The one thing you need to know to reach your full potential

We like to blame anyone or anything other than ourselves as to why we’re not where we want to be in life. The economy, time, governments, our significant other or shit, even our kids.

We like to dodge responsibility like we do creepy Ernest with the wandering hands, smelling like five-day old takeaway food at the work Christmas party. We make excuses and we protect ourselves for dear life.

But what if I told you a secret?

We are 100% responsible for everything in our lives. Boom. Swallow that one.

There are no conditions that prevent us from creating what we want in life. The only thing stopping us is ourselves. We point fingers, convincing ourselves that it’s someone or something else’s fault. We buy into the self-critical voices in our head that tell us all the reasons why we aren’t responsible and why life is unfair. Not only that, we convince ourselves that we can’t have what we want because we need to be fixed before we can be happy. 

By all accounts, that voice in our head is a jerk, yet we give it power by listening to it and buying into our excuses that keep us locked safe within the confines of our comfort zone. That voice is clever you see. It convinces us that what we dream of isn’t possible and then strengthens its deathly grip by engaging our feelings (otherwise known as triggers of our past wounding) of injustice and powerlessness.

We are pretty predictable, us humans – there are familiar suspects that try to rob us of our full potential...

I’m unworthy.

I’m not good enough.

I can’t trust myself, others or the world.

I’m not capable.

I’m powerless.

These limiting beliefs run around our minds all unconsciously, touting thoughts of victimhood that make us shift accountability. The good news though...beliefs are merely a learnt orientation. Conditioning from when we were children – the stories we made up about ourselves, the way life was and how we fit into the world. We created them for security and survival. However, now they stop us from going for what we want and reaching that fulfilling glory of our full potential.

Our beliefs create our reality, so when we’re paying attention to them (which unless we are consciously aware of them, we always are), we’re giving them the power and not taking responsibility for ourselves or our lives. We play them out mindlessly and continue to blame the goddamn cat as to why we didn’t get to the gym on Monday, because we can’t change what we’re not aware of. Every time we go for something and don’t get it, we’ve engaged our limiting beliefs.

In short, they’re sadistic little bastards that rob us of our full potential.

Ok great, so now what?

Well, what can be learnt, can be unlearnt. It’s all about choice. Choosing to take responsibility for ourselves and our experience.

We can sit and blame others until the cows come home, but so long as we project that blame onto others, we will always live a life of mediocrity, and unhappiness. We will never reach our full potential. We must take responsibility not only for our limiting beliefs, but also for our strengths, our gifts, our talents. We must commit to ourselves and our happiness and take responsibility for living a life aligned with our hearts. It’s through making a conscious choice to create in favour of what we’d love, that we reach our full potential.

When we become the observer of our mind and see our beliefs for what they are, just that, beliefs, we can see the truth and take responsibility for the story we’re telling ourselves. In that responsibility, we understand the reality of what’s really going on rather than looking to others to blame for our own misfortunes. What we need to ask ourselves is “how have I created this?”

It’s simply a shift in focus, which Osho sums up perfectly:

“If you become aware that you are not your thoughts, the life of these thoughts will begin to become more and more lifeless. The power of your thoughts lies in the fact that you think they are yours.”

All change comes from within, when we take 100% responsibility for ourselves, we open the magical gateway to our full potential.