Potential By: Alison Loyd

Potential By: Alison Loyd

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.” Romans 12:6 NLT

             Is it better to have had and lost than to never have had at all? While you ponder that, allow me to share something that used to be a major pet peeve.

I used to get highly offended when someone would complain to me about their car being in the shop, or having to lend it to someone else. How could they possibly get around for a week with no car?

Why did this bother me? I have a visual impairment, so I can’t drive. I get around with the help of my family, friends, public transportation, and most recently, Uber. I have always had to figure out how to get from place to place, so from my perspective, a week with no car is minor. I confess that my thinking was judgmental. I have also come to respect the significance of the inconvenience. It comes down to potential.

Potential consists of latent (existing, but not developed) qualities that have the capacity to be developed. I’ve never been able to legally drive, so while the desire is within me, the capacity to do so (legally) never has existed. The potential is not there. However, the quality has been developed in those who do drive, and therefore, when a car is in the shop, they are not able to use their full mobility potential.

My potential, on the other hand, lies in the ability to get around extremely well despite my inability to drive! I am known for adventures like getting to a friend’s concert 100 miles away and back in 16 hours. I have potential to ask for help and creatively coordinate plans and rides…because it’s what I’ve always done! I have the potential to build amazing relationships from the car rides.
Are you tapping into your full potential? The Journey Training can provide you with tools to explore your potential and act on it! Don’t sit at home and mope because you don’t have a car. Drive (or ride) on over and sign up for the next class!

 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me understand that my potential is not defined by my circumstances.

Journal: What potential do I have that I am not using to the fullest?

Post/Tweet Today: Tap into your full potential! #limitless #triumph #thejourneytraining

 

Get it in Gear!

Get it in Gear!

One thing I have found is true in my own life is Newton’s first law of motion which simply says “An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” Let’s look at that law in some detail and Get it in Gear!

If your gear is stop, you remain stuck

If a bullet is in a gun, it is not in motion. In order for the bullet to begin to move, it needs to be put in gear. How does this happen? Well, it takes an unbalanced force, or a force that is greater than its current stuck situation to act against it. For a bullet, it’s gunpowder. Also, someone has to cock the hammer and pull the trigger, which is the most important part of the equation!

Many of us have a great deal of unbalanced force within us. The positive force is called potential. The gear we are in at the moment is a direct result of our choices; to change that gear, we have to decide we want change more than staying the same. If you don’t make the decision to pull the trigger, you will stay stuck. It’s when you pull the trigger that change begins.

High gear, low gear, granny gear – just choose a gear and begin!

In order for what you want to change, it’s going to take a decision. I call that granny gear. You begin to move and it is powerful, but usually at a fixed speed and not very fast – which is still okay! Remember the law? Once you begin, you will stay in motion – that is unless acted on by an unbalanced force. Believe me, once you make the decision, there will be many unbalanced forces that will come against you!

It seems when you start a diet, all of the sudden birthdays happen where there is cake and ice cream, the office decides to go to eat pizza, and you begin to see every drive-through that you pass! It never fails. It’s like the world shifts against you. If you decide to pay off debt, things suddenly break down! When you decide to start your business, there will automatically be nay-sayers who will bring a thousand reasons why you can’t! Because of this, you need a plan – goal statements and action steps to create the new reality you want.

Shift it into low gear

A plan consists of a long range goal and a series of short term goals to keep you on your path during your season of change. A long range goal might be to lose 30 pounds in 6-months, and action steps might be to join a boot camp and begin working out, to begin a meal plan and start eating healthy, and to increase my water intake. That’s a great long-term goal and action steps! Now, those action steps are shorter range goals that show you what to do now – tomorrow – next week?

Join a boot camp might have action steps like make a list of 10 boot camps in my area, call them and ask for a trial session, visit all 10 boot camps in the next 30 days. That takes the guesswork out and you now have a path. The same should be done with begin a meal plan and increase my water intake. The more you plan, the more you will thwart the unbalanced forces against what you desire – and increase the speed of your gear!

Kick it into high gear!

The third step in creating the change you want is to thwart as many of those unbalanced forces against you that you can. A key to this is your support network. People will come against you, including yourself at times. There will be nay-sayers, not who challenge your methods, but those who discount every one of them. I like challengers because they give me different perspectives as to what I might face or better ways to do things. When you think that your way is always best, you lose out on options. The nay-sayers I’m talking about are those who constantly tell you things aren’t possible.

There are also people who do not want you to change. Their co-dependency create fears that your change will separate you from them. And it very well might! If someone I know only eats out, I’ll probably not be eating with them much. You can’t let others’ decisions to stay stuck keep you stuck.

You need to surround yourself with people who want you to succeed. I have a coaching group online called SLI Society that has about 10 people in the group. The successes are incredible, because we lean on each other and hear the can do’s a lot more than the can’t do’s. It is imperative that to kick it into high gear, you find a support group to lean on, keep you accountable and keep you on track during your season of change. Their unbalanced force in the positive aspect will help thwart those unbalanced forces in the negative aspect and keep you moving forward with increasing momentum!

Gear up for change

Each month in The Journey Training, people find positive support groups, learn to set goals, and most importantly of all, find the decision to pull the trigger and begin the momentum of the change they desire! They also get a group of supporting people on a private page to give them the positive power they need. Most of all, they see the potential that they possess inside to make their dreams come true!

 

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