9 Tips to Live Up to Your Full Potential

At some point in your life, someone probably made the statement that you have a lot of potentials.

We all seem to have potential, but there’s rarely anyone around who can tell us how to realizeit. What good is potential if you’re unable to capitalize on it? Potential is a funny thing. It can’t be quantified, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be cultivated. These 9 tips can help you reach your highest potential if you take action on them: 

1. Keep your eyes open. We all miss countless opportunities to maximize our potential and

better our lives. We get stuck in the same mental routines and fail to see all the opportunities

around us. An open mind is crucial to reaching your full potential.

2. Work on your strengths. Your greatest achievements will likely be a product of your

strengths. Expect to spend some time fully developing your ability to apply your strengths to 

all aspects of your life.

3. Work on your weaknesses. While your weaknesses probably won’t take you far, they can

certainly limit you. Most people avoid their weaknesses and refuse to work on them.

• For example, you can see this at the gym. People like to do the exercises they’re already good at. However, they avoid the exercises they’re bad at like the plague.

4. Find a mentor. A good mentor can save years of struggle and effort. The ideal mentor

started where you’re starting, and has achieved the success you’re after. The best mentors are

great teachers. However, there are some that have great skills but aren’t great coaches.

5. Set goals. Setting goals is cliché, but how can anyone expect to achieve something great if

they haven’t defined it beforehand? It’s important to know specifically where you’re going.

• A few minutes spent defining your endpoint is invaluable.

6. Be assertive. Have you ever noticed that assertive people are the ones that tend to get what

they want? Being passive is rarely an effective strategy. Be willing to ask for what you want.

Countless people have failed to get what they want simply due to the fear of asking for it.

7. Step outside the norm. The greatest achievers frequently upset a lot of people. Think about

how hostile everyone was when it was suggested that the world was round or that the Earth

revolved around the sun instead of the other way around.

• Be brave enough to express your uniqueness.

8. Focus on doing instead of thinking. Most people learn, think, and plan too much. Action

results in change and progress. However, that doesn’t mean you ought to make poor,

unintelligent choices.

• Try to spend at least 10 hours taking action to 1 hour of pondering, instead of the other way around.

• How well would it work if you spent 10 hours planning your exercise routine for every hour you actually exercised? You’d be an out-of-shape armchair expert.

9. It’s not just hard work that matters, but rather hard, smart work. Working hard on

things that don’t matter won’t help anyone reach their highest potential. Ensure you’re

spending your time on important activities.

• Although certain activities and tasks are less appealing than others, that’s what makes your achievements worth it in the end. Becoming great is challenging!

It’s doubtful that anyone comes close to reaching their full potential, but all of us can do much

more than what we’re currently doing.

Decide to become the best possible version of yourself.

Find a mentor and make an intelligent plan. Work that plan to the best of your ability. You can

live up to that potential everyone is always talking about.