EFA-F 2015 LECTURE: BE AWAKE TO TAP INTO YOUR POTENTIAL.
efafIntroduction
The potential to become a tree lies within the seed, so too does the potential to become great lie within each of us. All of us have within us the seeds of greatness, that is, collectively, we have all the potentials we need to create and sustain our World. Potential comes from the root words “potency” and “potent” refers to all the things you can be successful at, if you develop and use gifts, talents, and natural abilities. According to Garnet (2012), the greatest asset of the superhero is the willingness to do what is right. The onus therefore lies on you to be awake, by arousing from your slumber and tap into great potentials indwelling in you.
You are born to be great
God created us all for His glory, there is no one created without at least a talent, gift or natural ability. In the Bible, Jesus gave the parable of talents in Matt.25:14-30. A man travelling to a far country called his servants and delivered his goods to them. He gave them the talents variously, one was given five, two to another, and the third he gave one, based on their abilities. The level of our natural abilities differs, and you can’t alter that but you can determine how much of that ability you exploit and develop.
In the parable, the servants that received five and two talents traded with them respectively and gained hundred percent increase for their master. The servant with one talent refused to put it into use and was condemned for his laziness and wickedness. You should know that your talents, gifts and natural abilities in you are the seed of your greatness, which is your gift to your generation and the World at large. It is what you can contribute to make the World sweet and wonderful and a delight to somebody somewhere. Your failure to touch your World with the little in you is tantamount to wickedness, for you are denying the World around you their God-ordained benefits in your life.
Your personal potential is not limited to just one area of your life, it spills over like a waterfall and pools together with others of like mind and abilities. And it is not limited to carrier potential alone, but the potential to be great in love and human relationships. You also have the potential to live a vibrant healthy life, using wisdom and do amazing work.
How to tap into your true potentials
Various psychologists and motivational speakers suggested diverse ways or methods by which potentials can be tapped into. However, the contribution of Katie Garnett (2012), AmmaJohnson (2014) shall be considered.
(1) Discover your potentials.
This can be possible by looking within rather than the World around you.
– Identify the activities and tasks you can excel at and it is easiest to discover what we do best by seeing what comes naturally to us and others struggle with.
– Identify the hobbies, sports, jobs, and relationships you can be great at.
– The professions, social status and fame you can attain.
– The life goals, wealth, honors, awards as well as the impact you can have on the World.
(2) Believe in yourself
– The driving force for all the achievement comes from within you.
– The unwavering focus and undying self-assurance is a key part.
– Set an achievable goal for yourself. The goal of every athlete is the silver lining at the end of the race. Drive is harnessed in a way that works is one of the key element to making dreams come true.
– Hard work is essential to success, and to creating the life you’ve always dreamed of living.
– Procrastination gets you nowhere. Putting off a goal until tomorrow or when you have time, or you have money and so on, might mean that tomorrow never comes.
– Action is what brings dreams to fruition, one step at a time.
(3) The starting point
– Don’t waste time for wishing for things to change
– Don’t focus on weakness, target strength instead.
– Make assets stronger by practicing continuously.
– Look for new opportunities at every avenue, and more doors are likely to open.
(4) Write it down
– Writing down your goals helps keep that as front burner. That is it helps in focusing and keeping eye on the goal.
– Also take notes to keep a journal to track down little victories and soon enough the big win will be closer reality.
(5) Challenges fuel the fire
– The trill of success will erase the exhaustion.
– The feelings that comes from tackling something that yesterday seemed unimaginable is amazing and fuels the fire for bigger and better things.
– Don’t just settle for what works, try for things that seems unattainable. Eventually, those things will also be part of your normal routine, opening the door to a better price.
(6) Forget failures
– Failures of yesterday have no place in tomorrow’s successes.
– Accept them, learn from them and them forget them.
– Dwelling on the things that have gone wrong only serves as a hindrance and extra baggage that has no place in success.
– Sure yesterday might not have gone as planned, but it doesn’t have any determination on how you take on tomorrow.
Conclusion
What you do with what you’ve been given will determine your productivity, your relevance in the society and the quality of your life. Remember the prize is never about what you get, it’s who you become in the process. So whatever your unique mission is, be willing to say yes to it, with great power comes responsibility, and the power within you is great enough to change the World. You can change your genetics, but you can change how you use them (Graig 2010). Therefore, be awake to tap into your potentials.
Reference
Garnett Katie, 2012 http://www.evolutionezine.net/2012/04/13.
Amma Johnson, 2014 http://www.linkedin, Aug.12:2014
Graig Harper, 2010 http://www.craugharper.com, Mar.22:2010
Thomas Nelson, 1982 Holy Bible, New King James Version, Inc.
Delivered by
DR ( MRS) OLUTUNDE, OLUREMI CHRISTIANA
N.C.E., B. Ed , M. A., Ph. D
