Re-invent yourself

As you release your “trapped potential” you will find yourself more than capable of exceeding your goals.

“Son! You have tremendous potential. Just go for it and the world will give you all that you want,” repeated my father everyday. So did my professor and now the project leader at work. Everyone appears to be carried away by the size of my dreams and my passionate narration. As people listen, they seem to be transported to another world. I keep sharing because their admiration makes me feel good.

In reality, it’s all big talk. Actually, I am struggling to meet even my current deadlines. The question of realising my dreams just does not arise. Maybe, I should talk less. Sooner or later, as the truth surfaces, every one will be disappointed.

As you are reading these lines, a small personal question to you. In your life, are you in a similar situation too? You have big dreams? Your parents, family, friends and other people too believe that you have the capability to fulfil these and make it really big. But personally, when you look at how things are progressing, you are convinced that by no stretch of imagination are your dreams realisable.

Creating the future

Let’s try something different! For the next five minutes, consider that you are totally wrong. Consider that your future accomplishments and rewards may not have any real connection to your past performance. Then look around. You will find that innumerable people, just like you and me, have had miracles in their life. A future that looked totally unlikely. A quick analysis will show you that for some it was by a stroke of good luck, but for others it was by taking on the challenge of life with all its problems, digging in there and continuing to chase their goals. It is as though they decided the future and then caused it. Is it possible to ‘cause’ a future? Well, enough evidence and many sciences are available on the subject.

I think the actual question, which lies concealed, is: “AD! Is there a 100 percent sure way to achieve what you want?” My answer is: “You show me one player who can always hit a century or always win and I will show you the 100 percent sure way.” If you are playing a real game and life is real, you can increase your chances of always winning but there are no guarantees. The key question to you is: “Are you willing to take on the game of causing miracles?” There is no cost or danger but some effort. But like other games, you will enjoy the falling down, the learning, the getting up and playing again and again. You will definitely win more than you would have if you had sat back. I recommend a double strategy. Take on creating the future and causing it and then whenever whatever good luck comes your way it will have a multiplier effect. This way it will be a real win-win.

Re-invent yourself to cause it

But how? Simple. Just the way you created your present. You were faced with circumstances—some external ones like money, house, attitudes of people around you, what they said, what they refused to say, what you got, what you did not get and then internal circumstances like your moods, your feelings, your belief of what is right and what is wrong and finally what response each situation deserves from you. All these circumstances guided you to behave a certain way.

You know by now that with constant repetition of these guidelines, your mind is already programmed to respond to them. Thus, your actions and inactions are automatic and what you achieved or did not predictable. You can only choose actions, the consequences of these actions are guaranteed.

If you want to achieve at a higher or different level of results, you know that your actions have to be different. Since actions are an automatic resp-onse of belief programs so you need different

programs. Declare loudly, “I will re-invent myself. I will create a whole different personality that is programmed to automatically takes actions to cause the outcomes that fulfil my dreams.” Congratulations, my friend! You are now at the start line in the “GO” position. List the dreams that you want to take on just now.

Translate each dream into goals; format each goal with specific measurable result and a deadline. (Hope you were with us for the earlier four episodes). Ready to charge ahead now?

Take stock of your personal self. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What stops you? What you believe you can do and cannot do. You will soon be clear about all the reasons and circumstances that stop you.

Make a list of current restrictive behaviour and then for each one, invent a new one. For instance, “Long working hours spoil my performance”. You know that there are exceptions in each one of these. To remove the restriction create, “My performance quality stays good irrespective of duration of working hours.” Keep affirming this statement just as the earlier one.

Next time when you work long hours, be alert. Observe if your performance continued to be the usual good quality. If yes, use it as proof for the new statement. If it did not, declare this time’s lower performance as an exception and reaffirm commitment to the new statement. Continue until the new statement becomes a reality and gets internalised. Then automatically the performance will happen in spite of long hours.

Thesub-conscious where the programs are executed requires proof of just three or four good performances. Take each stop and invent a new one that allows powerful performances. Follow the steps until each is internalised. All these put together constitute you re-invented personality.

Unlocking the hidden potential

The untapped potential is huge and if unlocked, it will totally support the resource requirements for the re-invented personality to think, plan and organise to use resources and create outcomes that fulfil dreams. So the million-dollar question is: how to connect to it, use it and prosper? So far, except for seeking divine help most of us don’t know much. The fact is that you will require some new insights, realisations and approaches. Just pull the following suggestions towards you, try it on and you will get it. Are you ready?

Lets look at the conditions under which our hidden potential emerges. Recall a time when you were presenting your points brilliantly and interacting smoothly. You were yourself surprised how cool and smooth you were being. This was an exam, a meeting or an urgent situation where normally you would have been stressed out, unsure and praying everything goes well. You were inspired by your own performance. You felt as though you were connected to some source of power. You wondered if you could repeat it but found it difficult to replicate it. So check again, were you inspired? Were you under pressure? Were you angry and wanted to somehow prove a point. Show them that you are far more capable. Exams, deadlines and being ridiculed are some of the common examples of being under pressure to perform. That’s when our hidden talents show up. Alternately, when you are inspired to perform the untapped potential will show up. The extent is a function of what you have taken on to accomplish. Looks like when you are under pressure but not willing to give up, you really jog your mind about what to do, how to do, struggle, try again and again, keep distractions at bay telling yourself ‘not now will handle later’. Its like a do or die commitment and to a clear-cut goal.

Each time you have faced such a situation, you have expanded your limits. Is it comfortable? Well it depends on whether you took it as an adventure or a compulsion. Each time you want to break your limits and expand beyond your past, you need clear cut goals and a do or die commitment. You can either wait for the world to cause the pressure or take charge of your life. Take on goals and jump in with do or die commitment to make it happen. When you take it on, its an adventure that you chose. When you choose often enough, even the discomfort is part of the game. So just to win don’t play small goals. Your self-esteem will drop and you can fool everybody else with excuses but not yourself. So either play full out, fall down, get hurt, get up again and keep moving ahead sometimes even as a wounded soldier or play safe and be suffering inside envying others who are playing full out. Unexpressed suffering encourages early arrival of blood pressure, ulcers, anger, laziness, low moods and depression. My invitation is play full out and achieve your dreams, you will win wherever you reach, the adventure will be enjoyable and you will leave your family and friends inspired. Life is for causing miracles not for using intelligence to play safe and avoid discomfort.

Re-invent yourself to fulfil your dreams. As you work on it, you will find a new glow on your face. Your body language will change. Be ready to receive complements. Next time we work on “Action for measurable results.” Meantime keep sharing.