Morning Motivator – Oh Dang… Don’t Tell Me I Have Potential!

"If you want to be wealthy and happy, learn this lesson well: Work harder on yourself than you do on your job."
-Jim Rohn

I had a discussion last night at the monthly meeting for the Nashville Area Junior Chamber of Commerce with some of my fellow colleagues about a topic that is very dear to me. Personal SUCCESS and working with a PURPOSEFUL PASSION. It stems from a frustration I have about the word "POTENTIAL." We have all heard it and some of us have been tagged with it more often than we could hope for.

The thing about "POTENTIAL" is that the term is misleading. It provides a FALSE hope that many REST on as a safety blanket, a blind forecaster of their believed future SUCCESS. What is POTENTIAL? It's the summation of your TALENTS, EXPERTISE, PASSIONS and CREATIVITY all amassed internally without the capability of being EFFECTIVELY shared with those around you. It's "having all the right pieces and not being able to put it together."

I share this intimate secret with you all… I am AFRAID of the word POTENTIAL. I have, for many years, been told I have so much POTENTIAL and just need to "put it all together." What the hell does "put it all together" mean?! How do you do that?! As an athlete, I was always one of the better players, never the best, even though I had the POTENTIAL to be great. As a student, I earned excellent marks, yet was never a national scholar or a magna cum laude graduate, even though I had the POTENTIAL. And as a business man, I have won awards and lead sales teams, yet never ACCOMPLISHED the big break through, even though I have all the POTENTIAL. (damn potential…)

Is it HARD WORK I am lacking? I don't believe so. Is it additional EDUCATION that I need? Doubtful. Is it that I am nowhere near as TALENTED as people may believe? Unsure. I BELIEVE that its ACTION that's missing… the ACTION of working HARDER to develop myself in areas of personal PASSION and CREATIVITY coupled with a WILLINGNESS to lose everything (finances, pride, security) in order to ACHIEVE anything. I am not sure if others feel as I do, maybe you have made the LEAP and know the SECRET to the transfer of POTENTIAL to SUCCESS. If so, we would all love to hear it…

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:

I fail to be an EXPERT in moving you from POTENTIAL to SUCCESS as I struggle myself with the same challenges. I am however an expert at trying ACTIONABLE success steps and personally EDUCATING for the goal of ACHIEVEMENT. Here is what I know about SUCCESSFUL C-Level executives in big companies, most of them:

1. READ … a lot (get books surrounding your passions and become a total expert in your subject)

2. SHARE their dreams (it's the old "law of attraction" thing – ask and you shall receive)

3. Embrace CHANGE (if it ain't broke, look at it… it still may need adjustment)

4. Have ROUTINE check ups (financial, health, relationship, education, spirituality – touch base every 90 days and make sure you are on track)

5. are COURAGEOUS (they understand that getting kicked in the teeth is just a learning step towards success… every fall is a lesson in how to stand stronger)

Make your POTENTIAL into ACTION today. You don't have to change the world – just a 1% change towards improvement. Don't waste your time… every second counts!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com


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