Ever met someone who has all the potential in the world to do anything they want? However………they don’t use it?? Have you ever wondered why?? Yeah, me too! In my line of work, I see a lot of young people (and older people) who have so much potential in a variety of things, however they don’t utilize it! This is something that is very frustrating to me because I enjoy watching people succeed. So let’s start with why they don’t even realize their potential…it’s because no one has told them!! What a simple concept right?? Have you ever looked at someone and simply said: “wow, you have so much potential!” Most people would respond with a dumbfounded look! Unless they were brought up in a home that encouraged potential, which is becoming more rare these days, the majority of people have never been given that positive vision for their life. I am a firm believer that anyone can do anything they want if they truly want it. However most people want things, but if it’s to hard to achieve, they don’t really want it anymore. Now, for myself, I do not think I could ever be a brain surgeon or neuroscientist, however I also have no interest in these either. My passion lies elsewhere so could I have done those things? Maybe, but I wouldn’t be happy.
“Wow, You have so much potential!!”
So are you living up to your potential? Do you even know what your potential is? Most of us never find out because we’ve never been told we have it in the first place. I remember working through college at Jersey Mike’s Subs and battling through 40 hours a week while taking a full load of classes. The whole time I had my full focus on becoming a police officer. That’s what I was studying so that’s what I felt I needed to pursue. I was coming up to the end of my final semester and I was talking about moving for a potential job offer. Now up to this point I had a mentor that I worked with who would attempt to persuade me to stay in the business but I wasn’t having it. I remember the day like it was yesterday, when my general manager looked at me with such frustration and said “Why can’t you just see your potential???” At the time it didn’t mean as much as it does now, however my mind was so saturated with what I wanted that I wasn’t focused on what my potential was. It’s funny because after all this time, I am still working for Jersey Mike’s and own a portion of one. The point is, if those people didn’t push me to understand my value and potential, I wouldn’t be where I am today. We eventually moved and I switched company’s still under the Jersey Mike’s franchise and was immediately challenged to my absolute, fullest potential. Accomplishing more in the last 2 years than I could have ever imagined including buying into my own store. But it all started with one person telling me the potential I had!!
People need to be encouraged and reminded of their value on a daily basis. Something I struggle with is saying thank you to my staff and telling them I appreciate their work. I can cast you a vision and a road map all day, but I struggle with saying thank you. I am willing to admit my faults and continue to work on them daily. The best part of my job is watching people live up to their potential and watching them set, meet and exceed their goals. If you see someone who has potential in a certain area, TELL THEM!! Encourage them to pursue whatever it is they are good at and work 100% to achieve their goals. Constant encouragement will always help them gain respect not only for you, but for themselves.
The subject of leadership can bring up an array of topics to cover as well as discussions to have. I have realized that the majority of people who I know who have strong leadership qualities have such a tight list of core values that they dedicate themselves to live by. These are things that they would never compromise for any reason. Now I am not saying you cannot be a strong leader if you do not have core values, however I feel that when you do, it is almost like self accountability to ensure you are dedicated to your vision. The company I work for has core values and I can remember when we were all in discussion about what the list should contain. Everyone sent an email with 5 things they would like to see on the list. Basically, core values for your business, your family or even just yourself should be characteristics that you strive to uphold. For example, our first core value is teamwork: this is somewhat of an obvious one for a company because without teamwork, things become chaotic and unorganized. Naturally, this may not be a core value in your personal life, but it is ideal for a business or organization. In addition to teamwork, we also have integrity, excellence, relationship driven, and giving back to our community. All things we are passionate about in our company and strive for on a daily basis. These are things that I have personally adopted into my life and try to display every day while working. Hopefully I have painted a good picture for you of what our company is about.
We have reached day 6 of the 21 day challenge of getting up at 4:30am and I will say that it has been very rewarding so far. A lot of things have changed mentally for me as well as physically. Getting up early has allowed me to spend more time focusing on what is important in my life and also everything I need to improve on. It has also given me a lot more energy throughout the day to strive to be better and better. Prior to doing the challenge, around 2 in the afternoon I would be so tired that I would lose focus and just coast through the remainder of the day. There were things that needed to be done, but I ignored because I was to tired to care. However gaining the two hours of sleep at night and also gaining the two hours of productivity in the morning has really boosted my drive and determination. Mentally, I can feel my attitude has improved toward other people and I feel like I am able to share in things I enjoy again. It’s very interesting to me how such a small change can make such a large impact on everything else. My workouts have improved as well so now I am putting my attention onto my nutrition to really drive the big three (exercise, nutrition, sleep) home and really get into a strong and positive habit. I would say it has been a successful week with the challenge and am excited to continue with it next week!
Take a second and think about the most important people in your life who had a very strong impact on how you turned out……I’ll wait…..got it? Were these people strong leaders in your life like your parents, grandparents or teachers? What about a mentor? Now take a second to think about how they impacted you…..John Maxwell is a very popular author of many leadership books and he discusses how leadership is broken down into different steps. However in all my experience and reading, there are either 100 different ways to describe leadership or people can’t define it at all. When I read one of Maxwell’s books, he defines leadership as “influence.” Now take a second to think about those people again….did they have a strong influence on you? More than likely they did!!
On Sunday, I was brainstorming ways to become more productive during the week (Sundays are my motivating days). I don’t know what it is about Sundays but everyone becomes more motivated to attack the week. For example: ever wonder why there are more people in the gym on Monday than there is on Friday?? You guessed it, because its chest day!! Just kidding, but seriously, it’s because everyone gets pumped on Sunday for the upcoming week, however they get burnt out by Wednesday and lose sight of all their goals. So then they have to restart on the next Sunday.
Ryan Gibbons 