Realize Your Potential

January 7, 2003

"If you want to change your life, it has to start with you.  Take control.  Be responsible for your actions.  Avoid excuses, and instead find ways to make those things happen that are important to you and your employer.  Surround yourself with like-minded people who are energized and looking to make the most out of their lives.

Avoid people who either don't understand what is important to you or are not interested in being a part of your dream.  Gravitate to those individuals who support and encourage you, whom you can look up to and aspire to be like.

Be a person who makes things happen - starting with yourself.  Adopt the slogan 'If it's to be, it needs to begin with me.'

Your thoughts shape your beliefs about yourself and your reality and, in very real and direct ways, affect your actions.

Don't wait for others to tell you what to do.  See for yourself what needs to be done!  Listen.  Learn.  Take a stand.  Make a suggestion.  Volunteer to take action.  Most important, do what you say you will do.  Not the fifth time, not the second time - but the first time.  Be a person of your word who can be relied upon to follow through without a series of reminders and constant badgering.  Be one step ahead of identifying the needs of those around you, and act on that information.

Bring solutions to your manager, not problems.  And with those solutions, bring energy for putting them into action.

Life passes so many people by when, at any time, they can get on board.  Work on improving your current job, not the next one.  Do it now, not when you feel you eventually will have time.

Live your dreams, don't postpone them.  Find any way to identify and grab hold of your purpose.  Find the spark that lights your enthusiasm, then fan it into a flame of passion.  Doing so will make you invaluable not only to your employer -but to yourself.

When all is said and done, more is said and little is done.  Be the exception to this rule.  Be the person known for action and for taking initiative.  Not only will you develop a skill that is in high demand, but your life will become more worth living (Nelson, 2001, pp. 96-99)."

Reference:  Nelson, B. (2001).  Please don't just do what I tell you! do what needs to be done: every employee's guide to making work more rewarding.  New York:  Hyperion.

What are you doing to realize your potential?

Please Don't Just Do What I Tell You! is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center.  A complete listing of all the Leadership Center's resources is available on our website http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu/    The OSU Leadership Center is funded by OSU Extension.