THE PROMISE - AND THE PROBLEM - WITH POTENTIAL
The start of a new year brings with it a sense of hope and promise, and for good reason. There is great potential for what 2024 can bring for each one of us, including for you. Call it a resolution if you'd like, but the truth is there’s value in envisioning what you want to build - or who you want to become - in the year ahead.
Maybe you want to build (or continue to build) a new skill, a new business, or a new relationship. Maybe you want to build a healthier mindset or some more productive habits. Maybe in 2024 you want to build a new identity. You want to become more worthy of winning in some important area of life, and to become the type of athlete, professional, student, spouse, parent, leader, competitor, or person that success requires to be. I hope you’ve taken the time to clarify a vision for what it is you have the potential to do.
I also hope you can take a minute today to clarify the power of that word “potential,” and the important part it plays in your pursuit. When it comes to personal development of any kind, I’m not sure there’s a word that’s simultaneously created both as much promise and as many problems as that word “potential.” It has single-handedly taken some people higher and farther than they ever could have dreamed, and at the same time kept others from even scratching the surface of their capability. It's important to recognize both the promise and the problem with potential.
The promise of potential is of course the hope it creates in an unfulfilled future. Every success story starts with potential - with a vision for what we can build or become. Sometimes potential is evident. Take someone like Lebron James, for example. As a high schooler, he was plastered on the cover of Sports Illustrated and deemed “The Chosen One.” Through hard work and a commitment over time, he became what everyone thought and expected he would. He turned his potential - as obvious as it was - into reality.
Other times, potential isn’t as obvious. Tom Brady became arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history, but as a high schooler he wasn’t gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated. In fact, for much of high school he was the backup quarterback on a mediocre team. He was anything but “The Chosen One.” And yet, through hard work and a commitment over time, he became way more than anyone thought or expected he would. He, too, turned his potential - hidden though it was - into reality.
You can find plenty of examples like these, of people who've done the work to maximize their potential. Sadly, you can find many more examples - both of "sure things" like Lebron and "long shots" like Tom Brady - who never come close to turning what could be into what actually is. These examples help highlight the problem with potential. A lot of "sure things" have chosen not to do the work that becoming their best requires because they’ve been convinced, either by themselves or by someone else, that success for them is inevitable. At the same time, a lot of "long shots" have chosen not to do the work that becoming their best requires because they’ve been convinced, either by themselves or by someone else, that success for them is impossible. For many people, their perception of potential distorts reality. And it’s not until looking back - on what they failed to build or who they didn’t become - that they recognize their missed opportunity. The Hall of Fame basketball player Kevin McHale once famously said, “A lot of guys have potential written on their tombstones.” Their legacy is defined by the regret of an unfulfilled past.
Maybe for you, building or becoming something better in 2024 seems inevitable. Maybe it seems impossible. Either way, success is available in the coming year, if you decide to do what champions do...and work for it. That means showing up with discipline and intention in the important areas of life every day, regardless of and maybe even in spite of how you feel. It means competing courageously to get better and embracing the struggle that real improvement requires. It means trusting in the process of growth and development, and in the compounding effect of your commitment over time. That’s the formula for building or becoming something great in the year to come. It's the formula for turning your potential into reality.