Never Stop Growing. Here Are 3 Ways to Maximize Your Potential. No matter how good or bad circumstances in the world may be, it won't matter if you have a self-limiting mindset.
By Matt Mayberry Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
A major factor that inhibits so many people from achieving the success that they desire in life and business is thinking that there is no more room for growth or improvement. This thinking alone can do more damage than economic downtimes and many other circumstances that none of us want to come face to face with.
Here are three ways to help you maximize your potential:
1. Do an audit from the neck up. Change your thinking.
I put this as number one because if your thinking doesn't change, then nothing else will ever change. If you're not happy with where you're at in life right now, the first place that needs a checkup is the quality of your thoughts.
Related: The 7 Gifts of Adopting a Personal-Development Mindset
The men and women that never tap into their full potential during their time here on earth usually possess a major thinking deficiency. Not only do they lack the quality of thoughts that it takes to become all that they can be in life, but they also completely neglect the importance of mindset development and how vital it is to treat the mind like a gold mine.
Each of us has genius within, but whether that genius is cultivated comes down to what takes place on a daily basis from the neck up. The first step towards building a bigger future and maximizing your potential is to never limit what's possible. People's thinking and mindset get in the way of greatness more than anything else. If you want to change your life, first change your thinking.
2. Be a fanatic about becoming a lifelong learner.
Don't be like most people. Most people stop learning the second they are finished with a formal education. Most people don't have a personal-growth plan to how and when they are going to grow each month. Most people get stuck in their old ways and will continue to get the same results over and over again until their time is over.
If you're serious about maximizing your potential and becoming all that you can be, devote yourself to becoming a lifelong learner.
Read great books in your field, listen to audiobooks while in the car, enroll in online classes and constantly search for ways to expand who you are as a person. Becoming a lifelong learner is one of the best decisions that you can ever make. Thinking you know it all or that there isn't any room for growth is a major barrier that will forever trap you in the current space that you are operating out of.
Related: Keep the Rookie's Zeal No Matter How Far You Go
Those who truly believe they have reached their capacity in life and as a person never take the time to invest back in themselves and become lifelong learners. Don't let that be you.
3. Build a winning team around you.
Great organizations and the leaders within those organizations understand that people matter. A great CEO knows that his or her organization can only become great if the employees of that organization are striving, growing and looking for ways to become great as well.
The same thing applies to your life as well. We as people can only become as great as the people around us. A surefire way to maximize your potential is to associate and be around winners -- the men and women who are doing it at a level that you aspire to operate out of.
I encourage you to create a list of the men and women who are on your personal team. Next to each name, write down whether that person is really helping you to grow and get to where you ultimately want to go.
A lot of us, including myself, get so caught up in our hectic schedules without ever analyzing our inner circles. If you're anything like me, I'm sure you'll be able to find one or a few people who no longer serve your greater good. Building a winning team around you is an absolute must if you are going to maximize your potential and become an uncommon achiever.
When we stop looking and searching for ways to grow, that's when our potential and achievement levels become stagnant.
Related: Do You Have Toxic People in Your Life That Are Limiting Your Potential?
