Why Potential Alone Never Guarantees Success: The Importance of Performance

Why Potential Alone Never Guarantees Success: The Importance of Performance

I am a force of nature, and so are you. We are both absolutely unique expressions of humanity, with no one else in the world exactly like us. Each of us possesses a unique mix of skills, abilities, and insights that make us truly one-of-a-kind.

Despite our uniqueness, we share a common human potential that is inherent in all of us. We are all made of the same divine stuff, with the capacity to achieve greatness. However, not everyone realizes this potential. Having more potential means you COULD produce more results, but it does not, in fact, mean that you will.

It’s important to note that there is no universal measure of human potential, as we are all called to different paths and LEGEND in life. Nonetheless, it’s crucial to understand that potential alone is worthless. In fact, if you bought people for their potential value and sold them for their actual value, you would would lose billions and billions every day. Potential is merely the starting point for who we are meant to become.

No one can take away the potential that was given to us by the Divine Spark. However, the key is learning how to unlock and open up that potential, so we can achieve our highest aspirations. This is precisely what many of the people in our programs are here to learn.

In this article, we’ll explore how destroying potential with performance can help you live your legend. That’s right – you actually want to destroy potential: with the results that flow from performance.

The Problem with Potential

Potential, in and of itself, is not enough. Without realizing it, potential has no value. Many individuals live in the realm of potential and fail to convert it into actual results. This leads to unrealized dreams, unfulfilled goals, and a life lived below one’s potential. It’s easy to get excited about what could happen and imagine endless possibilities. However, potential is just the starting point. It’s time to shift focus from potential to performance.

Destroying Potential with Performance

The potential that has been built up can certainly be destroyed by the reality of results. Performance can be the downfall of potential.

Our aim is to replace potential in your life with actual results through performance, thus destroying the potential that you possess. Consider the people in your life who have immense potential or individuals who have had the potential to make a significant impact. Barack Obama, for instance, had tremendous potential as a politician, but by the end of his second term as President, his potential had essentially been exhausted. Having accomplished all that there was to achieve, there was no higher ground for him to reach. This is not necessarily a bad thing; it’s an extraordinary accomplishment.

The same can be said of Ronald Reagan and any two-term President who has ever existed. To date, none have been re-elected after serving their two terms. They destroyed their potential.

Look at Tom Brady when he entered the NFL. He was drafted in the sixth round and had high hopes for being drafted higher, but it didn’t materialize. When he received the call, he was out walking with his dad, crying, realizing that he didn’t think he would be drafted. Eventually, he was picked up by the New England Patriots, and things went really well for him. He has since won seven Super Bowl rings, and he has destroyed his potential with the results he has achieved on the field.

In fact, as I conduct this training, he has found a new challenge. He has taken on a lackluster team in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to see if he can make a difference (update: and has since won the superbowl with them too). This is a new challenge, as there was nothing left for him to prove or accomplish with the Patriots. By joining a weaker team, he has created potential to fulfill, but this is the story of a master. This is the story of one of the greatest players of all time, not just in football.

It’s not only about the game; it’s about the fact that he destroyed all the potential he had within him with the results he produced on the field. Very few people have destroyed such a significant amount of potential in their lives, especially in the game of football. Tom Brady has literally zero potential … in fact, he probably has 3 or 4 superbowl rings of NEGATIVE potential because that’s how far beyond the second best ever he has gone.

Metrics Matter

Consider yourself and your life. Where do you possess tremendous potential? Imagine that Forge Legend has the potential to serve a million clients, and you, the person watching this, are subtracting one from that potential. Your eyes reading this right now has destroyed 1/1,000,000th of our potential (Thank You) I want that potential impact to actually be zero because we have no potential for new clients since the entire world is tuning in.

Think about areas in your life where you focus on potential instead of actual performance. When is it time to shift your focus to metrics that measure your accomplishments? This is the topic we discuss. Emotions can be fleeting and unreliable, and we shouldn’t base our lives on them. Facts can be fun and interesting, but metrics matter. Metrics are the same data points that we track over time, enabling us to observe how they change in our lives. When is it time to stop relying on potential?

Let’s not get carried away by excitement. We often get excited about what could happen, imagining ourselves as billionaires in the business world or having great relationships. However, reality can be different, and relationships can become problematic, even codependent, leading to negative outcomes for one or both parties.

Stop Living in Potential, Start Living with Results

It’s great to have potential, but it’s not enough. Potential is imaginary. Without most of us realizing it, potential is worthless. Our cemeteries are full of people who passed away with untapped potential, meaning they died without having lived their legend or having done any number of the wonderful things they could have done. Don’t let that be you.

Instead, focus on destroying your potential with performance. Have a long list of results and a very short list of what else could have been done. I would love to see you live your life with very little potential left because you’ve accomplished everything you ever wanted to and more.

For example, when I started life I could potentially travel to six of the seven continents (I was born in North America so my potential to visit was 6). As I have traveled the world I have been to every continent except Africa & Antarctica so my current potential new continents is 2. Visiting Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia destroyed that potential and gave me instead, the awesome experiences, photos, and languages of having visited those 5 continents. The value of the potential visit? Maybe some cool imagination. The value of each of the many actual visits was, however, priceless. You can’t even compare 5 continents of travel with thinking about travel while staying at home. Had those 5 continents remained potential I would have had far fewer international experiences and far less vision and perspective.

Start concentrating on creating results in your life. Although it may sound daunting, destroying your potential is the way to do it. Similar to how potential energy turns into kinetic energy once you set an object in motion, the same is true for your life. Destroy your potential by achieving results through hard work worth doing. This transformation will convert the potential energy of who you are into the reality of the legend you have always been destined to be.