Potential – We all have it!
I am motivated by Ben Affleck. Ben Affleck is a “super achiever.” Most people don’t know this, but not only is Ben Affleck an Oscar-winning screenwriter (Good Will Hunting), an award-winning director, an A-list Hollywood actor, and the former husband of Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Garner, but he was also the California state poker champion at one point. What this all means is that, anything Ben Affleck does, he does at a very high level. He’s being the best, or at least at the top of his game, in all his endeavors. That’s pretty incredible. When I see people who consistently perform at such high levels, it makes me want to be better. However, like most people, I have faced times when I felt like, maybe I’m just not blessed with that kind of talent or luck. But, to be honest, that’s a crappy attitude to take, because the truth of the matter is, each of us is filled with an amazing super power to do and achieve incredible things. This super power gives us the potential to do anything we want. It enables us to overcome incredible obstacles and shape the very world around us. I know, I’ve seen it in action. Preachers preach about it, professors lecture on it, and parents even reveal it to their kids when they say, “you can do anything you want.” It’s true.
The super power is inside everyone. Some will scoff at that, and say, “Not everybody. Some people are just normal.” But, don’t confuse apathy or lack of action, for lack of potential. I know a guy named Baxter Humby in Los Angeles who is a kickboxing champion, and guess what, he’s only got one arm. For gosh sakes, he competes at a professional level, in a sport that allows you to hit with your arms and legs, and he starts the whole game 25% down from everybody else, and still became the champ. He literally beat everybody up with one hand. How’s that for super?
Unfortunately, not everybody uses their super power. In fact, MOST people don’t. Most oftentimes, people don’t use their super power because they are simply unaware it’s inside them. These people sense no reason to feel “special” or gifted in some way. They have no idea that each one of us lives and breathes with this amazing power inside us. The truth of the matter is, most people don’t use their super power because they are lazy. A successful actor friend of mine in Los Angeles used to have a great saying, “The best kept secret in Hollywood is hard work.” That’s the truth with success in anything, except scratchers and super lotto.
If anything, I hope you will take a moment to think about the awesome power that’s inside of you. How will you use it? To be the best TV watcher you can be? To be the best video game player? To be the best father/mother/brother/sister/son/daughter? To be great at your job or school? To be great at something you love to do? It’s up to you.
Once you accept the fact that you have this power inside you, you will realize that you have everything you need to undertake any accomplishment; achieve any objective. It’s like realizing that you have a million dollars in the bank that you didn’t know about. Once you are aware of this newfound wealth, you no longer wake up and think about how you are going to pay the rent, instead you wake up and think about all the things you can do with this windfall money. Realizing the potential of your inner power is the same thing. You should wake up every morning and think, “What am I going to do with this amazing power today?” The best part is, unlike the money, your super power won’t ever run out.