Are You Reaching Your Full Potential?

“When Abraham Lincoln was your age, he walked 10 miles to school each day,” said a father to his son who was complaining about walking to school. The son replied, “Yeah, and when Abraham Lincoln was your age, he was President of the United States.”

Do you ever get the sense that you’re not all you could be?  That you’re not reaching your full potential?  Or are you concerned about helping your child or grandchild reach their full potential?

That’s a big passion area for me.  I want to be the kind of person who lives to my full potential and achieves all I am capable of achieving.  And I want to inspire and equip others to do the same.

Today is President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, so I’m going to share some thoughts that relate to his life and how a person reaches their full potential.  This quote from Lincoln is one of my all-time favorites:

I don’t know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.

Lincoln’s point is that it doesn’t matter where I came from, what circumstances I was born into, what my parents or grandparents did or didn’t do.  It is up to me to be the best me that I can be.

Do you or someone you know feel stuck in the past – past decisions that they’ve made, or others have made for them?  The good news is that you can be free from that!

Lincoln was 52 years old when he became President, and 56 when he died.  When I think about his age, and what he accomplished as President, I marvel at these words he spoke:

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.

I’ll be 40 this year, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how much “life” I’ve enjoyed in my years so far.  I feel really great about the life God has given me – about the family I’ve been blessed with and the work that I love to do.  But I know I haven’t fully lived up to my full potential yet.

I’m on a journey to live my life’s purpose, achieve my dreams, and live up to my full potential.  I hope you’ll come along with me.  We don’t know how many years we have left do we?  We’ve got to make them count.

What about you? How much “life” is in your years so far?  Do you feel like you’re reaching your potential?  Why or why not?  Please share your thoughts in the comments.

And check back on Monday when I’ll share tips and strategies on how to reach your full potential.  If you haven’t subscribed to my RSS feed yet, be sure to do that so you don’t miss anything.

You might also like:
My life’s purpose:  be the best me that I can be
Dr. Martin Luther King knew his mission in life, do you?
Three questions to help you identify your life’s passion