Reaching For Your Highest Potential
Potential is one of the main topics here at PERSONAL DEVELOPERS. But before one can reach their highest potential, they need to first heal and make peace with their past.
Abraham Maslow is one of my favorite psychology theorists because he was one of the first to point out and recognize that before we can reach our highest potential, we must first conquer our most basic needs, at the physical, emotional, relationship and self-esteem levels.
Physical Needs That Must Be Met
This is why we focus on the body a lot here on this site. I know it may be boring to hear about all of the biology stuff, but it is critical to understanding what is going on inside of us that can affect our lives.
There are many great websites on the internet that focus on how to eat right and exercise the body. But this site is more concerned with how our thoughts and emotions affect our physical health.
Identifying Negative Thought Patterns and Emotions
If we can learn how to identify negative thought patterns and understand how those thoughts cause and merge with our emotions, then we are taking the first step of going from survival mode (and healing) to potential.
To learn more about how negative and positive thought patterns and emotions affect the body, read out articles on Fight or Flight, Healing and Body.
Mental Needs That Must Be Met
The mental needs are the thought patterns that turn into beliefs. Are they serving us the right way? One of the best ways to determine this is to ask ourselves, how are our thoughts making us FEEL?
If we FEEL bad all the time, then we are most likely thinking thoughts that are triggering those feelings. Once we identify those thoughts, we have the power to change them.
Emotional Needs That Must Be Met
Contrary to popular beliefs, the reverse can be true. Have you ever just gotten in a RUT and had no idea why? It could be because you were FEELING bad first, which triggered negative THOUGHTS.
There are several reasons for this. It could be as simple as being tired and needing some rest. I found that often when I was depressed late at night, I would go to bed and wake up and feel much better. Why? Because I was exhausted!!
Other reasons for feeling bad could be from your body needing more nutrition or water or exercise. But your body may also be feeling bad because the chemicals in your body have gotten out of balance. This can happen due to being under constant stress or having repeated thought patterns and emotions that raised the stress chemicals in your body to an all-time high.
The way to reverse this is to first IDENTIFY those thought patterns and emotions. Ask yourself, what was I thinking right before I started feeling that way? Then make the conscious decision to CHANGE them.
Relationship Needs That Must Be Met
We all have specific relationship needs. We want to feel loved. We want to feel accepted. We want to feel like we belong somewhere, with someone or a group of people.
If you have people and places you can go to who do not put you down and bring you down, then take the time to spend time with these people. If you feel like you don’t have anywhere to go like that, then find groups of people that you can relate to.
These could be support groups or clubs, or schools or churches. Of course, not all of these places are equal. Some of them have people that talk the talk and others have people who walk the walk. In other words, find people who truly care about other people. They will welcome you with open arms, no matter who you are or what your circumstances are.
We all have the need to feel SAFE and SECURE. If you do not feel that way where you are, then ask yourself what it is about where you are that makes you feel that way. Can you change it? Do you have control over it? If not, can you change your perception about it?
Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence
All of us like to feel good about ourselves and who we are and what we do. If you do not feel this way, what is it about yourself that makes you feel bad? Is there something you can do about it to change it? If not, can you change your perception about it?
One of the best ways to gain self-confidence is to figure out whatever it is you love doing or that you are good at and become an expert at this. Whatever it is, if you can become an expert and be absolutely certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that you know more about this particular topic than most other people, then there is your area of expertise.
Spiritual Needs That Must Be Met
We all have spiritual needs that must be met. If you have a personal relationship with a Higher Power, then you are way ahead of the game. By being able to put your faith and trust in a Power greater than yourself, you are releasing responsibility for the things that you cannot control and changing your beliefs for the better.
Another way that we can meet our spiritual needs is by spending time in nature. This is our ALONE time and it is critically important to your well-being. Just like we all want to connect with other people, sometimes we need to shut out the noise going on around us and find our peace within.
How do you find your peace within? Do you pray or turn to a Higher Power? Do you take walks in nature? Do you listen to music? What resonates with YOU? Because that is what matters and relates to your purpose and potential.
Some Pointers For Finding Your Highest Potential
- Do not spend ALL of your time always doing what OTHER people want you to do. What do YOU like? What is it that YOU love to do? Set time aside for that.
- Get clear on one or two things that mean the most to you, that you really LOVE doing. What are they? Are you devoting enough time to those things?
- Do you start over a lot? Do not do this! This was one of my biggest mistakes throughout the years. I kept changing my mind and starting over because I had such a vast array of interests. What is MOST important to YOU? What is it that you feel on a GUT level? Stick with that.
- Learn everything you can possibly learn about those one or two things that you love the most. Become the EXPERT. Become the very best at it and always be a few steps above and beyond others. Even if you think there are many others who know more than you (and there probably are), remember that there are many who know LESS than you and can learn from YOU. Do not try to be the expert at everything. Become the expert at one or two things.
- What INSPIRES you? What is it that motivates you and excites you and moves you to action? Do you give yourself a daily dose of that? If not, why not?
- Do you have MENTORS? People you can listen to, learn from and become inspired by? Do you have people who can guide you in the right direction, towards your goals?
- What are your GOALS? Do you have short term goals and long term goals? If not, figure them out. What are they? What can you do that you can work on a little bit every single day that will take you forward one step at a time?
- Do you let criticism from others stop you? Do you worry about what other people think? Don’t do this!! Nobody can please everyone. Get clear on YOUR beliefs and realize that there will always be POLARITY in this world and some people will love what you do and others will not. Don’t try to be the people pleaser. Instead, get honest with yourself about what is important to YOU.
- TIME BLOCK – set aside time every day for yourself and your purpose and what you want to accomplish. If you do a little bit every day, you will be amazed how far you can go if you stick with it and look back on it. Either way, time is going to go by. What do you want to look back on? Something you have accomplished or only regrets?
- Realize that life is always changing. Learn to ADAPT to those changes. If life throws you a curve ball (and it will) then REGROUP. RE-EVALUATE your goals and change them if necessary.
- What is your definition of SUCCESS – what is important to you? What are your DREAMS? Go for them!!
- Understand your STRENGTHS, SKILLS, and TALENTS. What are they? How can you use them to contribute something positive to the world? How can you use them to help others? Other people need you whether you realize it or not. We all need each other. We are all interdependent upon one another. How can you serve others? There is a saying, “When you are nervous, be of service!”
- Realize that EVERYBODY makes MISTAKES. Do not beat yourself up over this. They are LEARNING
experiences. What did you learn? How can you use this to help others or do better next time? - Always keep LEARNING. Learning is a never-ending process. How can you improve? Where can you learn more? How can you educate yourself along the way?
- Who is it that you want to be? Who is your FUTURE SELF? Become that person! See yourself as that person now. Spend time immersing yourself into the thoughts and emotions of how it would feel to BE that person now.
- And finally, I am going to end this with something my dad used to tell me all the time. He would say, “You can’t get something finished until you get it started.” GET STARTED!!!
