Potentiality Digest: Translate Your Potential to Something Worthwhile

By Sodeeq Abdulakeem Sulyman

There is something the growing and upcoming generation may never appreciate its values to their life until it slips from them and that thing is the power of motivation and inspiration. Although, the two concepts don’t do it all to elevate an individual to the highest realm of one’s gift in life, but they form the rudiments of every transformed and fulfilling life. If you doubt this, you can check the records to know how many people have been transformed since 1859, when the first inspirational and motivational book – titled Self-help – was written by Samuel Smiles.

The number of people who have lived to fulfill their potential through the book will amaze you. Those people may not be direct beneficiaries of Smiles’ work, but they were influenced by the ripple-effect of his work. This is to mean that motivation and inspiration are integral parts of the human system and configuration, but some may not just be conscious of how it works and never realise that they are programmed with it to serve as the pathway to the boundless energy residing in them. The hallmark of motivating and inspiring people is to reveal their potential to them.

Yes, potential. It is a word that is very rampant in the modern world. What makes it that popular is because of everyone’s realisation that when life strikes to make its meaning, it bounces on us to give it our own meaning. However, how would you give meaning to life when you are lost, when your identity has not been revealed to you? Plato rightly asserted in his famous book, The Republic, that “Your genius will not be allotted to you, but you will choose your genius; and let him who draws the first lot have the first choice, and the life which he chooses shall be his destiny.”

Did you just read destiny? That’s remarkable! There is a thin line between fate and destiny and that is: Fate cannot be altered or objected; but destiny can be delayed, denied and may not materialise based on the choice you make with your potential. Can you now ask yourself what your potential is? Has it been discovered? Is it been unleashed on a cause you believe in? Are you sharpening it to position it for the purpose you are to fulfill in life? Take this: You won’t appreciate yourself until you have a clear picture of yourself, what you represent.

Promise: Everyone God created is meant to be an asset to the world. No matter the crisis ravaging your family, environment or circles, something is deposited in you to cause those obstacles challenging your purpose in life to diminish. The point is, are you seeing this in yourself and are you ready to let it manifest and grow with no boundaries? The promise in you will remain ephemeral if you don’t embrace and stamp it. Herbert Wigwe affirmed that “If you think the grass is greener on the other side, remember one thing: The grass is greener where you water it.”

Observe: This is concerned with paying close attention to what is lying deep inside you. As human beings, we are being driven by emotions and some other forces. You must have determined what motivates you, what keeps you going, what illuminates your mind, what lightens the dark spot inside you, why do you operate at a level that others admire, etc. No one ever lives to fulfill his promises until he fathoms what sets him apart. Only then, he is refined for the elixir of his life.

Talent: The observation you have made about yourself must lead you to uncovering your talent. As long as you are alive and created to fulfill God’s promises, you are in the same way designed with the gifts and techniques to do things in a way that only you can. Don’t be surprised to know that you will never function fully in life until you discover the unique things about you and subject yourself to using it in a way that defines you. John C. Maxwell says, “The more specific you can get about your strengths, the better the chance you can find your “sweet spot.”

Energy: Your talent is not made for you to be lying dormant, it is expected to be expressed and your talent and gift won’t be fully expressed if there is no burst of energy in you. The enthusiasm, flair you express towards your talent must be unmatched if you truly want to access the promises in you. Paulo Coelho aptly noted that “If you are alive, you have to shake your arms, jump around, make noise, laugh and talk to people. Because life is exactly the opposite of death. To die is to remain forever in the same position. If you are too quiet, you are not living.”

Nurture: The energy you possess for your talent must always push you to seek training, education and teaching that can refine you to always be a better person. It is all known that no one is perfect. But what makes people closer to perfection is their ability to explore for more opportunities and take chances by learning from other people’s point of views, guidance, counsels, orientations and failures. Peter Collins submitted that “Many of the goals worth aiming for in life call for not just a sprint but a marathon. If your heart is not fit enough to run the length of it, then you will find yourself stopping halfway through and giving up before you reach the finish line.”

Template: See, the truth is God perfect a frame that only your pictures can suit. This is to tell you that your Creator knows what He made you for; so He has a benchmark for everything that concerns you. The time you will be favoured, the time He will answer your prayers, grant your requests, those that will come to your aid, those that will betray you, everything has been prearranged and approved before your birth. Just always remember that no matter how long it may take, nothing can stop your destiny from taking its full form when you don’t stop working on yourself, you are a prime candidate for exemplary living.

Imagination: Every success in any man’s life is a product of the mental images one has crafted. Therefore, if you see any man complaining about himself and life entirely, advise him to ponder on the power of his imagination. The world we live in reality is the attestation of the world we have seen within ourselves, deep down our heart. Great people don’t play with their instincts and intuitions. In her book Living the Light, Shakhti Gawain affirmed that “The more we learn to operate in the world based on trust in our intuition, the stronger our channel will be and the more money we are likely to have.”

Access: This becomes the links and bridges you build with people. Take these: The amount of money you will attract in your lifetime, the number of people that will subscribe to your ideals and the whole impact you will make with your life will be determined by how you can translate your imaginations to what is appealing and acceptable to the people. If you have not found what you want in life, keep fine-tuning your imagination till it leads you to the opportunities only you can create and guide you through the doors only you can open with your life!

Leverage: To cap it all, the access you have gained by translating and transforming your imaginations is not meant to be obsolete; you need to always ponder on it. This is because potential itself diminishes when it is not deployed to the right causes that can showcase its qualities and worth. Imagine yourself that is designed with the template of an engineer now struggling to operate in a medical laboratory. Is there any correlation there? So, always remember to remain focused and persistent on the purpose and targets you have set for your life.

There is no one that is not meant to be an asset to the world. What causes some people to be problems is their inability to see what they are made of, appreciate themselves and attach their gifts, talent and potential to a call that will set them free, liberate their heart, soothe their pains and heal their wounds.