I remember watching Superman as a child thinking I wonder if he ever knew what his potential was when he was growing up? I wonder if the great leaders of the past were aware just how far their voice would carry. I often think about Gandhi and wonder if he knew just how far he would go. Did he realise that we would still be speaking about him so many years after his death? In brutal scientific terms, your potential can be best thought of as the energy that lies dormant ready for use. It’s energy that never gets used but if it was could create a different outcome. Your potential is that dormant energy that you have stored away inside that you either are or are not developing. There are many ways you can find it and develop it. Today I want to talk about 5 ways you can find your potential.
1. Listening closely to what people have to say about you
One of the ways you can find what your potential is to listen closely to what people have to say. This is a two edged sword here because people will say things a lot of times that are ultimately quite negative. However, amongst the weeds you may find a nugget of information that will give you a clue. Once, I submitted a paper to the Journal of the Operational Research Society only to have it rejected after a throughout review. I was dejected! Fast forward several years later and my Ph.D supervisor suggested that I try the journal again. This time I got in! In the back of my mind were some of the words that I heard my Ph.D supervisor and others say about my potential. That said, he never really came out and said, “You can do it,” it was more like subtle pieces of information from time to time that pointed towards the fact that I had potential.
One other time I submitted a very rough draft of my novel to an editor in New York to read. Now, I am still unpublished but he said something that I will never forget. “You have some skills”… or in other words, “you suck ass right now but with some work and development (that I might add this person didn’t think was worth the effort… given the workload and chances of success for authors in this market I can hardly blame him and the fact the book needed a lot more development) you can make it. What I write now is a lot better than what I submitted then. Is it publishable? Probably not. I will probably never win a Pulitzer or even care about righting decent literature (hat tip Ian McEwan) but I will get there. If I keep improving I will keep getting better. All because someone said once that I had potential. If I am willing to learn and grow who knows, I might JUST make it. If I had never of heard that I more than likely would have quit a long time ago.
2. When you use something you know if it works or not
Another way to uncover potential is to try something. I have learned from experience that I have got no culinary talent. There is no hidden desire, ability or even will to cook. I hate it. It stresses me out and if I didn’t have a partner that liked cooking as much as she does I would be screwed. That doesn’t mean that I don’t cook or can’t learn but through years of having problems with it and not enjoying it I have discovered there is no potential for me there. The same can be said of my administrative capacity. I hate it. I can do it but I hate it. My sister in law loves it and is brilliant at it. She learned from being in a law firm that she likes administration management and is very good at it. When you try something out, you learn very quickly whether or not you are good at it. More to the point, do it for a while and see if you have ‘potential’. It will surface!
3. Find out what your hidden desire is and develop it
Yes it’s that easy 
. Most people scoot through life with a hidden talent and die with the music still in them. I have made a commitment not to do that. If you have a hidden desire why don’t you take the time to develop it? Push aside your excuses and think for a moment, what is stopping you from finding the time to practice your art? I can’t guarantee that you will make money from it or become so good that you will make a million dollars. What I can tell you though is that as you find those hidden desires (the healthy ones… c’mon now!) then you will find hidden potential. Where there is desire, there is often potential waiting to be plucked and used. If you can’t find what your passionate about don’t sweat it. It has taken me thirty something years and I am not there yet. But, I am getting there. There is waiting, development and pain along the way (let me tell you) but when you get better and notice it, there is no feeling in the world that can surpass it. Developing potential requires commitment, talent and time. Unless you begin to experiment with what you have got and the desires you have… how will you ever know what you can or can’t do?
4. Pay attention to what others are doing
This one is simple. Recently someone I know hooked with this guy who is into film making. It reminded me of a dream I had when I was a kid to make films. Another time, I heard of someone who had a fiction book published. Yet, in all of these things I am not a filmmaker neither am I a published author. Could I be one day? Certainly, I still have those childhood desires there and who knows if I find a way to practice and learn more about it I could do it… am I motivated to do it? No. That’s another post! However, by listening to other people who are developing their potential you may just find a mirror into your own soul.
5. Follow your heart… not your head
God bless the human form! We have deep down desires that we use to create our future templates only to contradict them with our thoughts and actions. I once heard it said that what makes you cry is what you are passionate about. The thing is time goes on and sometimes you are older (or really old) when you realise what you are passionate about! In your heart, intuitively that is, you know the answer. There are some things you just do better than other people… HELLO POTENTIAL! That deep down stuff in your heart (guts) is probably your potential. You are a natural at something. Here is a little trick I learned:
Be still for a moment and shut your eyes. Intentionally think: what would I do with the rest of my life if I could do anything. Now, write down anything that comes to mind. Look at it and throw it away. Now think again, what do I already know that I want to do but don’t have the balls to admit it? What is that thing that I have a burning desire about? What is it that comes naturally that requires no thinking? It’s that in which the hidden valley of potential is located. It may not be there for you yet or you may have already discovered it. But, I guarantee you that you have something you could develop and use which would enrich the lives of others around you. I am still learning mine, one step at a time.
In life there are no straight answers it seems, only the emerging patterns of learning, experience and lifelines. Some of us go through our whole lives only to wind up unfulfilled, angry and void of talent and/or hope. Is that going to be you? Success is not financial thing (though it can be) … it is a making the most of life and not giving up on your natural abilities and inclinations. Don’t be like the droids who conform to the mainstream and do what they are told. House, car, 2.5 kids etc. Now I am depressed as the next poor bastard but if you keep going you learn and grow into your potential day after day. Who knows? If you stick with it and don’t quit like the droids do, you may just find it and have a long successful life. There are no guarantees but at least if you take steps you are moving forward… one step after the other, you will make good progress.
