In a few weeks my wife and I are going to become grandparents for the first time! Talk about potential. We’re already thinking about this tiny human being’s development, and the journey they will take throughout their life: who they will become, what kind of impact will they have on the world? We are, in effect, already thinking about their potential and they haven’t even set foot in this world. This got me thinking about my passion, which, over the last few years, has been to help others realise their potential. And I believe that it is a tragedy for all concerned when potential does not become reality.
The amazing thing is that as human beings we do truly have unlimited potential. Let’s be clear though, potential is an as yet unrealised talent, ability, or way of looking at things, and so on. It is something that has yet to be realised. Circumstances do not decide your potential, your beliefs do. Your potential can be realised but it requires you to be aware of who you are, what you believe, and what success looks like for you.
“The potential of the average person is like a huge ocean unsailed, a new continent unexplored, a world of possibilities waiting to be released and channelled toward some great good.” Brian Tracy
The truth is that for many, life seems to be defined by unrealised potential. Which is a loss for them and a loss to the world. So, how do we realise our potential?
4 Billion Bits Per Second
The work of Dr Bruce Lipton and others around the processing speed of our conscious and subconscious minds has revealed that our conscious mind processes information at around 2,000 bits per second. That sounds pretty good to me. Until you understand that the subconscious or unconscious mind processes at around 4 billion bits per second. In this sense then you can see that Brian Tracy is right to say that we have this huge ocean of potential waiting to be realised. Think for a minute about all the seemingly automatic processes that are going on in your body right now that are being taken care of at a subconscious level.
How Do You Realise Your Potential?
What can you say about the subconscious mind and your potential? On the face of it there is hope. The opportunity for us to explore our strengths and make a difference is there for the taking.
How then can you unlock this potential?
The key to unlocking your potential is in the way you think. If you are like me then you have likely been through an education system that has taught you what to think rather than how to think. As I have discovered, learning how to think requires a different way of interacting with information.
All that is in our subconscious minds is governed by the thoughts that we have in our conscious minds. It is crucial, if you are to unlock the potential within, that you become aware of what you are thinking about. What you think about is what govern the feelings produced in your subconscious mind that then affects your body, actions and behaviours.
Self-Limiting Beliefs
A light bulb moment for me over recent years has been the realisation that your potential is affected by what you believe about yourself. Whilst there is unlimited potential in you it is limited by what you choose to believe about yourself. Beliefs like, I could never do that, or I am not clever enough. These beliefs may have been put in our subconscious minds long ago, but they need to be challenged. Coaching has been invaluable for me in confronting these beliefs and making changes to think differently and unlock my potential.
By using powerful questions these beliefs can be uncovered, looked at for what they are and if unhelpful, rejected. Here is something for you to think about as my good friend Christian Simpson would say, “we falsely believe our existing results represent our potential. They don’t, they represent our current level of awareness of our potential.”
To move past your current reality and unlock your potential, you must change your beliefs. That will mean asking powerful questions to unlock your potential. Improving the quality of your thinking will cause a shift in your actions and behaviours and therefore change your reality. If it is going to happen you have to choose to make your thinking visible.
“You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” James Allen
What will you do today to realise your unlimited potential?
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