Inspiration – Unfulfilled Potential

Inspiration – Unfulfilled Potential

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd 

Pope John XXIII said “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential.  Concern yourself not with what you have tried and failed, but what it is that is still possible for you to do.”

What I write about is so often exactly what it is that I have to hear myself!

In my opinion we are really far too hard on ourselves.  We actually just need to give ourselves a break from ourselves!

We live in a world that is fearful.  Certainly here in South Africa we hide in houses and dwellings that are barricaded from the rest of the population.  Homes with metal bars in front of windows and doors that are situated behind huge walls topped by electric fences or razor wire, guarded by patrolling guards and their trained dogs.

Is it any wonder then that we live in a state of fear in our minds as well.  Fear of not being good enough, or brave enough or clever enough or pretty enough or thin enough.  Fear of failure and even success!  Fear! Fear! Fear!

One of my guru’s Dr. John Demartini says that fear is something that we worry about that will only (perhaps) happen in our future and of course the reality of that is that it may never happen.  Yet many of us live in this state of fear, waiting and waiting and predicting all sorts of stuff -  that may never happen.

Isn’t it time that we changed our mind-sets and instead of looking at and living with the fear, that we consciously and deliberately turn our thoughts to what we can do or better yet, what we would like to do, given the opportunity?

Let’s take that particular thought even further and think of ways that we could even “create” that opportunity.  Let’s consciously and deliberately thing of  one , just one little thing that we could do differently or even one new thing that we could do, every day, that would bring us closer to creating the opportunity that would allow us to do something that we love to do and in so doing, we would change the course of our lives or even make a difference in someone else’s life.  Do that one thing every day, for 21 days (to ensure that it becomes a habit) and then find one more thing  . . .  and repeat the exercise.  Before we know it we will no longer be taking just ‘one step at a time’ but running full speed towards our goals, towards reaching our full potential.

Frustrations are a part of our daily lives and there is probably no hard and fast rule to get past them.  What we can control however, is how we choose to deal with them.  Getting upset and angry at the situation achieves nothing.  So again it’s about our mindset and the choices we make.  How about we choose to react in a positive way and we will make life that much easier for ourselves.

Without failure there is no success!  That is the reality of our lives and the fact remains that we all fail on a daily basis.  It’s the green robot that turns to red just before you get to it or the appointment that you are five minutes late for.  Failure is an integral part of our lives and we need to accept that and deal with it and get over it!

Understanding how to deal with that failure and using the lessons contained in that failure in order to improve or fix or leverage off it, is the only way to succeed somewhere down the line!  If you don’t learn from that failure all that will happen is that you will continue to do the same thing over and over again whilst expecting a different result! Like that is going to happen!

The more that you are challenged by life and the more you overcome these challenges, the more you will grow as a person.

Personal growth and the rewards that that brings, for me is the most self-satisfying experience that I can have.  Those “Ah-Ha” moments, to coin an Oprah phrase, are more precious than gold or silver and will last with me for my lifetime!

Find your purpose, find your joy.  Make the right choice and do whatever it is that needs to be done.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za