When I was in school, there was a recurring theme that emerged in every report card and parent-teacher conference.
I was a good student, but I wasn’t fulfilling my potential.
I never really knew what to make of this. I was a good student, I worked hard and studied hard. I got almost straight-As. How much more could I do?
If given direction on what I could do, I did it. I adapted and rose to the challenge. But whatever I did seemed to be not quite enough to meet this “untapped potential.”
This theme resurfaced in the early stages of my career as an attorney. In annual reviews with partners, they would compliment my work while telling me that they saw capability for more.
I wasn’t meeting my potential.
This became a story that embedded in my consciousness. It is a refrain I hear from myself, my clients, and others almost daily.
The Pursuit of Potential
Each of us wants to fulfill our highest potential.
But what does that even mean?
How do we know what our highest potential is?
And how do we know when we’ve met it — or maxed it out?
These are inquiries I’ve contemplated extensively. And recently, I realized that these are the wrong questions to ask.
In fact, the pursuit of our highest potential sends us down the wrong path.
Potential Is Limitless
Every day, humans prove capable of greater feats. Every time we reach a perceived barrier, we are proven wrong.
There is always another level.
If we believe in our abilities and our capacity for growth and evolution, our potential is without limit. We will never max out.
This is powerful, yet dangerous.
Once you understand that potential is limitless, then it becomes clear that stressing out over whether you’re fulfilling your potential is a waste of energy.
There will always be more you can do.
This is where we fall into the trap of “not enough.”
The Trap of Not Enough
The pursuit of our “highest potential” can lead us down the path of doing and chasing more: more money, more stuff, more likes and followers, more “success.”
This is an epidemic. I meet so many people who appear to “have it all,” yet feel empty inside. They feel like whatever they do is “not enough.”
They don’t do enough, they don’t contribute enough, their work isn’t significant enough.
They are not enough.
Chasing limitless potential is like trying to fill a bucket with a hole. No matter how much you do, the bucket remains empty.
How to Tap Into Your Highest Potential
It is clear that we must stop chasing or pursuing our highest potential. But that doesn’t mean we stop growing.
There is a way to tap into your highest potential in any moment without falling into the trap of “not enough.”
Your fulfill your highest potential not by doing more or even by doing “great” things, but through being true to who you are in your authentic self.
When you come from a place of feeling and being enough, you can live and lead from your heart, from a place of genuine contribution.
Perhaps you’ve experienced others in this state, where everything seems to flow with ease through them.
Your highest potential in any moment is the highest and fullest expression of yourself in your truth. It is the expression of your authenticity, your vulnerability, and your humility.
It is not something you pursue, but something that comes through you.
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