“There is no finish line” – Nike. Expand beyond your limits. Go higher, do better and reach your potential. It all sounds so “Rocky-esk” doesn’t it? Well, if an uneducated, out of shape, washed up has-been boxer can do it, why can’t you and me? Rocky got better, and then better and better and better until he became the greatest boxer in the world. As he expanded his capacity to improve, he continued to do so until he reached the pinnacle. Rocky Balboa is a fictional character, but Cinderella Man wasn’t. His real name was James J. Braddock. And he was the real-life depiction of someone like the Rocky Balboa character. And he did become world champion against the greatest of odds.
Where do you begin so to be able to expand your capacity? First, you need to want to do something of course, but then you need to gain awareness of some things. We are all unaware until made aware and we can’t do that without help. We need to know where we should further develop. Have you ever heard the expression “Know yourself to grow yourself”? You can’t grow what you don’t know. We all have strengths, weaknesses and blind spots. The problem is that normally we can’t see them. We need others who care for us to illuminate them for us. I just recently asked a wonderful friend to do just that for me. Mick did that for Rocky. What about you? Do you have a Mick in your corner?
We also need to grow in our areas of giftedness. We all have gifts. Do you know yours? Take the Strength Finder test if you haven’t and it may show you some areas that you didn’t know you have strengths or gifts to be further developed. Making Choices that provide the most value to me begins with prioritizing and planning. As I have stated many times, I try to never include anything other than A priorities in my plans, whether annual or daily in scope. Do you plan or simply construct “To Do Lists”?
John Maxwell’s Law 14: The Law Of Expansion – Growth Always Increases Our Capacity illustrates how you can never run out of capacity. It is simple but not always easy. You just must keep stretching yourself! When stretched and growing you will develop a total dissatisfaction to return or go back. You will continue to want to increase your capacity and will know that you need to stretch to continue to do that. If you want to keep growing, you can keep going.
Reportedly, people on average use only 10% of their potential. Not sure of the exact science of that but regardless, there is apparently a potential for the average person to grow 90%. How do you tap more into the 90%? By how you think and what you do. When stretched continually, your capacity increases. It has no choice! John writes about ways to increase your capacity in 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth. He offers suggestions as to how you can increase your thinking capacity and your doing capacity.
Increase your thinking capacity by stopping thinking more work and start thinking about what works. Ask these questions about what works:
a. What am I required to do?
b. What gives me the greatest return?
c. What gives me the greatest reward?
Stop thinking, “Can I” and begin thinking “How Can I”? Attitude is one thing that you can control. You remember The Little Engine That Could. Adopt that attitude. I recently severed a friendship because that friend played the role of a dream killer for me. With friends like that, you will never need enemies to upset your applecart.
Stop thinking one door and start thinking many doors. Contingency planning is one thing, but multi-channel opportunity thinking is another. When I am at my best, I simply believe that if I do the right things good things will happen. That doesn’t mean there is only one way to get where I want to go. Remember the phrase “All roads lead to Rome”? And another, with no offense intended, “There is more than one way to skin a cat”? When all doors are closed, there are likely several windows available.
Increase your capacity for action or doing by stopping doing only those things you have done and begin doing those things you could and should do. That requires getting out of your comfort zone and into your strength zone. This is a full chapter topic in itself, but briefly put it means discovering what you are good at and taking risks where you are strong in order to improve and achieve more.
You should also stop doing what is expected of you and start doing more than is expected. Jack Welch used the expression “Get out of the pile.” That is where most everyone else resides so do more. In my book Inspired Selling I wrote about this and try to adhere to the practice. If you give more than you take, you will never feel guilty about what you get.
Stop doing important things occasionally and start doing the important things daily. The more you know, the more you realize how much that you don’t know. Have you ever realized that? It is a bit like what Paul the Apostle wrote, and I paraphrase “The more I see sin, the more I realize how much I sin”. It is plain and simple awareness and expansion of perspective. Determining what is important and doing it regularly verses occasionally makes for the development of positive, forward-moving habits with increasing awareness.
If you expand your capacity you will also expand your impact. Regardless of position, title, income or role in life, you can do this. It doesn’t require a title to be a leader. I have known janitors and postal carriers who exhibited outstanding leadership and highly paid and high-ranking executives and officials who didn’t. Your impact is a direct function of your capacity. There is nothing in your past that determines your future. To expand your impact, your capacity must grow. Ask yourself where is your impact right now? Now ask yourself where you would like your impact to be? The difference is the limit of your capacity.
J.D. Vance in Hillbilly Elegy wrote about his life growing up in what he refers to as the “white working class” or poor and uneducated lower socioeconomic society. He doesn’t disdain that life, but now that he has worked his way through the Marine Corp, Ohio State University, and Yale Law School and into the “upper class”, he doesn’t want to go back. J.D. is motivated to do good things for people, but also not to return to the life he was seemingly trapped in as a youngster. He knows that he hasn’t yet arrived and continues to grow through stepping into areas where he has never before been. For me, it was a gripping read and coincidentally fits the topic of today’s Cornerstone Moment. J.D., though only in his thirties, and an amazing overcomer still hasn’t stopped. John Maxwell at seventy still hasn’t stopped. How about you?