Reaching your true potential means being the best at what you do for yourself first. When I think about why I went to college, pursued the degrees I did and worked for the companies I have, there was one main reason. I enjoyed the ride because I loved what I studied in college and wanted to make a career out of it. Well, sort of. The accounting degree was because I followed a guy, and the management degree was because people are fascinating. The latter is my passion.
I was not the one who wanted to start a business; I wanted to help people achieve the vision they set for themselves and for their companies. I always liked to look at the possibilities and understand what motivated a person. I realized over time that people do not recognize the enormous potential that exists within them to make an impact through the work they do. It does not have to be huge; often it is being a part of something that feeds into something larger than themselves. Peace of mind, success and happiness are meaningful measures to use.
I like to tie true potential to a life purpose. Some time ago, I charted out my next 20 years, and I am living it now. Sure, there have been bumps in the road, but I keep learning and am still having fun. Each year, I pause to check-in and adjust to keep me on my path. How did I chart out my next 20 years? I sat down one day and made a list of the major events, both positive and negative, that happened in my life up to that point. I was looking for a way to capture my life purpose and tie it to my true potential. I knew what I enjoyed doing and had a sense of the impact my life was making. I narrowed my list to eight remarkable events in the past, lessons learned, and course corrections I had made.
While I would like to say I was in control of all those past events, I was not. Those events were significant because they changed me and caused me to grow. By reflecting on these events, several patterns emerged that revealed my life purpose. For sure my early dreams of being a superstar basketball player or a lead singer in a band did not emerge in those patterns! Something better shined through.
Next, I turned my focus to the future, listing ideas to help me fulfill my life purpose over the next 20 years. Life though is a combination of planned and unplanned events. I could not foresee the unplanned events. I also used a trick learned at a Stephen Covey seminar – write out a mock obituary – not an easy task and one that will make you really think! It is not easy writing down how you would like to be remembered.
The value of taking time to think about your life purpose is to bring forward your true potential and maximize it. You have earned the right to be both successful and happy.