Y

ou have probably come across some people who believe they are not gifted. Surprisingly, they are not few in number. They are quite a bunch around the world. These people believe that the only ones who are gifted are the Lionel Messi’s, Christiano Ronaldo’s, Michael Jordan’s and Sachin Tendulkar’s of this world. The same applies with potential.

The Game of Comparisons

We all know of those people who think that they do not have gifts. Have you ever asked a group of people, “How many here think that they are not gifted?” and got shocked to see more than half the room raise their hands? The same thing applies to potential. There are some people who believe that the only gifted people are those at the top of their game in sports, business, leadership and public speaking.

In other words, they do not consider themselves to be gifted or with potential because they are comparing themselves with the high and mighty and find that they are wanting on those scales. It is absolutely a wrong approach. Let me state this unequivocally: There is no human being alive who does not have potential. None. In fact, let me throw out a challenge. If you can find anyone in this wide world that you think have no potential at all, I challenge you to let me know so I can disprove you.

Special Group of People

There is of course a special group of people who have been hit so hard in life that they do have emotional, spiritual, psychological or physical wounds. Some of them have gone through so much trouble that they wish they were not alive. It is easy for me to sit at this comfy chair and declare that they still do have potential. Much as it is easy for me to declare so, it is the truth. I believe this: For as long as there is breathe, even with those in HDUs and ICUs, I believe that they do have potential. The only person without potential is the one who is dead. Remember, potential does have an expiry date.

If You Think You Have No Potential

So let me address the group of people that have been wrongly made to believe that they have no potential. Let me also address those that used to believe that they have potential but no longer believe it any more. They have given up on it after pursuing it to no avail. There are several ways that you can know that you do have potential. Let’s discuss.

1. You are here and you are alive

In the previous post, I dealt with this. Potential is the foundation of life, growth and any form of pursuit. The make-up of the whole universe is on the foundation of potential. This (hinging the progress of the human race on potential) was done by the Creator ostensibly so that we can grow and attain things through incremental capacity basis. That is why miracles are not a channel for success…but I digress. Listen to me carefully. The very fact that you are alive today shows that you have potential. The fact that you do not know you have potential does not negate the fact that you actually do have it. You were created with it. You came with it. Think about it: Before you were able to speak, you had potential to speak. The same applies to walking, and basically any learning discipline. Think about that.

2. You Have Gifts and Talents

Potential talks of innate ability that is not yet deployed. You and I have no idea the extent of that ability once it is deployed. If you know about your abilities, however weird they might be, that is the fruit of potential. What is unseen is the potential. What indicates that is there is the gifts and talents. In other words, if a tree is the analogy, the roots are the potential and the trunk and branches and maybe the leaves refers to your gifts and talents. But here is another thing we need to say: Everyone does have a gift or a talent. How to know about that is another article altogether.

3. Your Anger

That’s right. Why do you think you would be angry at something? There are some people who get so angry when they read about girl child trafficking for example. Why? I actually met someone who gets so livid about poverty. For others, they get angry when justice and fairness does not prevail. Where do you think that anger comes from? What triggers it? Remotely, it is your potential. Your anger is a sign that you are a deliverer. In fact, your anger causes you to move and do something. That action will need you to tap in the immediate resources that you have in order to correct the situation that is making you angry.

4. Your Passion

Just like your anger, probably you are passionate about the opposite of what causes the anger. Here is what I mean: If you are livid about poverty, chances are that you are so passionate about abundance and prosperity. So what do you do? You look at what you have within and around you. What do you have? You at least have potential of some kind that “funds” your passion. Next time you are either angry or passionate about something, just know that it comes from the root of potential, and that is not far-fetched, believe me.

5. People Complimenting you

Some people wonder how I am able to keep writing daily. At times for me, it is not a big deal. The most interesting thing about our potential is that it is within us and so familiarity with it can breed contempt. We tend to take seriously things that are outside of us. So when people give us a compliment or two, we seldom stop to think seriously about it. What people are complimenting you of, even if it is as simple as “you have a great smile”, please take it as it is an inclination of what your potential is.

I suspect thought that you knew about your having potential in the first place all along. So I will belabor  this point no more.