There are a lot of reasons people don’t live up to their potential, but at their core it really comes down to three things.
Avoid them, and you’ll be ahead of 98% of everyone else.
Number One: Pay Yourself First
This is THE biggest reason people don’t live up to their potential in life.
If there’s a concept that impacted my life more than any other it’s the idea of paying yourself first. It squashes the “it’s not the right time” issue.
What does paying yourself first mean exactly? Here’s an example.
Do you pay taxes? Of course. What about your mortgage or rent? I’m betting you do. And you’ve probably never (or rarely) missed a payment. Right?
Now what about yourself? Do you pay yourself every month? Imagine if every month, since you first started working, you “paid” yourself 10% of every dollar you’ve ever earned. Every single one… ever. And you treated it like a tax… you never missed it.
A janitor did just that and wound up with millions.
And it’s not just money… it also works with time.
What if you prioritized a small chunk of time – even if it’s just 15 minutes – to improving yourself every day. For example – writing, exercise, or even learning to play the piano. Imagine how amazing you’d be with just a few minutes paid to yourself, consistently, over the years. Incredible!
The key here is paying yourself first. Does it make sense to pay yourself instead of your credit card? Does it make sense to practice piano when you’ve got an important work deadline to hit? On the surface it sure doesn’t seem like it.
But millions of dollars and being able to play La Campanella for your friends says otherwise. The reason it works is because if you make it an absolute must (like taxes and rent), you’ll find a way to make it happen.
Bottom Line: Pay yourself first!
Number Two: Fear disguised as “What if…?”
Ah the classic phrase of future fears. We hear a lot of them, especially when people are thinking about starting a business…
“What if I’m not ready?” “What if people hate me?” “What will my family think?” “What if it doesn’t work?” “What if it DOES work and I can’t handle customer service issues?”
But people often don’t consider the flip side of the coin:
What if you can actually help people?
What if you never try and miss out on your potential?
What if you’re in the same spot a year from now?
People stop themselves before they start due to problems they don’t even have. If you want to become successful, you need to learn to not fear the future.
Focus on each step, and you’ll climb mountains. Focus on what that “big scary mountain” might be, and you’ll never even try.
Bottom Line: Don’t get stuck before you even get started.
Number Three: Indecision
Life is tough and it’s full of hard choices. But most people get so caught up in their options that they never decide.
As someone who was too proud to “fail” or be “wrong”, one of the hardest lessons for me to learn was that a bad decision is usually better than no decision.
Now that doesn’t mean you should go out and do something stupid…
What it means is that the faster you can just make your best guess and DECIDE, the better off you’ll be.
There’s a great quote by Freeman Dyson that says “It is better to be wrong than to be vague.”
Seems a little counterintuitive at first, until you realize the power of decisiveness…
Which is better? Making an educated decision, being wrong, figuring it out, and then taking the other path without hesitation… or being wishy washy, spending months agonizing and being paralyzed by an inability to pick the best way forward?
Bottom Line: Be decisive!
These truly are some of the biggest keys to success on the planet, and it’s very difficult to reach your potential without them. I hope you embrace them and see where they take you!
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Keep in mind that if you ever find yourself saying “I already know this”, instead ask “What can I learn from this?” and make sure you’re actually applying it in your daily life.
By adopting the right mindsets, you build the foundation for a better life.
Until next time… Do. Learn. Repeat.