By Marquita Herald, Emotionally Resilient Living

You’d be hard pressed to read anything having to do with dreams and goals and not find the term “achieve your full potential” used to reinforce the idea that you are capable of so much more.

We hear this term, smile or nod sagely to one another as though we “get it” but the truth is that for all practical purposes most of us haven’t the slightest idea what our “full potential” actually is, let alone how to achieve it.

You Determine Your Potential

Po*ten*tial: Having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future.

If you take the time to think about this definition it’s so generic that it renders it practically meaningless. We give meaning to the word based on our beliefs and expectations. 

The problem is that for most of us the meaning will inevitably be heavily influenced by our present circumstances.

I hear you … someone out there right now is saying, “Well, duh, of course, because I have to start somewhere, right?”

True, but when you use your present circumstances to define your potential it’s going to be very easy to fall into the trap of focusing on all the obstacles and challenges that prove it’s realistic to believe you will only be able to go so far.

Think about that for a minute while I share a story with you about a young woman who far exceeded her circumstances to achieve her full potential.

She Never Let Circumstances Define Her

She was born premature and during her youth, struggled with numerous illnesses including double pneumonia and scarlet fever.

When she was four years old, she contracted polio, a serious disease that affects the nerves of the spine. The doctors told her parents that their little girl would never walk again.

My doctors told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.

They were a poor family so good medical care was beyond their reach, but with the help of her mother she challenged her constraints and became determined to overcome her paralysis.

After 5 years of daily physical therapy, mostly administered by her family, she began to regain strength and to the astonishment of doctors she removed her leg brace and walked by herself for the first time.

She continued to push herself and soon began playing basketball with her brothers every day, at first with the aid of a high-topped shoe to support her foot and later in her bare feet!

Others began taking note of this young girl with the indomitable spirit and a track coach encouraged her to start running. She ran so well that during her senior year in high school, she qualified for the Olympics and won a bronze medal in the women’s 400-meter relay.

In 1959, she qualified for the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome by setting a world’s record in the 200-meter race. At the Olympics that year she won two gold medals; one for the 100-meter race and one for the 200-meter race.

In 1961 she received a Sullivan Award that honored her as the top amateur athlete in the United States, was named to the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame, the Black Sports Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, the National Women’s Hall of Fame, President Clinton’s National Sports Award and the African American Athletes Hall of Fame.

Wilma Rudolph was just 22 years old when she retired from running. She went on to have four children, worked as a track coach at DePauw University and served as a U.S. goodwill ambassador to French West Africa. She also founded the nonprofit Wilma Rudolph Foundation to help children learn about discipline and hard work.

Wilma Rudolph died in 1994, however, her passion and determination to overcome obstacles that led her to become a legend in the sports world will live on forever.

Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: the potential for greatness lives within each of us. ~Wilma Rudolph

By any definition, Wilma Rudolph was an exceptional woman. But when you think about where she began, it’s clear that she never allowed her circumstances to get in the way. She was always in forward motion, literally and figuratively breaking barriers and challenging limits.

Are You Letting Your Circumstances Define You?

The problem with letting your circumstances define you is that it creates a virtual excuse factory producing endless reasons why you need to do, be or have more in order to move forward, why the problems you are facing are insurmountable.

Maybe you need to just surrender to the fact that you are only meant to go so far in your life.

BALONEY!

You have potential within you that is far bigger than your current circumstances. If you have a dream, willpower, and discipline, then you can break through any barrier.

You can choose to be the driver in your own life journey.

Let today be the day you give up who you’ve been for who you can become.

About Marquita Herald

Marquita is an author, resilience coach and the chief evangelist at Emotionally Resilient Living. She’s also an unapologetic workaholic who loves red wine, rock n’ roll, road trips (and car dancing!), peanut butter cookies and (especially) a dog named Lucy.

She’s saddened and frustrated by excuses and cruelty and believes authentic compassion is the most powerful force in the world.

To learn more about Marquita and the mission of Emotionally Resilient Living  click “here“.