity is the most interesting and promising for you. It may be time to explore a new area, explore a technology that you have always had an interest in. Of course, one should sensibly assess the chances of success in a new field. It is unlikely that a person who has studied philosophy until the age of 30 will be able to become a famous nuclear physicist from scratch at that age.
2. Take the first step
Many of us have put off such undertakings for years, fearing that something will not work out, or there simply will not be enough time, knowledge or other resources. If you feel that this goal is important to you, take the first step towards it today, or better, right now.
3. Keep a diary
A diary is a very handy tool that helps you to understand yourself, understand your abilities and desires. It is convenient to use the classic paper version as a diary. And you can put an application from the category of time trackers on your smartphone, which will help you better understand what you spend your time on and how much time per day you can actually allocate for development and training.
Time control and a good understanding of where to go is one of the most important steps towards realizing your potential. As you know, most people have little understanding of what they do during the day. And when they start tracking their activities every minute with the help of a time tracker, they are very surprised to find out how much time is spent on routine and other unhelpful activities.
4. Get strong
Learn not to give up when faced with a setback or a major obstacle. For a person accustomed to a calm and measured life, the threshold for surrender is usually quite low. But how to unleash your potential if you give up on the way to your goal? The next time you think you are hitting an obstacle, do not turn, but try to overcome it. If the obstacle is really insurmountable, first make sure of this firmly, and only then look for a workaround.
5. Adhere to the principle “Nothing is impossible!”
Yes, this is too bold a statement. However, the most successful people in the world have always firmly followed this principle, setting impossible goals for themselves and achieving them.
6. Be confident and optimistic
Avoid pessimism and unnecessary worries, look optimistically at everything. Even mistakes and failures can be perceived as valuable experiences that will be beneficial in the future. Try to increase your self-esteem, this will give not only confidence in your abilities, but also an understanding that you are worthy of everything you want. The more you expand your ambitions, the more you can achieve.
7. Improve communication skills
The ability to speak convincingly and listen to the interlocutor are very useful skills. Constantly work on them: think well before speaking, and ponder the phrases already said, smile at your interlocutors, listen to them with interest, ask questions that allow them to reveal their thoughts, demonstrate that you treat them and their words with respect.
Conclusion
The more you unleash your potential, the more opportunities you have. And as long as you don’t give up, it will always be that way, because there are literally limitless possibilities open up for persistent people. Unfortunately, the world is designed in such a way that most people fail to reach their full potential. The reasons are different. Someone lacks knowledge, someone lacks self-confidence, and someone lacks perseverance. But almost everyone is able to cope with all obstacles if they work on themselves every day and confidently move towards their goal.
