Why Many People Never Reach Their Full Potential

I like to think of life as being full of opportunities and risks. It's the opportunities we take that make us successful. It's the risks that we don't take that keep us where we are and keep us from achieving our goals. Life is short. It’s shorter than you think. And it’s even shorter if something tragic happens to you like an auto accident or cancer. If you don't take risks, you were not living your life to your full potential.

Some people are satisfied going through life without ever really experiencing life. I'm not talking about drinking at the club with friends all night, going on vacations all the time, making a lot of money, spending a lot of money, etc. I'm talking about reaching your full potential by doing something that you are genuinely passionate about. Passion is something that you do because you really feel in your heart that is what you were meant and designated to do in this life.

I see many people that are content with their lives. I see many people go throughout life playing it safe. I see many people who absolutely hate their jobs but refuse to quit because they're scared of the outcome and the possibility of not being able to find another job.

There's a difference between a job and a career. A job is something that you go to because you get paid to do it but you don't really enjoy doing it and you rather be doing something else. “Jobs” don’t get you closer to your goals. In fact, they prevent you or delay you from taking the necessary steps to achieve your goals. A career is something that you wake up every day wanting to do because you're really passionate about it and it's your life goal to be in this career. Don’t become a doctor or a lawyer just because most of them make good money or because that’s what your parents expected you to be. You’ll notice that in every single area of business, the “go-getters” are the ones everybody knows and the “others” are the businesses that are just playing it safe.

The average American spends approximately 100,000 hours of their life working. Now that's a lot of time. If you're miserable because your job sucks, you hate your boss because he yells at you all the time, you feel overwhelmed, you feel overworked or you feel under-appreciated, well hopefully you don't end up like some people who retire at that very place that they absolutely hate.

I meet a lot of miserable and jealous people all the time. Most of them you can tell it stems from their "jobs."

I was always one of those people who felt as if, if you don't enjoy doing it, don't do it. Do things in life that you're passionate about and you'll be amazing at it. You'll be successful at it. And one day, when you're old and gray you will look back and say, “I lived life like every day was my last day.”

I don't do anything I don't want to do. I only do things I'm passionate about. Everything that I do, I take pride in and I give a hundred percent. I don't look for handouts. I take risks and explore opportunities.

Reasons Why You Are Not Living Up To Your Full Potential:

1.    You don't take risks.

As mentioned before if you don't take risks you'll never know the outcome and you always live to regret saying "what if this" and “what if that.” A friend of mine quit her job making 600,000 annually because she despised her work environment. It was the hardest decision that she had ever had to make in her life. All of her family and friends were telling her how big of a mistake she had made. She had no idea what she was going to do next. What she knew for sure was that she had to do what was right for her. She realized that life is short and that you have to take risks to find your potential. Now she's a multi-millionaire running a very lucrative company. It is now she is able to say that she’s living her dream.

2.    You're complacent.

You should never get too comfortable in life. That includes your career life, your love life, etc. Do not allow yourself to become complacent. Successful people who are complacent are never really happy with what they have and they are always looking for more and more. Life shouldn't feel like a routine—wake up, go to work, go bed and repeat. We're not robots if you haven't noticed. Your life should feel more like an adventure. You should be doing things that inspire you and that are exciting. You never want to get bored with life. You need to challenge yourself. You need to go outside of your roam of comfortability and try something different. Look at successful people like Warren Buffett. He's 83-years-old yet he’s still running Geico and Berkshire Hathaway and buying businesses. Warren Buffett understands that taking life as an adventure is one of the keys to become successful while also reaching your full potential.

3.    You're jealous of others.

Jealousy is a horrible thing. Jealous people are miserable. They have horrible lives, they hate what they do for a living and they focus too much of their attention on people they wish they could be. Maybe they’re single and don’t love life. But think about it: if you're 45-years-old, single and have never been married, clearly there's a reason why. Nobody wants to be around someone who's jealous and miserable. So instead of being jealous of other people because you see them accomplishing their dreams and reaching their potential, go out in reach your potential.

4.    You waste time.

Don't just sit there and wait for an opportunity to come to you. I guarantee you it’s not coming, it’s only going. Opportunities are to be sought by an individual. Instead of going to work every day to your crappy job, then coming home to watch TV, eat dinner and shower, only to wake up and do the same thing over and over again. You should be doing anything … something that puts you closer to your goal. Time is of the essence. Go out and be social, just for the hell of it. I'm a very sociable person. I will talk to anybody about anything. I would go out just because I wanted to meet new people and be inspired. I mean, that's a step towards your success if you’re not doing anything else.

5.    You're afraid of failure.

You're afraid of something that everybody else around is afraid of as well. It's the people who overcome their fright of failure by taking risks with the intent to become successful in their personal and professional life and reach their full potential. Yes, I know the feeling of failure is not easy. I know it doesn’t feel good. You should also know one thing though: failure is not final, at least as long as you don't let it be. The only way that you'll be able to make your dream a reality is to take that first step—to take that risk. I realize that the difference between a successful person and an unsuccessful person is that a successful person always tries.

At the end of the day when you go to bed, are you happy with your life? Can you honestly say you wake up every day excited to start the day? Do you take continuous steps every moment you can to get you to reach your goals and dreams? Don't live life with regrets and don't regret things that you've done your life. If you want something in life, you have to go get it! Ever heard of motivation?