Means To An End

Reaching our FULL Potential is obviously a process.  We have to want to "reach" before it can begin to happen.  According to Steve Scott, in his DVD mentoring series, "Master Strategies of Super Achievers", the majority of people just drift through life.  Drifters haven't made a specific decision to develop their FULL Potential.

When we make the decision to take responsibility for our personal development, there are several means to that end.  Our growth happens, not by accident or chance, but on purpose, as we take advantage of the means at our disposal.

One of the most effective means... mentors.  Mentors are people who have achieved some success in the areas of life we are looking to grow.  They have something to teach us from their own personal experience.

We can have several mentors, not necessarily limiting ourselves to just one.  Some are better mentors in the area of family relationships, some better in business, some in physical conditioning, etc.

Our mentors do not have to be people we know personally.  Although that is great when possible, it doesn't always happen.  I can think of at least three mentors I have had who I didn't know personally.  Although I met two of them briefly, all their mentoring came from a distance, without them knowing it!  What I learned from them was absolutely life changing!

How do you acquire a mentor?

1. Determine which area of life you want to focus on improving. (i.e. physical, emotional, financial, business, relational, spiritual, etc.)
2. Look for the person who has some proven success in that area.
3. Approach them, stating your desire to improve, sharing that you respect their success in that area, and ask them if they would be willing to invest some time helping you improve.
4. Be a good listener, a good questioner, accountable, and and willing to act on their advice.
5. If you can't find a person who will deal with you directly, look for someone you can watch from a distance, read their material, listen to their presentations, etc.  Much can be gleaned that way.  As previously stated, that has happened to me more than once.

Some other effective means of personal development...

•  Books, CD's, DVD's, seminars
• Failure and other painful experiences, when viewed from the right perspective and responded to in the right manner.  We obviously wouldn't choose this means on purpose, but, the reality is, bad things do happen in life.  We can't always control that, but we can control our response and learn.
• Close peer relationships.  In addition to acquiring mentors, living life with a few close friends, who have our best interest and are willing to be honest with us, can help us grow.

 This post is not meant to be an exhaustive list of all the means to reach your FULL Potential.  My intent is to get you thinking and to give you a head start on the road of personal growth.

Reach YOUR Potential!

Born March 24, 1820, Frances Jane Crosby, better known as Fanny Crosby, became blind as an infant.  A blind girl in that time could have crawled up in a corner and given up on life.  This one didn't!  By the end of the 19th century, she was a household name and one of the most prominent figures in American evangelical life.  She wrote 8000 hymns, with over 100 million copies of her songs in print.  She wrote over 1000 secular poems, had four books of poetry published, and two best selling autobiographies.  She was committed to Christian rescue missions and was a well known public speaker.  It seems that she worked hard at reaching her potential!  

We are all unique!  After God made us, He threw away the mold!  There are no more like us.

Each of us have different capacities.  We are like drinking glasses... some of us hold 8 ounces, some 16 ounces, and a few 24 ounces!  Our capacity is not the issue, we had nothing to do with that, it was our Creator's decision.  What we do with the capacity we've been given IS the issue!!

Fanny Crosby couldn't control the fact that she was a blind girl in the early 1800's.  She could control how she responded to her situation!

I cannot control the fact that I don't have the IQ of Einstein.  I can control how much I feed the intellect I do have, learning as much as I can.

I cannot control the fact that I'm not as tall and talented as former basketball player, Michael Jordan.  I can control how committed I am to keeping the body I have in good, healthy shape.

It is useless for me to compare myself to people like Einstein and Jordan.  It is very useful for me to look at myself, understand how I'm made, what my potential is, and what I can do to maximize that potential!  

So, avoid comparing yourself to others and get on with reaching YOUR potential!

How can you reach your potential?  In my opinion, it is a life long process.  Reaching your potential is a journey more than a one time arrival at a destination.  Everyday you can get a little better in some area of your life.  That can happen through several different means or channels...  More in the next post!

Generations...

My two granddaughters, pictured on the right, are the SIXTH generation with which I have had contact in my family!  As a very young child, I remember my paternal grandfather's mother, my great-grandmother.  Then there was my grandfather, my father, myself and my siblings, my son, and now, his daughters.  If I live long enough, I may see generation seven, my great-grandchildren.  I don't expect to see generation eight, unless I live close to 100 years!


The older I get, (only 56 years old at this point!), the more I realize how blessed I am to see all those generations.  Life should be composed of lots of family life, good family life.  When we leave this planet for our final destination, we should leave behind good memories for surviving generations and a legacy for succeeding generations.

That means that we must live life on purpose, determined to make the most of every moment with our family.  The picture on the upper left was taken just yesterday.  I was watching Makena and her little sister, Cheyenne, while Dad was on a business conference call.  I was about to speak on the call as well.  Makena was having a great time with Grandad, or GeeDad, as she calls me.  She insisted that I put that hat on, so that we both had hats on.  I was thinking about what I was going to say on the conference call, but realized that this was much more important to her.  I snapped the picture and am very glad I did.  Check out the look on her face!  It's priceless!!!  I realize how important those moments were.

I know that, as I impact Makena's life, I am ultimately impacting generations to come.  It's worth the investment of time and energy!  And, it's FUN!!!