Yo yo yo. Welcome back to the Further your Lifestyle podcast conversations on lifestyle passions and hustles. My name's Chris, I am your host and I'm super excited to be back here having the conversation with you. Episode 163 today, and we are talking about what does it take, or what does it require, to reach our potential. Now, this is a topic that we probably dived into maybe a year and a half ago could have even been a bit longer than that and I wanted to revisit it and come to it with a few different points and a bit more perspective, or a later perspective, now that I've been doing this for a longer period of time. But the question is what does it take? Can we be the best versions of ourselves, and how do we even make that possible? And there's a number of different points that I want to touch on today in this conversation is what do we need to leave at the door in order to ensure that we are moving towards reaching our potential? How can we start to discover what this process even looks like? We're going to touch on what are some of the common things which also hold us back, also some of the factors that we should be considering that maybe we haven't thought about, but also things that we should potentially be avoiding, that may even be distracting us from getting to where we want to be.

And before we get into it, do you ever hear like cliches or people saying all these things? And it makes it sound so easy. Anyone can do this. There is a level of this that is true. Anyone can do this and we can all reach our potential. Anyone can do it. And it's statements like that which sometimes people think oh yeah, but it's all a bit fluffy. The reality is, you either do want to reach your potential or you don't. There's nothing other than that about it, right, but there are factors that we need to consider. There are things that we need to take into account before we can expect. We can just continue to become a better version of ourselves. We do want to be making progress on an ongoing basis, and I want to dive into that today.

Right, I also want to address some of the different cliches that pop up that we hear, really high level, surface stuff which kind of get thrown around. However, I think there's truth in them. Cliches are there for a reason because they get thrown around, because they do have meaning and unfortunately, they do get thrown around and maybe some people are just saying it with no sense of evidence behind it or they're not even taking action or they're not practicing what they preach and some of these cliches there's about 10 here that I want to take you through. So those are the main things we're going to be getting into today. We're going to roll the intro and we're going to dive straight into the cliches. Let's do it, let's do it.

So, cliche number one is sky's the limit. And look, this is just thrown around to the sense of we can use it to suggest that there are no limits that one can achieve, emphasising that we may have that limitless potential to be whoever we want to be. Look, and that's great, but I don't think we're all going to be Elon Musk. If we all want to be Elon Musk, there's nothing stopping us from being like Elon Musk, other than there is no one else like Elon Musk. As an individual, we are unique to ourselves, so the sky's the limit to the factor that we need to take into account of who we are and our styles of progression and the things that we enjoy doing. Right, if are you interested in building Tesla, are you interested in building all his different other products? Probably not. You might be interested in his cool products because they just change your life or they're just unique or it's a new tech trend, but the reality is, to be like him, you'd have to be him. But I'm not saying that we should limit ourselves, saying, oh, I could never be in the top because I'm not good enough or I'm not like Elon Musk. That's not the point. What I'm saying is it's good to have this idea around, sky's the limit. But we also need to be realistic in helping ourselves understand that we can be whoever we want, but let's not try and be someone else.

Cliche number two is you reap what you sow. Now, look, this one seems a bit negative, but it does emphasize that when you put effort and energy into something that will determine the results you get out of it. So if you're not trying to grow, if you're not trying to become a better version of yourself, then how can we expect to be a better version of ourselves? So we do need to underscore that importance of hard work and dedication and consistency. Cliche number three is practice makes perfect. Now, it is a common phrase that kind of gets just thrown around, but it does stress the importance that a continuous practice will help master the skill or maybe achieve a higher level of success. And I get stuck up in this because sometimes we get confused with practice makes perfect, not perfect. Practice makes perfect right. Progress is progress. Progress is getting out and giving things a go and maybe you have a bad day. Progress is also when you have a great day and you feel like you've got a PB or you've won at something or you've absolutely done your best day ever. That's progress too. Progress is getting through the days where you don't feel like doing it anymore. So with that, practice looks different for everyone and practice will be different on a day-to-day basis.

Number four is knowledge is power. When we acquire more knowledge, it is crucial because it enables us to unlock better access to making decisions, and what I mean by that is we can unlock our potential because we now know something that we didn't know before. We don't know what we don't know, but when we understand something differently, it changes our whole perception of, maybe a component of how we viewed the world, which means we're able to move in a different direction. Maybe we can do something quicker. We can do something with more confidence. Therefore, we're able to enable ourselves to become a better version of ourselves. Here's the next cliche be the best version of yourself. That's the topic of today. Can we reach our potential? This encourages us to continually strive to improve, but it does lack that sense of how do we do that, and we'll be touching on that a little bit later.

The next one is push your limits. We spoke about comfort zones a few episodes back. When we step out of our comfort zones, it does. It enables us to discover and realize that there is more outside of our boundaries. And when I say boundaries, I'm not saying like moral boundaries, I'm talking about comfort boundaries and not to say that the grass is greener on the other side. But we don't know how far the field goes unless we're willing to walk a little bit further.

Next one is never stop learning. I think it speaks for itself, but I think we forget to highlight the importance that learning is a lifelong thing. Right? The key to unlocking our potential is to continuously learn, and that will look different for everyone at different components in our lives. The other cliche which I kind of love because it's relevant to my life life is a marathon, it's not a sprint, and it reminds people that we need to be willing to look at this from a long-term endeavor point of view, requiring persistence and requiring endurance, rather than that we're going to get the results with quick bursts of effort. It just doesn't happen.

The next one is then big dreams equal big achievements Potentially encourages us to set high goals because that ambition enables us to work towards it, but sometimes it can mean that we lose sight of getting there because we get so worked up that we're not good enough when really the day-to-day that we're achieving is just good enough anyway. So, look, it's a controversial one, but it's relevant, super relevant. But we do need to be mindful that we don't dream ourselves out of our own reality to be able to move forward. The last one for the cliches is success is a journey, not a destination. Look, they do sound a little corny, right, but the reality is, this phrase emphasizes that achieving one's full potential is an ongoing process. It requires growth and it requires learning, rather than that final end point, because once you get to your final end point, is that the end? No, we probably start a new journey, but the reality is, by the time we've gotten to where we want to be, it's the time and the period and the work and the effort and the experience of getting there which is really the success. The destination is really just the outcome and maybe the celebratory moment.

Okay, so, coming back to the points that I wanted to discuss today, just that we've got those context points of cliche statements out in the open. Now, when we start to look at some of these other points, it might just give some fresh perspective. And the first one is what do we need to leave at the door right in order to reach our potential? And the first one is preconceived notions and biases. This is a tough one, like seriously off the bat, it's quite deep. When we are trying to become a better version of ourselves, we need to set aside some of the stereotypes and the biases that can cloud judgment.

Now, that's very hard as an individual, because at this point in life, wherever you are, whether you're 20, 25, 30, 45, 50, 60, whatever you have gotten to, where you are based on an understanding, a perception, a notion and a bias, whether you like it or not. And sometimes, if we want to take it to the next level, those things need to be left at the door because we need to go into it humbly knowing that we might not know everything. And if we go into this, we need to be willing to learn, we need to be willing to let go. And it actually leads to the second point, which is ego and pride. If we want to grow, we need to leave ego and pride at the door, because we do not know everything, we don't have it all figured out. You could be 50 and live double the life than me. It doesn't mean you have all the answers. It also doesn't mean that I should have this expectation or this sense of entitlement that I've got it all figured out either. A good example of this is with ego and pride, is a lot of people. There's some people that are really talented, people that are amazing at what they do, but they're unable to move to the next level because they have an inability to take on feedback or they don't take well to others giving them that constructive feedback, which means, because they're not able to leave their ego or pride at the door, they're unable to move forward or up.

The next one is fear of failure. We need to leave this at the door. For me, fear look, it comes in two components the sense that it motivates us but it scares us. You want it to motivate you. You do not want it to scare you. If it scares you, it holds you back from reaching your potential. But if it motivates you, it forces you to move towards and push towards where you want to be. There's heaps of people that have failed initially when trying to build out their dreams, their goals, their products, their, whatever the reality is. Sometimes we will fail, sometimes things won't go as planned, but it doesn't mean we stop. It means we get up again, we try again and figure out what's the next move. So that's really like the three points around what do we need to leave at the door? But now, if we start to think about what, is there a process to discover our potential? Is there a way that we can start to look at this?

For me, the first one is self-assessment Understanding who we are, what do you like? Who are you at the core? What assessment? Understanding who we are, what do you like? Who are you at the core? What are your strengths and weaknesses? There's some really cool things that we can do. There's a tool called the strengths finder, which enables you to find what are your strengths, but it really comes down to self-awareness if you do not know yourself and if you do not love yourself first, then how can you go out and expect to become a better version of yourself? All right, and we can't be someone else. We, we can be inspired by someone else, we can learn, we can be influenced and seek inspiration, but at the end of the day, we need to understand who we are, what we strive for, what we struggle with, how do we work through those things? So, figure out who you are, encourage yourself to whether it's to get feedback from others or take some self-awareness or personality tests, whatever it may be to understand who you are, your strengths, your weaknesses and all that great stuff. The next one is then, if you have that out of the way, we can start to then set clear goals.

Now there's a number of different conversations I've had around this, whether it's setting smart goals or finding the best way to set goals for you. Now it doesn't mean you have to go and tell the world what your goals are, but when you have goals, it means you can work towards direct efforts in achieving them and it motivates you and it keeps you honest. I've got usually always a bit of a one to two to five to 10-year plan in terms of what I'm trying to achieve. Some of that's really high level, some of it's a bit more detailed, but it gives me a moving point towards my North Star, or a compass of where I want to be going. And to wrap up, starting the process to discover our potential is seeking inspiration and role models, having people around you and that surround you, that are supporting who you are, where you want to be going, your achievements, and it's going to help you rise to that potential, because you can't have people bringing you down and I'm not saying you don't want people that are just telling you things for the sake of telling you things that you want to hear. You do need people telling you things that you need to hear, but let's have a positive bunch of folk that are enabling you to move forward.

Now, what are some of the common things that do hold us back? I think the first one is comfort zone. This is very straightforward, to the sense that we know this, we know when we are avoiding stepping out of our comfort zone. You know it. You know it. You can think of it about right now. And and but. When we take risks, when we step out, we can release ourselves to becoming a better version of ourselves. I've been doing this in the last six months, really pushing into some different areas of maybe not doing what I normally did, and I've seen some amazing growth. This is also in the business, so we do need to be willing to take that change for the better.

The next one is procrastination and the lack of discipline Two different things. Discipline sometimes just means because we're lazy, but procrastination our mind goes somewhere else and we put off, and it's usually because we're not comfortable with getting uncomfortable with what we need to do to get to that next level. It's like trying to learn to drive a car it's scary at first, but then it's yeah, whatever, it's very easy to do. Or riding a bicycle. Now, if you haven't done those things yet, I challenge you. Maybe it's time To manage the lack of discipline. It's about putting in boundaries or tools or things that you can do to enable you to stay on topic or on task.

The other one that holds us back dearly is negative social circles, the Debbie Downers. And look, I don't mean to say that in a rude way, but you need to make sure you understand and highlight what is your social environment look like, how are you being motivated and how are you being complemented with your ambitions? I encourage you to make sure you're forming connections with like-minded peers or friends or people that are going to encourage and give you that positive effect towards where you want to be going. A negative social circle is never going to help that. What about some of the factors we need to consider?

I think one that's really important is physical and mental health when it comes to becoming a better version of ourselves. Because if you're just wanting to Look, I think potentially a lot of the time, as a cliche, we say, oh, I'm trying to be the best version of myself, which means you're able to have a better lifestyle, which probably comes down to making more money. But the reality is to be a better version of yourselves. We need to be looking at all components of our life mental health, especially physical health. It might be your romance life, it might be your spiritual life, it may be what you believe in, it may be your relationships, all these different things. Having those things right is going to enable you to have professional success and for me, that's why I love to do the running, that's why I love to do the different things or have things in routine that are enabling me to clear my head, to stay active, to stay fresh, just spending time with my loved ones and family, because all those different things are going to enable and move you into a position that you are going to become your best self.

The other one is continuous learning and adaptability. We spoke about this before. If you're not learning, if you're not pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone, if you're not trying to learn new things, taking on new resources, reading new books, whatever, then you will lack the ability to continue to become the best version of yourself. The other one that we need to consider is work-life balance Having that balance between personal development, professional development and also having the downtime in between, because if you don't have these things, you will burn out. I know, I've been there firsthand and that's why I finally decided to take the step and build this lifestyle of my own right Further your Lifestyle, the podcast, my eBay business, selling online in my business, where now I actually have two staff, and to be able to go into that. It's my little baby, it's my thing, it's something that I've created, but at the same time, I have all this balance of other things that I'm doing and it enables me to continue to strive forward because I'm not getting burnt out, whereas when I was working for someone else, that was very hard to manage.

Now, a couple of things we need to also consider about things that we need to avoid that distract us, right? I think number one is social media and excessive entertainment. Now, look, I'm a big video game guy and I also love watching Netflix. I don't do it that much. I probably do it a couple times a week and that's not both, but usually between one of them, and a lot of the time I'm doing it with Carla. But social media is a big one where we can get stuck and just get doom scrolling, find ways or put in tools or systems or things in place to enable you to put those dangers away. They're not dangerous in the sense of they're going to end all your ability to do anything, but they do become a huge distraction. Now, if you want to get to where you want to be, block out time for that for a different time. Don't do it when you're trying to move forward.

Speaking to myself here Multitasking it's very hard to be able to do multiple things and be productive. You're better off just if something else is on your mind and it's top of mind, go deal with that before you come back and try and achieve the thing that you're not doing. It just doesn't make sense. There's a number of different books that talk about this, and I would encourage you to go find resources that are going to work for you. It's not going to work for everyone exactly the same, but at the end of the day, it really comes down to encouraging yourself to have some of those deep work sessions so you can do single task focused efforts for those longer periods of time.

The other one, which I was a big struggle with this, is saying yes too often. We need to have boundaries in our lives whether it's personal, professional, business, whatever and know how to say no and be comfortable with that, and do not align yourself to other people's goals if they're not relevant to your own. You don't owe anyone anything in the sense of you need to be doing this for them when they want. You're welcome to help other people. You're welcome to be part of other people's journeys, but don't do it at the expense of your own. So there you go. That's us. That is how we can find the ways to reach our potential, and there's a lot in this.

I personally like the cliches. Diving into those cliches helps me realize that some of these things that people say all the time yeah, they're a bit fluffy, but there is a lot of meat to it. But I think at the end of the day it really comes down to if you want to be a better version of yourself, you really just need to be the one to take control, put the things in place that are going to enable you to make that happen. You can't be expecting to be better off in a year's time if you're not doing anything different to what you're doing today, or if you've got people that are influencing you in the wrong way, or if you've got your head stuck in distractions. It's just not going to happen. So build a plan, set in motion, start today, take action today of how you're going to be a better version next week, by next week, by next month, by next year. How long is the process going to take? What is the process going to look like and what is the outcome going to look like as well? Who do you want to be in a year's time?

I'm going to leave it there. If you do have any questions, comments, chuck them down below. Otherwise, you can reach out and connect with me. If you enjoyed this, I would encourage you to please reach out, have a conversation with someone and have a conversation with me. Let's do that again. And please, if you did enjoy this, please send this to someone else, right? If you think they'll resonate with it, if you think that it's going to be something which maybe they need to hear it, or maybe you need a support partner and you want to do this with them, send it to them, share it with them and tell them why and let them know. And if you do, that would mean the absolute world to me, because it does help the podcast grow and it does help this channel grow as well. So I appreciate you being here. You have a wonderful day, cheers.