Monday, 14 October 2013

9 Ways to Reach Your Fullest Potential Every Day



By Tiffany Mason

Why does it seem like time goes by so quickly? We start a week and before we know it, it’s already the weekend. How can you make the best out of each and every day? I want you to be able to reach your fullest potential every single day. Even during the days where you relax and recharge, I want you to enjoy every moment.
When it comes to reaching your fullest potential every day, it’s all about planning. If you’re not a good planner, you’ll have to start learning! Those who are good with time management and are organized usually experience a more productive day.
Let’s look into the ways that you can reach your fullest potential every day.
1.  Focus on the big picture
“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
Because we live in a society filled with so many distractions, we can easily get caught up with the stress and frustrations of life.  Focus on the big picture. With so many distractions, it’s so important for you to focus on what you want. What does the big picture look like to you? What are the goals that you want to accomplish? When it comes to reaching your potential every day, it’s important that you know what the big picture looks like.
Why do you do what you do? What is the reason that you go to work or come home and provide dinner for your family?  When you have purpose and reason in your life, you’re more able to live out each day to your fullest potential. If you are able to see the big picture in your life, you don’t have to just live day-to-day. When you know your purpose, you will be motivated to live each day to your fullest potential.
2. Plan!
“Living your life without a plan is like watching television with someone else holding the remote control.”
– Peter Turla
Planning how you want to spend each day is key to reaching your fullest potential each day. Without any planning, you will just get pushed around and have no direction in life. Reaching your potential every day is about planning your day in alignment with what matters to you. Focus on what is important in your life. Maybe it’s providing for your family or spending quality time with your spouse. When you are able to live in alignment with that matters to you, you will be able to reach your fullest potential every day.
Plan your week every Sunday evening. That way, you’ll be able to see your week’s schedule before starting your week (6 steps to plan your week). Make sure to add when you plan to start working and end working into your schedule. It will be important for you to know when it’s time to turn off work-mode and start spending quality time with your family.  It’s also important that when you plan your week, you are realistic with what you want to accomplish. Set yourself up for success, not for failure.  Create a to-do list for each day of the week on Sunday evening. Have about 4-5 tasks that you want to accomplish each day. If you have a big project, you should only include 2-3 tasks for that day. An action that has helped me reach my potential each day is to check off each task once I complete it. It feels good knowing that at the end of the day, I was able to complete my To-do list. Remember, set yourself up for success! Make sure you reward yourself after a long day of being productive.
3. Time management
“Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”
-M. Scott Peck
Planning and having good time management is a combination that leads to reaching your fullest potential every day. When you’re able to plan out your day and how you want to spend your time, you not only get more done but you also have extra time to spend on what you enjoy. Having good time management is important for you to learn because when you value yourself, you will value how you spend your time.
4. Positive Attitude
“Positive and negative thinking are both contagious.”
-Stephen Richards
When it comes to reaching your fullest potential every day, it’s important to have a positive attitude. When you have a negative attitude, you start viewing yourself and your life as being negative. How can you possibly reach your fullest potential when you have a negative attitude about yourself? It’s all about your perspective and how you view yourself and your life. In order to have a productive day, you must have a positive attitude. With a positive attitude, you’ll be able to stay focused on what you want to accomplish every day.
5. Stay focused on the task at hand
“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, inteligent planning and focused effort.”
-Paul J. Meyer
Staying focused takes discipline and commitment. With so many distractions, it’s easy to get off track and not get anything done. That’s why staying focused on what you need to get done is key in reaching your fullest potential. If you get distracted by your phone, make sure you put it on silent when you’re trying to finish a task. Not only will you be more disciplined, but you’ll also get a lot more done! Anything that distracts you from completing a task needs to be put away.
6. Have Goals!
“A goal properly set is halfway reached.”
-Zig Ziglar
If you want to reach your fullest potential each and every day, you need to have short and long term goals. Take a piece of paper and write down what you want to accomplish now and in the future. This goes back to planning. Have your goals and have deadlines.  Then plan each and every day taking the necessary steps to accomplish your goals. It’s all about setting goals and then following through.
7. Simplicity
“Free yourself from the complexities of your life! A life of simplicity and happiness awaits you.”
-Steve Maraboli
When you want to reach your fullest potential, simplify what needs to get done before the day starts. One routine that has helped me save time is picking out my outfit the night before. This way, I don’t feel rushed in the morning. Simplify your morning routine. If you can find different ways to save time and make your life simpler, you’ll be able to focus on reaching your fullest potential every day. When you are constantly all over the place and your life is far from being simple, you’ll experience stress and frustration on a daily basis. Simplify your life!
8. Recharge
“Take time to recharge your batteries. It’s hard to see where you’re going when your lights are dim.”
-Robert H. Conelly
You can only reach your fullest potential if you take the time to recharge. When you are constantly working without any rest, you will eventually burn out. Taking the time to rest and rejuvenate your mind, body and soul will allow you to become re-energized for the next day. Use different strategies that help you relax. Try meditating or taking a yoga class. It is not only important for you to recharge your mind– your body needs time to recharge too. Reaching your fullest potential every day can become stressful if you don’t manage your time well and take the time to recharge. Take a moment and think about what recharges you. Maybe it’s spending some quality time with your spouse or taking a nice walk in the park. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you enjoy the process. It’s easy for our minds to wonder, so when you’re recharging, focus on recharging!
9. Enjoy each moment
“To get all there is out of living, we must employ our time wisely, never being in too much of a hurry to stop and sip life, but never losing our sense of the enormous value of a minute.”
-Robert Updefraff
With so much going on, it’s easy to just go, go, go and not take the time to smell the flowers. Enjoy the moments that you experience throughout each day. This will help you feel grateful and appreciative with what you have in your life. Enjoy the simple things like having a roof over your head and being able to afford food for your family. Although being productive is important, taking the time to enjoy each moment is important too.
Until next time, Live with PASSION!