Christian Men: 9 Tools for Unlocking your Potential

potential
/pə(ʊ)ˈtɛnʃ(ə)l/

noun
latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness

adjective
having or showing the capacity to develop into something in the future

In today’s society, the word potential is almost frowned upon. As stated above,  the word potential describes qualities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness. Please note the emphasis on the word ‘may’. The word ‘may’ implies that the onus is upon the individual to process and nurture that potential to the point of actualized success. Potential cannot stand alone. Something has to be done to transform potential into something tangible.

Are the women to be blamed?

We often hear women praising men for having potential. Don’t get me wrong, potential is a great quality to have…when effort is being put into developing said potential with an ultimate goal in mind. Potential has no power without drive and effort. And the truth is, many men rest in the comfort zone of potential with no drive to develop it. And many women make them comfortable resting there.

Should an excuse be made for the men?

Let us assume for the sake of this article that there are men who don’t know how to tap into the great well of potential that they possess. Even though we live in the information age where information is literally at our fingertips. You know, even though we have instant access to information through digital media. I think it may be a bit safe to say that we don’t know because we don’t want to know. Right? We don’t aspire because we don’t want to achieve. Anyway, for the sake of this article, let us say that there are many factors that prevent a man from tapping into his potential. He may suffer from low self-esteem, he may be spiritually weak or he may have failed many times and is just afraid to make a move.

In my opinion, there is no reason in this entire world plausible enough to prevent a man from trying. While on the journey of life, it is destructive to just stop. The aim should always be to remain in motion. No matter how many times you have failed, always continue to try.

Here are 9 tools to guide you on the journey of unlocking your potential:

Pray
There are so many scriptures that tell us how to pray and highlight the power of prayer. Prayer can move mountains! And I don’t just say that as a cliché statement. I can attest to the power of prayer from my own experiences. In praying to unlock your potential, ask God to reveal the elements in your life that are limiting you from tapping into your potential. You would be surprised at the level of clarity received when we pray.

Overcome all fears
Fear is one of the factors that limit many men in life.  They are afraid of failing, they are afraid of recurring situations, they are afraid to put effort into trying. They are so afraid that they appear to be frozen in time. Fear is an emotional response induced by a perceived threat. In order to overcome our fears, we must limit our thoughts that threaten our potential. Maybe you could try replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts. So, instead of thinking that you can’t do something, begin to tell yourself that you can.

Try with all your might
You must try with all your might. I know of a man who has tried so many routes to success and has failed so many times. Although he has failed, he never stopped trying. He was always looking ahead, always ready to try something new. There’s a popular saying that says that if you fall seven times, you should stand up eight. It should be embedded in your mind. The aim is to always keep moving.

Exercise faith
Matthew 17:20 tells us that if we have faith as a grain of mustard seed we can do the impossible.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. In order to exercise faith, we must be able to look ahead into the unknown and trust what we are not able to see. Sounds crazy right? As a man of potential, you must be able to see yourself succeeding and trust that you will make it there with your hard work and dedication. Remember, faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Through faith and dedication, the invisible becomes visible. Everything that man has invented began as a concept. To that concept, man applied hard work. Through that process, what  was once intangible became tangible. Because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean that it won’t happen. Believe.

Never give up
There’s just something so beautiful about perseverance. I mean, what’s ugly about doing something persistently despite difficulty or delay until the ultimate  goal is achieved. We should never get weary in our pursuit  for success.  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. The race is not for the swift but for those who can endure.

Time is of the essence
In one of my most recent blog posts, Living on Purpose for Purpose, I spoke about organizing time in order to strategically work towards goals. Today, I want you to apply the same principle to unlocking your potential. Time is of utmost importance and we only get so many hours in our entire lifetime.  I don’t know if you have ever seen the movie, In Time with Justin Timberlake. In this movie people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year. Persons are also able buy or borrow time but through some extreme measures. With each act, their time runs out. If they want to make a phone call, they have to pay in time. Crazy right? What I want to focus on though, is the fact that at age 25 the characters’ time runs out. Persons have 25 years to make something of their life and are fighting against death to make more time to be able to live their lives. Thankfully, in the real world that’s not the case but time is still valuable to us. I believe that we are all given a set amount of time on earth to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives before he returns. We don’t know how much time we are given until death comes. What we do know is that we should always aim to accomplish that will which God has set for our lives.

Ignite the passion within
Passion. Think of passion as the fuel that will provide the energy to drive you to your potential. Passion is that fire burning in the pit of your stomach. Passion wakes you up when you don’t feel like moving. Passion is that unsettling feeling that shakes up your spirit when you’ve been inconsistent. If you ever intend to unlock your potential, passion cannot die or run out. To ignite your passion, think about what you want to become and focus on that. Think about all the financial constraints, all the experiences that are out of your reach, and all the things that you have yet to accomplish. Think of unlocking your potential as the key to accomplishing all the aforementioned and more. 

Align your efforts with God’s plans
Psalm 37:4 tells us that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts.  As Christians, God is essential to our existence. We are his offspring. It is in Him that  we live and breathe and have our being (Acts 17:28). He knows much more than we can ever imagine for he knows the plans He has for us (Jeremiah 29:11). With this knowledge in hand, we can put our efforts in God’s hands and align our efforts with his plans. When we have a running relationship with God, His plans become clearer. When we know His plans, it is easy for us to align our efforts because we know what we are aiming for. When we act out of accordance with His will, He will always pick us up and place us on the right path.

Locate your destiny
Your destiny is your ultimate goal that you will accomplish. Incorporate these eight tools into your everyday life and keep your destiny in mind. Live each day purposefully making every effort to maintain the drive to put in the hard work to unlock your potential. Your world is limitless when you put in the work. Your destiny awaits but you must take the journey to locating it.

Originally written by Amoy A. Adams (theanointedwriterjm@gmail.com)