Many times we are asked: If you had your life to live over and could be anybody you’ve ever known, who would you want to be? Many of us do not realize that attempting to be like someone else or doing what others have done is actually a barrier to pursuing our own potential, developing our own potential, and maximizing our own potential. Rather than daydream and imagine ourselves to be like other famous and successful people, we should tap our own potential and grow far beyond our present self-imposed limitations. As the well-known writer John Maxwell said, “Many intelligent adults are restrained in thoughts, actions, and results.

They never move further than the boundaries of their self-imposed limitations.” The “what if” game that many of us are playing should come to an end. Otherwise, we will join the increasing number of unsuccessful people with great potential. Simply by default.
Because we do not exploit and maximize our potential.

Here is a story about maximizing our potential. It’s about a young eagle that had the misfortune of not knowing that it belongs to the eagle family, with capabilities far superior than those of other birds.

A farmer once found an eagle’s egg. He placed the egg into the nest of a barnyard chicken. Together with the brood of chicks, the eaglet was hatched and lived with the chickens. The eagle ate what the chickens ate; it followed what the chickens did like scratching the dirt for seeds and insects to eat. The eagle also clucked and cackled. And surprisingly, the eagle imitated the chickens when they flew no more than a few feet off the ground with all the flurrying of feathers. One time the eagle saw another eagle in the sky soaring gracefully, gliding through the air without the flurrying of wings like the chickens. The eagle asked the chickens the name of the bird flying up high in the sky with such ease and elegance. One chicken said, “That’s an eagle, king of all birds. You could never be like him.” The poor eagle thereafter continued acting like a chicken, pecking at the dirt – until it died.
Like many of us who go on living and using only a small part of our physical and mental resources until we die. Not realizing the vast opportunities beyond the boundaries of our self-imposed limitations.

The inspiring story of Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the late US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, of how she maximized her potential to influence the world, has been told and retold all these years. The late Eleanor Roosevelt waged a one-woman war on poverty during the Great Depression. Even when her husband died, she continued her crusade for equality. The then US President Truman, recognizing Eleanor Roosevelt’s talent and commitment, appointed her to the then League of Nations (later known as the United Nations). Despite opposition from certain quarters, she continued her fight for fairness and equality in human rights. Her message was: “No one can make you feel inferior unless you allow them to.” Eleanor Roosevelt’s greatest legacy to the world was her successful lobbying with the then newly formed United Nations to adopt the “Bill of Human Rights.”
This is a document that has been adapted in the constitution of many countries.

Let’s stop playing the “what if” game. Let us alter our state of mind… our way of thinking… our attitude. The limits of our own field of vision likewise limits our vision of the world.

Have a joyful day!