#080: Who You Are, or Become, is the Result of Choice, Not Chance

Introduction

In today's "People Skills" newsletter, we're showcasing another one of our Professional Development Programme (PDP) presentations.

Today's topic is on "What Is Your Potential?".

We each possess skills and abilities that nobody else possesses quite like we do. We are each gifted with unique strengths and talents, whether this is a talent for display on the world stage, or on a small stage as someone who makes a difference to just a few other people.

So how do we make the most of our personal potential?

Simply put, by finding out our unique gifts and then believing with absolute certainty that we can make the best of what we have been given for others and ourselves.

So, here, from our "What Is Your Potential?" PDP collection are some of the slides that will inspire you to find your own route to excellence...

01. Self-Improvement

There are two pulls in the human condition: to stay where we are and consolidate what we have or to discover what is still possible, what we could achieve, how far we could go...

02. Why Self-Development is a Do-It-Yourself Activity

In our days of super-states, super-nations and super-organisations with cradle-to-grave care and dependency cultures, it is easy to adopt the view that it is up to others to manage our own self-development.

03. Our Unique Talents

None of us possesses a greater or lesser talent than any other person. It is their use and application which distinguishes the so-called "talented" from the so-called "less-talented".

04. Talents and Potential

It is the mix of talents and other factors such as self-belief, opportunities, and will power which produces potential...

05. Our Own Special Genius

The word, "genius", is given to people who have displayed outstanding human achievements, endurance or accomplishments. However, these people were no different from us...

06. The Qualities of Genius

Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene in their book, "Book of Genius“, define history's geniuses as those displaying certain qualities...

07. Genius with a Big "G"

Whatever you've accompanied in your life so far, you were born with your own special kind of genius...

08. States of Excellence

At any time, each of us in our adult lives find ourselves in one of three states: survival, maintenance or development. Which of these we're in is not chance, but choice.

09. What is the State of Survival?

A state of surviving is about living from day to day, managing to get by, keeping our heads above water. Survival is when we just manage to beat off outside forces that threaten to overwhelm us.

10. What is the State of Maintenance?

The state of "maintenance" is one most people are in for much of their lives. It is a safe balance between ourselves and our environment which occasionally may go against us, if we are unlucky or in our favour if we are lucky.

11. What is the State of Development?

If survival is like a swimmer in a hostile sea and maintenance is like a plumber on a leaky boat, development is like an oarsman with a course, a plan and a destination.

12. Creating Your Destiny

Philosophers and thinkers have for centuries puzzled over the extent to which our lives are in our own hands and the extent to which they are pre-ordained...

13. Determinism

Nobody knows for sure if our lives are predestined from the start. Are we born with our whole lives mapped out? Or are our lives set by the circumstances of our birth, our geographical location, and our culture?

14. The Options of Change

When you are in a situation which is neither fulfilling nor satisfactory, there are usually 4 options...

15. Two Ways to See Ourselves

You can see yourself in one of two ways: as a fixed entity where you know your place and don't deviate from it; or as someone in a state of change and development who can choose where to go...

16. The Greatest Rewards

All of us have two distinct choices to make about what we will accomplish with our lives. The first choice is to be less than we can be...

17. You Have Two Choices in Life

Our ultimate life objective should be to create as much as our talent, ability and desire will allow us to create...

What Next?

If you have worked through each slide in this presentation, including the question slides, worksheet slides, and key points slides, you will now have a great set of resources to work on your own self-development.

You can now apply what you have learnt in your work and day-to-day life.

With regular practise, reflection, and review, you will be able to set the highest goals for yourself and achieve them with confidence.

Well done and good luck!