Maximize every ounce of potential you have by focusing on the right things (don’t get distracted by the shiny object), working hard (becoming competent), getting rid of self-doubt (becoming confident in your abilities).
Tag: self-improvement
Feedback vs criticism
View feedback as a shortcut to success. If you only see feedback as criticism and shut down, you will limit your growth potential. If someone is being honest with you and helping you realize what needs to be improved upon, use that to your advantage. Either way the information is still there and it is still true. You can choose to ignore it and continue to be substandard at whatever it is they mentioned, or you can do something about it. This will also reinforce others to continue to give you feedback. It may not always feel the best, but you will always know where you stand.
Training like a professional
If you only work on something when you’re motivated, you’ll never achieve outstanding results. That’s what separates professionals from amateurs. Professionals deliberately practice their craft daily. They make sure that they eat, sleep, and train for optimum performance. They’ll break down film/recordings to see where they are weak or where there is an opportunity due to an opponent’s weakness, then they try to improve or exploit that weakness.
To become truly great at something, you have to practice…a lot. You can’t just do something once and then expect to become an expert. It takes studying and experience. But if you depend solely on your motivation to do the necessary work, you will never become truly elite in your field. Motivation comes and goes. You can have it for stretches, but when things start becoming difficult, motivation is often the first thing to go.
Muhammad Ali is quoted as saying, “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” He knew the importance of training – of doing what he didn’t want to do so he could get to the next level. Often, it is what we are willing to do that others aren’t that being us success. Are you willing to sacrifice in the short term to get the long term results you want?
So the questions are: what do you need to be doing to bring you the success you desire? Are you deliberately training, living purposefully, and working as hard as you can? Or are you relying on motivation to get you by? Take some time today to think about your goals and figure out what you need to be doing habitually to get you there.
The pursuit of your potential
You should always look at results through the lens of did you try your best and did you max out your potential. It is better to play your best game and still lose to somebody who is better than you at that particular moment than it is to play substandard to your potential and blow the other team out. This may sound add to those who are ultra competitive, but think of it this way…
Would you rather play an intense game, give it your all, and lose by a single point to one of your peers? Or would you rather not really try (or care) and easily beat a child at a game? Which would give you more satisfaction?
Try to live up to your potential in everything you do. We are not all created equal with our talents, but we are not all going to give equal effort. If you try your best, and you know there is nothing else you could have done, that’s all you can ask for.
10 tips to happiness
10 tips to happiness:
1. Spend time by yourself in solitude (preferably outside). Get away from the noise, even if for only 10 minutes per day.
2. Always be learning. Just because you’re out of school doesn’t mean you should stop learning. In fact, now you can learn about subjects of your choosing! Pick something that interests you and dig in.
3. Give (volunteer time, money, material items/goods, or advice). We are meant to be part of a community or tribe. Don’t only live for yourself. That’s lonely. Live to help others – family, friends, and strangers.
4. Do something hard everyday. Try challenging yourself and overcoming obstacles. Go work out, build something with your hands, read a novel that makes you think, plant a garden…the bigger the hurdle, the bigger your reward when you overcome it.
5. Live/act in alignment with your morals…do what is right, even when it’s tough and even when nobody else is looking. Do not boast about this. You are doing what you’re supposed to do. Don’t do it for the reward of other people’s approval. This also involves “tough love.” Doing or saying what needs to be done or said for the betterment of that individual, even if it means telling them what they don’t want to hear.
6. Treat others with kindness, regardless of their status or what they can “give” to you. Think of “The Golden Rule.”
7. Do not attribute malice to what could be ignorance. Especially in today’s world, where it seems we assume anyone with a different opinion than ours is evil, maybe they just don’t know what they don’t know. Maybe they don’t have the life experience you have. They may be blind to certain situations because they haven’t seen it first hand. And guess what? The same can be said about you. You’re not an all-knowing, perfect, empathetic individual. And hopefully as you go through life you figure some new things out and change your opinions from time to time. It’s not flip-flopping. It’s growing.
8. Avoid comparing yourself to others. Comparison is the thief of joy. Be happy with what you have.
9. Care about/for something. If you have interests/hobbies, you will have something to look forward to. If you have to take care of something (like a pet, child, or parent) or if you have a cause you believe in, then you will find purpose in life.
10. Smile…it will make you feel better and it will make others feel better. Smiling is contagious. Try to spread it.