Next came a similarity between “being versus doing” and “the here and now versus potential”.

And because we like to do things in threes, I thought about the potential being associated or dissociated. In the form of my potential and a distant reminder of my mother commenting on another mother’s child – “he never reached his full potential did he, shame really?”

And my conclusion would be that as usual in life it’s a matter of choice isn’t it? So I searched for a few wise words on the subject and came up with these:

Annie Dillard
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

Will Schultz
Joy comes from using your potential.

Marilyn Ferguson
Your past is not your potential. In any hour you can choose to liberate the future.

And finally if you are sitting comfortably…

A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed, it feels an impulsion… …..this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reason and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.

Just a thought.

Coming back to basics: Potential is the acknowledgement of the resources/s, with the acknowledgement that the form of the resource is not the one we’d like it to have.

This is, if you extend the thought, the predicament of NLP: get control of the skills required to transform the form of resources -which we, as per NLP presuppositions, have anyway- into a form of our liking.

There is a great intention underneath: want to do well, excel, make the world a better place. However, this does not come without a health warning, since, as anyone playing with systems and structure will now, the transient nature of any form, its being mandatorily “stuck in time” at one stage or the other means that, sensory acuity / flexibility aside, any structure will become obsolete and a hindrance towards the outcome.

At this stage, I find myself thinking that the relationship one has with potential matters more than potential or accomplishment. Practically: be Ok with wasting / having wasted several of your many talents / chances life has given you is essential to content living. Besides this making a case for genuine Abundance-based beliefs, the Ego may suffer a bit in the process, but Self will come out quite liberated.

A possible challenge for NLP since models, which aim to code (i.e. to “form”-alise), go. Or an invitation to add a blend of emergence, a touch of personal genius in all processes created.

This isn’t unlike Leonardo having his students do the groundwork of a church’s painting, with him putting the finishing touches. The first chapter of Wilde’s Dorian Gray also describes this pretty exquisitely.

In terms of everyone focusing on their potential what would be the impact on the ‘whole’ system?
Does this explain who are ‘allowed’ by the system (say a culture) to achieve their potential and how it is to be
The question for me from your comments is where do I want (need?) to fulfil my potential