An introspective Approach to potential - By Sutapa Adhikari

Every single one of us has potential but the catch is that the word itself comes along with a degree of flexibility.

As a child, we were granted the gift of creativity and imagination.  We utilized these two things and learned what every child learns. We figured out how to fend for ourselves- whether it was waiting for our parents to put a bowl of biscuits in front of us, taking biscuits from the grasps of other babies, or finding biscuits on the floor and scooping them into our mouths.  No matter what method we chose the outcome was all the same. At the end of the day we realized that biscuits would always be within reach.  Now this principle continues to take effect today. Most of us have the means to get what we want on our own yet we likely have support systems in the form of family and friends as insurance.

The idea of reaching your true potential revolves around the fact that we have to leave the biscuit theory behind. In order to really figure out what we are capable of, we need to pretend that the support systems are not there.  Simply knowing they exist and taking them into account when we make decisions skews the outcome of our choices because they skew the decisions themselves.  In fact, I would be willing to bet that the choices we make land consistently to the right or consistently to the left because our support systems remain constant. Therefore, the only way for us to search for our potential is to act and think with clarity.

Luckily, we have the power to test our new method of thinking because our lives have so many different branches. The quest to reach our potential can be implemented into every void of our lives. We can apply them everything from our academics and careers to our parenting and developing.

If we take the time to think and act based on the creativity and imagination that is still within us-something is bound to change. There is no reason that leaving behind everything that inhibits us weather it be responsibility or obligation will not give us a feeling of lightness.  This does not mean that we behave like a child but it does mean that we will get the chance to explore our ideas in a way that may now seem distant.

This is an introspective way of thinking but when the light bulb goes off again and again you will be that much closer to reaching your potential. It will be different for each of us but it will be something to notice.