24 Oct It’s Got Potential
We all have potential, or so the rumour goes. If someone asked you to explain what potential is exactly, what words would you use?
Is it an end goal? Is it a journey? Is it a quality within you? Is it a skill you have yet to discover?
âHow to Realise Your Potentialâ is a popular workshop run by The School of Life addressing this very issue. The class is always sold out. Learning facilitator of the workshop, Sophi Bruce, says potential is a little treasure we all have hidden inside us. Borrowing from positive psychologist Martin Seligmanâs bestselling book Flourish, your potential is realised when you harness this treasure.
Why do so many people feel like they havenât reached their potential?
Your potential and what you are successful or good at arenât necessarily natural partners. Psychologist Debra Brodowski says finding your potential is a skill, not a trait, and she often sees clients who are seeking clarity in their direction.
A lot of us go through life without actually thinking about what we want to do.
“We finish high school, get a general qualification, fall into a first job and thatâs where the career path follows, without much consideration to âIs this what I want to do? Is this something I actually value and enjoy?ââ says Debra.
Advocate for the freedom of the individual, French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre calls this bad faith. Simply put, Sartre says we find it easier to say we have no options to change direction. Weâre bound by the circumstances we find ourselves in, whether itâs a financial consideration, lack of academic achievement or lack of work experience.
Itâs scary to make a change; it feels easy to just keep going on the path youâre on.
Sartre says if you decide to not make the change, you may one day wake up feeling that youâve wasted your life. Now that may just be the far scarier choice.
Debra says the advice often given in school is to pursue a career that matches the school subjects you enjoy and do well at. For example, a student good at maths and sciences should pursue a career in medicine because it best aligns with their academic success.
What isnât explored, but Sophi encourages, are values. âIâd advise people to look intrinsically at their values. If youâre living according to your values, youâre feeling much more purposeful than if youâre not,â Sophi says. So the values of the hypothetical student who excels at maths and science might indicate theyâd really like to work with underprivileged children.
Realistically, itâs hard to know exactly how your life will turn out. Choices you make, the careers you choose, the courses you study are decided upon what you âthinkâ your life will be like. You can never know how anything will turn out until you try it. The other thing to consider is how influential your immediate circle of family and friends can be on your decisions.
âItâs hard for people to do something different, because if it doesnât fit into the worldview of your family and friends, you get a lot of push back and thatâs why people end up in jobs theyâre expected to do and careers theyâre expected to have rather than something which is going to be suited to them,â says Debra.
Who you are shouldnât be defined by one career choice.
âWe donât have to be restricted to just one job for all of our lives. We can actually have a portfolio for our career and try out different things,â adds Sophie.
HOW DO YOU FIND IT?
Finding your potential shouldnât only apply to your career choice. Finding your creative side, or wanting to be a better parent, or a desire to engage in social justice should all be encouraged and given equal importance to your career. So how do you correct your course in life to find and realise your potential?
Greeceâs most famous philosopher, Socrates, maintained that the âunexamined life is not worth livingâ and that you should âknow yourselfâ. This is as true today as it was in 400BC.
Sophi suggests you should also redefine what success means to you. âIn our society, potential is so caught up with success and having to have some kind of notoriety or another piece of paper, but actually that does muddy the waters of what our potential really is. Success is not the be all and end-all of why weâre doing things.â
THE STEPS
Sophi suggests you ask yourself the following questions:
What do you want to do?
Who do you want to be?
Who do you want to be with?
What are your values?
What motivates you?
What organisations align with your values?
Once youâve answered those questions, write down one practical, measurable step to help you move forward.
Also, find a new tribe, a new group of people to connect with thatâll help you to start moving in the right circles towards your newfound goal.
Debra recommends you find out what your strengths are. Online tests are available on the University of Pennsylvania website.
You can also choose to undergo comprehensive testing with a psychologist who can conduct a thorough interview and psychometric testing such as the Myers Briggs or DiSC personality profiles.
âA psychologist may ask you what you think your strengths are, what motivates you, what you think your values are, what dreams you had as a child that may have been unfulfilled. This helps you to start thinking differently,â Debra says.
âI suggest to people who are feeling aimless, donât permit yourself to be paralysed by not having an aim or objective,â adds Sophi. âItâs actually a lot better to just try some things out. You can think of a hundred reasons why you shouldnât do something. Itâs about reframing that and thinking of three reasons why you should. The first reason is because you might as well.â
Want more? Listen to these 11 TED Talks when you donât know what to do with your life.
Words by Maria Tedeschi / Photography by Allef Vinicius