What is the key to reaching your full potential? And perhaps even more important, what's stopping you in your journey?
It's a question that fascinates me for personal and professional reasons.
It's personal because I like to tap into my full potential.
First we will define what I mean with tapping into your full potential. Then we will examine some of the blocks that stop you from reaching it. Finally we will discuss some strategies that will help you tap into your full potential.
And... I like to take as many women as possible with me in this journey towards your full potential in the True Potential Academy.
It's my intention to update this article on a regular basis as we uncover new ways to tap into your potential.
What does reaching your full potential even mean?
First, let's define what I mean with true potential.
Initially I would define it as: realizing your full capacity for the things that you want to achieve in life.
That differs for every person.
Some people want to tap into their full potential by helping a large number of people with a particular issue. The potential is defined by the number of people they have helped.
Others see tapping into their full potential as a measure of economic success. How much money can they make or how big can they grow their company.
Yet others define their true potential by the way they raise their kids.
Or you may define your true potential by your capacity to be happy or truly love yourself.
How we define true potential at the True Potential Academy
As I was thinking about the ultimate goal I want women to achieve in the True Potential Academy, it is this: reaching your full capacity to be happy and truly love yourself.
Tapping into your true potential is your capacity to lead your most authentic and happiest life.
I believe that when you can tap into your potential for happiness everything else will fall into place. You'll be a better friend or parent, you can help others more and your potential to do well financially will increase.
Still this definition can still mean very different things to different people.
For me tapping into my happiest and most authentic life would mean that:
- I feel happy most of the time and am mentally strong;
- I have a lot of freedom; i can live and work where and when i want;
- I am true to myself and to others;
- I help a lot of people with my articles and programs and am able to grow my impact on a consistent basis;
- I have strong relationships and a good support system;
- i'm growing and learning on a continuous basis.
These are all things that the True Potential Academy will help you to achieve.
Characteristics you will find in women who have tapped into their full potential
Although the ways that someone taps into their true potential will widely vary, I believe that women who do so display these characteristics:
#1 They know how to love
They have a capacity to love themselves as well as others.
This is a skill you can learn. My capacity to love was very weak as I don't come from a family that shows love easily. My self esteem was also shattered by lots of bullying at school.
Together with self confidence, this is a skill I had to build from the ground up. So can you!
#2 They have a high degree of self trust and confidence
They have a high sense of belief in themselves. They know that failure doesn't mean anything about them. They simply see it as a way to get closer to their goal.
Confidence is a muscle you can build and I developed a very practical formula for it: The Self Confidence Formula.
#3 They make decisions easily
The ability to make decisions is key to tapping into your true potential. Women who make decisions with confidence and speed will get to where they want to go so much faster.
Delaying a decision is effectively making no decision which will put your progress towards your truest potential on hold.
#4 They know how to make and keep money and look after themselves
Money doesn't make you happy but you need a sufficient amount of it not to be unhappy. Women who tap into their truest potential are independent and know how to make money. They either make their own money or they have clear agreements in place with their partners on distribution of money.
In order to reach your truest potential you may need to learn how to attract money and how to keep it. Our money program will help with that.
#5 They have solid relationships and a good support system
Several studies have concluded that solid social relationships are the key factor to happiness. Tapping into your truest potential isn't possible without them.
I believe that the best relationships start by first loving and trusting yourself. Only then will you be able to set clear boundaries. It means you don't enter relationships from a needy place but rather from a place a love and understanding.
#6 They have a purpose and know how to motivate themselves
You can't tap into you true potential if you don't know what that really means for you. What makes you truly happy and fulfilled?
It's a question many women can't answer. Without this clarity, it's hard to reach your true potential and get the life you want.
You may like to get ideas to discover yours by downloading our bucket list and reinvention guide.
Or take our program on finding your purpose.
#7 They learn how to Focus
Having a very high motivation is not enough. You also need to focus. And that is easier said than done with all the easy distractions we now have everywhere around us.
I learned this lesson when I started building my own websites 10 years ago. I head around 10 of them. I had lots of different interests and was trying to find a topic that would work and resonate with an audience. It was only when I forced myself to focus on just ONE site (40+style) and ONE topic that I experienced success.
Learning how to focus is one of the key skills you will have to learn to develop.
The True Potential Academy has a program for this as well: The Getting It Done Formula.
#8 They have a willingness to fail and build perseverance and grit
The more you are willing to take action and potentially fail in the process, the faster you will grow and tap into your true potential.
I failed a lot in my entrepreneurship journey. My first 10 websites did not succeed. I wrote many articles before some of them even got noticed.
But since my motivation was so high (I needed to be FREE) i never gave up and just kept on trying. My business is now so successful that I'm able to travel whenever I want and live anywhere in the world at any given time.
Most likely you need some of that perseverance and grit while moving towards your goal because there will always be obstacles along the way.
Of accountability and support will help as well (which is where the academy comes in).
#9 They never stop learning
The world is developing rapidly and things are always changing. Women who tap into their true potential keep up with the world and don't resist every single change.
I never stop learning. I constantly educate myself on new business development strategies and invest in personal growth and mentors.
At every level towards your journey to tap into your true potential, you need to evolve as a person. You will need support along the way.
#10 They adapt a growth mindset
Women who tap into their true potential adapt a growth mindset.
I had to learn this. When I was younger I often felt a victim to circumstances. I felt I wasn't petty enough, not smart enough and couldn't connect with the right people.
I had to change from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. The difference is explained in the excellent book by Carol Dweck.
I now believe that I can achieve anything I want to achieve, so long as my mindset keeps up with me. And this can be challenging as I like things to be 'easy'. Moving towards the next level of your potential never is.
I believe the above are some of the key ingredients for tapping into your true potential, all of which the True Potential Academy will help you achieve.
Other great skills that women who tap into their full potential may possess include:
- Adaptability: they are flexible and adapt to new situations when necessary
- Self-awareness: They are self-aware and have a clear understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, and values. Those will help to identify goals and pursuits that are most aligned with who you are.
- Time-management: women who tap into their true potential can manage their time well. They realize that certain goals take time and that you have to plan time to achieve them. .
- Executing on new ideas & opportunities: they take action upon their ideas and turn them into growth opportunities.
- Communication skills: they know to communicate well with the people around them and can win them for their mission
- Leadership skills: those that have big ambitions know how to lead a team.
What influences our full potential?
Can every woman tap into her true potential?
The short answer is YES!
Remember: Tapping into your full potential is your capacity to lead your most authentic and happiest life.
There are a number of factors that can have an influence on your capacity to achieve it:
- our genetics and parents;
- our intelligence;
- our upbringing;
- our appearance;
- our economic status;
- the place we were born;
- our creativity;
- our innate talents;
- our drive;
- our personality;
- and many more factors.
It may certainly be a lot easier to tap into your true potential when you are born in a peaceful country to supportive parents and a good education system.
Yet, there are numerous examples of people who had all these advantages and couldn't or wouldn't tap into their true potential.
On the other hand there are many examples of people who did not have many of those advantages and were able to fully optimize their talents and capabilities and capacity for happiness and growth.
You may use your innate intelligence to the max.
You may discover talents that the world didn't even know it needed.
You may show such compassion for people that you become really important to your community.
Why haven't you reached your full potential yet?
What would you consider as the definition of true potential?
Which of the skills mentioned above would you like to develop but haven't yet?
Don't worry if you struggle with a number of them. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day.
When I started my growth journey towards my true potential, I had no business skills, no confidence and no capital. All I had was a strong motivation to succeed and be independent. I wanted to be FREE to make my own choices in life, so I can live where I want, work when and where I want and be financially indepent.
All the factors above helped me there and I want to help more women get there too.
No matter what you want to achieve in life and how you want to tap into your true potential, The True Potential Academy can help you achieve it.
For now, I'd love to know. What has stopped you from tapping into your true potential? Do you even know what that means to you? I'd love to see your responses in the comment below.