Inspired Living: How to Stop Holding Yourself Back from Greatness and Finally Reach Your True Potential

“Impossible = I’m Possible.” 

How many times have you had a dream or a goal, but fell short of achieving it?

I’ve done this on countless occasions. I can’t remember how many times I’d come up with a new idea, write it down and then eagerly work towards it for a few hours, days or weeks.

But then, when things didn’t happen according to a timeline I thought was appropriate or when I faced obstacles, I lost hope and gave up every time.

I saw all of these people around me who had such a seemingly easy time following through with their dreams and goals, and I wondered, “why is this so difficult for me, but so easy for others?”

The truth is, I was holding myself back from reaching my personal potential. I was too caught in this romantic narrative of perfection and ease, and what I believed reaching my goals and dreams should be like. I wanted to control the entire outcome, rather than experience it. And that’s not how life works.

Life is a journey. And there’s no person on this planet who isn’t full of enormous potential. But why do so few of us achieve ours?

If you’re tired of falling short of what you know you’re capable of achieving, then here are 5 things you can start doing today that will help you reach your personal potential: 

1.) Believe in Yourself

When you don’t believe in yourself and your worth, what you’re saying to yourself is, “I want (insert thing/achievement) but, I’m not good enough to get it, only other people are.”

This is the equivalent of having a dream, and then taking a spear and launching it through the heart of it. Nothing can be achieved by YOU without you believing full-heartedly you can accomplish it.

Our creator doesn’t give us dreams and ideas to torment us — instead, we’re given these things to feel inspired and nudged to create.

If you want to reach your true potential, you must believe in yourself. It doesn’t matter what circumstances come your way, or obstacles you encounter — if you’re focused and full of belief then anything will be possible for you.

2.) Change Your Story

Too many times we disempower ourselves by blaming our circumstances on our parents, friends, significant other, the life we were born into etc.

When we do this, we brainwash ourselves with a narrative of why we aren’t (or can’t be) where we want to be, and why our lives are a mess.

We tell this story to anyone willing to listen so we can continue to live in this victim mindset narrative.

I know this all too well because I once had a sad story too. My story was that of being raised by a broke single mother, and at times experiencing hardships where we lacked basic necessities like heat, hot water, and food. There was a time in my life I blamed my mother for my poor quality of life, and my father for leaving and forcing me to live like that. And you know where that story got me? Nowhere good. In fact, I almost allowed that story to take my life.

If you want to change your life for the better, then start by changing your story. Don’t let negative past experiences or hardships shape your future – instead, let them empower you to be better.

Life isn’t against you. Life loves you. Once you realize this, your entire perspective will change.

3.) Drop the “Impossible” Narrative

Things are only deemed impossible until someone figures out a way to do them.

Let’s use technology as an example. If you told someone 100 years ago they could sit in their house, connect to a device and see and talk to anyone, anywhere in the world instantly they would have said, “that’s impossible!”

Life is always evolving, and there’s nothing that’s actually impossible there are just things we have yet to figure out.

Drop the narrative of something being impossible for you, and focus on finding a way to make it happen.

4.) Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone 

If you stay where you’ve always been, you’ll continue to live and be as you’ve always been. The only way to grow in life is to experience it fully, and that means you have to step outside of your comfort zone and challenge yourself to be and do more.

Take a foreign language class.

Teach yourself how to paint using YouTube videos. 

Get up off of the couch, and go explore the world outside. 

This is a great big world with live in, full of so much splendor and magic, but when we spend our days tied up with the same routine we miss out on personal growth and new opportunities.

5.) Focus, Focus, Focus

It’s not the most intelligent people who accomplish personal greatness, it’s the most focused people who do.

And focusing isn’t always easy to do. We live in a “multi-tasking” and distracting world where our phones are always beeping with incoming messages, emails, and calls. We start a project and then start another and another without ever finishing one.

We lose momentum trying to do too much, or everything at once.

If you want to reach your potential, you need to focus.

This means stop checking your text messages. Delete social media apps from your phone. Turn off the TV. Commit to your dreams and goals, and give them your time, energy and attention.

When you master the ability to focus, there will be nothing in this world out of reach for you.

Xx,

Antasha

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About Antasha Durbin: Antasha is a spiritual writer, life-long student of the universe, and psychic tarot card reader. Her website, cajspirituality.com, is dedicated to casualizing the spiritual experience and making it attainable for anyone, anywhere, anytime. Follow her for free, easy-to-digest and highly actionable advice on spirituality, mindfulness and empowered living.