Why Some Achieve Great Things They Have No Right to Achieve

I would like to deviate slightly from my usual marketing theme and ask you a question; do you feel you are realising your true potential? In other words, do you think you are achieving as much as you possibly can in your life and career? I bet you are not. I know I am not. If I am being honest, over the past few years, much of my potential, drive, intrinsic motivation to achieve great things has been lying dormant. I burst onto the scene in my early career, achieving great things and having an insatiable hunger for more. I felt like I had so much to give and I was determined to unleash it on the world. It's not really the right term to use I know, but I felt like I was 'destined' for great success. Then the financial crash came. I allowed some setbacks and difficulties to switch off that drive and absolute determination to achieve. I questioned my ability and became fearful of trying things, of taking risks, of making mistakes. In so doing, I became my own worst enemy.

So what has motivated me to write these words now and share them with anyone who cares to read them? Well, I was privileged enough to attend a very special event two days ago that, if I am being honest, might just have flicked that internal switch back on. The Pendulum Summit (www.pendulumsummit.com), organised by Frankie Sheahan, is an event all about self empowerment and realising your true potential. Some of the insights and stories presented were nothing short of profound. Stories about people that achieve great things that, on paper, have no right to achieve. Great things that would never have been possible had they listened to that negative voice in their head that may have told them they couldn't do it. And what struck me was that, many of these people were disadvantaged compared to those around them and yet out performed the rest. There are no extraordinary people. Just ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Here are some of the key lessons I took from the day that will be of benefit to every single person who works hard to put them into practice.

1. Dream and set goals - 

Martin Luther King had a dream. He didn't have a strategic plan. Find out what you are passionate about and make it your mission to work in that area. Set goals. Write them down. Tell others what those goals are. Because doing so will help you commit to achieving them.

2. Focus on how far you've come, not on how far you've left to go - 

Debra Searle set out to row across the Atlantic with her husband only to discover a week into the challenge that her husband had a phobia of open water (it might have been handy if he realised this before he set out). He had to be rescued and taken to dry land. She decided she wanted to finish the challenge herself and go it alone. She was not a champion rower, in fact, she'd never rowed before. She was not big and strong. Some days she would row as hard as she could to make up 30 miles only for an overnight storm to knock her back 50. She said when she would look at the whole chart of how vast the Atlantic Ocean was, and how far she had to go, she felt demoralised. So she only allowed herself to open up her chart on the small section where she was. She celebrated at noting the progress she made. A very useful lesson.

3. Choose your attitude - 

Sticking with Debra's story, she said she couldn't choose if she'd get eaten by a shark (and she seen plenty), or get run over by a freightliner ship (which almost happened more than once). But she could choose her attitude. Control the controllables and don't give too much time, energy and thought to stuff you can't control. Attitude is a controllable.

4. Change - 

Kingsley Aikins came out with a few gems as he MC'd the morning session. Here's one: "The Stone Age didn't end because they ran out of stones". Change is absolutely inevitable. It is not the strongest that survive, but those that handle change most effectively. 

5. Focus on excellence, not success - 

Not my words, this was the advice of the great Deepak Chopra. If you focus on the end game, the success, you take your eye off the ball (my words). Every single thing you do, perform to the highest possible standard. All those moments of excellence have to lead to success.

6. Develop a relationship action plan - 

Keith Ferrazzi offered this one. He said find out what it is you want to do and identify three people who are influential to you achieving it. Reach out to them and find out how you can serve them. Don't reach out to them and tell them what you want. Reach out to them and help them achieve what they want. It might sound a little holistic, but what you give will come back to you.

7. Be present. Live in the moment - 

In recent times, I have been living in the past. Focusing on what I was, what I achieved previously. Focusing on success, and not excellence, might lead you to living in the future. And guess what? Neither the past or the future exists. Well, ok, the past might exist, but you can't change it. The future definitely doesn't exist (yet). It is what you do now, in the present, that will define what your future is. Giving everything you have to the present, to the moment you are living right now. Me writing these words; you reading them. That's all we really have. So, commit to every moment and don't waste it thinking about moments that simply don't exist.

8. Don't limit your potential - 

Why do people who have (on paper) no right to achieve great things, achieve great things? People with disabilities. People who are seriously disadvantaged. People who face bigger adversities than others around them. The reason is they do not allow themselves or others to limit their potential. Some of the most influential leaders of all time - Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Barrack Obama - were seriously disadvantaged compared to those around them and yet they changed the world. We all have the potential for greatness. "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark" (Michelangelo Buonarroti).

On a final note, well done to Frankie Sheahan for having the vision and the courage to create this special and inspirational event. I am pretty sure if we all as individuals were to practice what we learnt, we could be whatever we want to be and maybe, just maybe, we could change the world.