Don’t Achieve Your Potential
Don't try to achieve your full potential.
It's not even a thing.
You don't have "a potential" that can be reached or fallen short of.
This myth comes from ideas like Economic Man theory and industrialization, seeing the human as an economic unit that can be utilized to its fullest capitalistic output. It's an idea that is great for advertising - if you can create a lack (your potential) then you can create a desire (living up to your potential), then you can sell something.
The Myth of Potential is a tyrant, always demanding more. More income, more vacations, more friends, more mindfulness, more presence, more education, more, more, more. Reject it! You can never close the gap between where you are and your "full potential," because it doesn't exist.
You don't have a "full potential" - you have a kaleidoscope of options and directions. You're not a rotten tomato score, you're an evolving piece of art. You're a canvas, not a video game. You can't be beaten, quantified or achieved.
Every potential (direction) you pursue requires sacrificing a million other potentials. Being a more present parent requires sacrificing countless other options you have. Creating this business means you're not creating that business. Acknowledge the sacrifice and do it gladly!
Be one of the few that embraces their limits to go all in on something. Too often we live in the fantasy that we can do it all (or even a lot). We try to avoid making sacrifices, we dabble in a dozen things and end up creating less interesting art (lives).
Enjoy leaving potential on the table!
Enjoy the art you're making right now.
Enjoy scrolling past the ads telling you to live up to your full potential - a course to improve your business potential, a vacation to live up to your sight seeing potential, a podcast to enhance your sex life potential, a new show to boost your entertainment potential, the next book to up your knowledge potential.... No thanks, I’m not doing that right now. Maybe later.
Smile as you say no to that so you can say yes to this.
Decide what potential you actually want to pursue right now. Joy is found in giving yourself fully to something.
Then gladly leave the rest of your potential on the table.
