Are you living up to your full potential?

Here’s 5 ways to live the best version of yourself

I don’t know if there’s such thing as your “full” potential. Maybe we should reframe this concept more as “expanding into” your potential. Or leaning into it. Because the truth is, potential evolves.

Think of “expanding into your potential” as living in the present, showing up fully for your life, and making your needs a priority.

There you go. Simple, right?

Look, only you know what the “best” version of yourself feels like. If you haven’t felt that in awhile, then that’s an important sign that it’s time for a life reassessment.

Kinda like a self-directed, mini-intervention. Without the reality TV cameras around.

In order to get an idea of whether or not your are currently living up to your potential, consider reflecting on these questions:

• When and how do you feel most at home – most valued and accepted?
• When and how do you feel the most useful – where you are contributing to work and life in the most effective and productive ways?
• When was the last time you showed up for yourself – like your BFF would show up for you?
• When was the last time you dropped everything, said NO to things that didn’t serve you, YES to thinks you desired, and sat and gazed into the depths of your own soul?

It’s not always comfortable to ask yourself these questions, nor embrace the answers that follow. But the end result? You’ll realize how often you’ve left yourself behind, ditched yourself, or stood yourself up like that date from 1996 (but hey, you sure rocked that flannel).

It’s time to put YOU first.

This doesn’t mean in a narcissistic way. It means realizing that you are never going sustain long-term success or deeply-rooted happiness if you aren’t tapping into the abundance of your potential.

In other words, quit half-assing your life and get real.

We all like to say “Oh, we are all just doing our best” but the reality is…no, we’re not. Not 100% of the time. Learn to call BS on yourself (this is a legit skill) when you know you aren’t doing your best. Don’t tell me that you aren’t aware when you begin to allow work and life to fall to the wayside. The signs are everywhere.

So when you finally choose to pay attention to those signs, forgive yourself but kick your own ass (another legit skill).

Dive into these five ways to practice the fine art of leaning into your infinite potential. And then enjoy reaping the rewards that come from capitalizing on your skills and capabilities.

1. Evaluate your Relationships

If if feels like I mention this often it’s because toxic relationships are inextricably tied to toxic health (physical, emotional, and mental) and toxic business ventures. And they are often the most challenging to untangle.

If you are in any kind of toxic relationship – personal or professional – commit to figuring out a plan to address it. Your choices include working hard with the other party to repair it or leaving it. If you are in a situation that prevents you from leaving a toxic relationship, make small steps towards freedom.

If the idea overwhelms you, take actions that feel small but doable. This could be as simple as unfollowing/blocking a person, setting boundaries around the time you spend together or how often you communicate, reevaluating your investment level in the relationship, seeking professional counseling, or reaching out for support from friends and family.

Many entrepreneurs often stay in toxic business relationships because of the fear of how cutting the ties may impact their business. While this is understandable, remember that your choice to stay in this relationship IS ALREADY IMPACTING YOUR BUSINESS in dire ways.

2. Embrace the Discomfort Zone

It’s a fact that doing things outside of our comfort zone teaches us adaptability, gifts us with new perspectives, and allows us to reflect on what gives our lives personal meaning. It’s why parents are encouraged to expose children to a diverse set of life experiences, cultures, and beliefs. We all grow from leaving – even momentarily – our designated place of security, comfort, and safety.

Feel what it’s like to have new experiences and interactions that are foreign to you. When you do, ask yourself: What did I learn and feel?

As a business owner, challenge yourself to step outside of the box and free yourself from the constructs of labels and assumptions. Do you normally heavily rely on technology to fuel your business? Consider spending the day with people who rely more on their instincts and trade skills; people building things by hand, telling stories in engaging ways, or going off the grid while still doing amazing work.

You’ll walk away from that experience with a newfound appreciation for the capacity of humans to be inventive and efficient.

Embracing the discomfort zone is about practicing courage amid fear. It’s about stretching yourself and giving yourself credit. And it’s certainly about unleashing wild creativity and innovation.

3. Re-introduce Yourself to Yourself

Understanding how to really expand into your potential requires taking inventory of yourself. What does this really mean? Get to know you, again.

Remember that life demands that we evolve, and shift, and change. We are not the same version of ourselves as we were a decade ago; heck, even a month ago.

Complacency will be your worst enemy when it comes to breaking the “full-potential” barrier. So understand that just as a business evolves, so do the people behind it.

Take time over the new few days to really dig into illuminating questions such as:

• What are your strengths and challenge areas?
• If money and time were no object, what would you be doing?
• What lights your fire? P.S. Do more of THAT.
• What are your goals: immediate/actionable goals and the stretch/dream goals?
• Do you have a support network in place to accurately and effectively achieve those goals?

But don’t forget one last step.

Demand accountability from yourself and seek it from others. Find an accountability partner or friend that can shoot you straight, check in on your progress, and give you a boost of encouragement when you need it. I know people who send their accountability partner their weekly or daily goals and then celebrate together when they are checked off.

This is FREE. It takes basically NO TIME. And it yields powerful results.

4. Cozy Up to Self-Care

There needs to be a better phrase for this because I think some men traditionally shy away from anything labeled “self care”. So, we can also call it Personal Management. How about that?

All self care (ahem, personal management) means is taking care of the Temple of You: your body, your mind, your emotional wellbeing. But specifically, self-care relates to rituals, routines, and actions that send a clear message to yourself and others: IT’S ME TIME, FOLKS.

Unplug, reconnect, reflect, let loose, take risks, nurture the parts of you that you’ve ignored or silenced for far too long.

I don’t care what your me time/self-care/personal management looks like. I don’t care if it’s weird, wacky, or a secret. I just care (and you should just care) that it’s intentional, meaningful, and routine.

Self-care can be exercising, a massage, journaling, taking supplements, meditation, cooking, staying proactive on your health care regiment, a game of pick up with the crew, yodeling.

SERIOUSLY, just make it a priority.

5. Be Relentless

Remember: The human spirit is resilient. Which means, you are as well.

When you allow yourself to really feel momentum – whether with personal growth or achieving certain goals – you set yourself up for success. Why? Because momentum is the catalyst to building sustainable habits. Habits allow you, over time, to exert less mental focus on a task and free up space to complete other tasks.

Optimal efficiency unlocked!

And, let me geek out for a second on you: Habits actually create chemical releases in the brain as a “reward” for certain behaviors. Simply put, habits are reinforced through a neurological process that is quite powerful. Your brain WANTS you to form good habits. Habits make you, and your brain, pretty freakin’ happy.

But keep in mind that you are also human. As you expand father into your potential, persist and challenge yourself but also cushion it with grace. You’ll falter, have successes, and falter some more.

Push forward.

The world needs you, in all of your full potential.