Presentation to the Career Alliance group, September 11, 2013

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Who is this guy?
A telecommunications professional
A certified leadership coach, trainer, and key note speaker.
An accomplished communication practitioner whose insights were featured
in John Maxwell’s book “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect”
A founding member of the John Maxwell Team
I’m the guy who believes in your potential

3. Why People Do Not
Reach Their Potential
Presented By:
Lars Ray, CC

4. 4Lars Ray
Introduction
“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing
would solve most of the world’s problems.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
Potential:
Existing in possibility; Capable of development into actuality.
For most people, it’s not what they are that holds them back, it’s what
they think they are not.
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential

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Introduction
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
Your Potential
Your Choices
Your Talent Your Defined
Success
Your Purpose
Your Skills
Your Goals
Your Desires
B
Existing
in
Possibility
Capable of development into actuality
AYou are
here

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Belief about potential – everyone has a seed of success within
them.
Fact about potential – few people ever realize their success
potential.
Many people possess a hundred acres of possibilities but keep
only one acre under cultivation.
Introduction
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential

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Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
1. Choices
Choices – They make choices that limit them.
“ There is a choice you have to make in everything you do.
So keep in mind, which in the end, the choice you make,
makes you.”
Talent + Right Choice = A talent plus person
Initiative activates your talent.
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential

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Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
Time – They had no idea the process would take so long.
Patience is a minor form of despair disguised as a virtue.
There are two realities concerning our potential:
• The things we work for, and
• The things we wait for.
Big mistake – waiting for things you haven’t worked for!
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
2. Time

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Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
Price – They fail to pay the price that their potential demands.
“For everything you gain, you give up something. “ John Maxwell - Leadership Gold
Many times, our challenges in life are not in understanding, but in doing.
Charles Schwab said, “When a man has put a limit on what he will do, he has
put a limit on what he can do.”
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
3. Price

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Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
Problems – They fail to think creatively when problems arise.
There is a difference between problem spotting and problem
solving.
“People are funny. Most people want to succeed, but are unwilling to
change. They are often willing to grow only enough to accommodate
their problems; instead, they need to grow enough to achieve their
potential”
- George Crane
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
4. Problems

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Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
Review
People do not reach their potential because of…
• Choices – They make choices that limit themselves
• Time – They had no idea the process would take so long
• Price – They fail to pay the price that their potential demands
• Problems – They fail to think creatively when problems arise
You can easily determine the caliber of people by the amount of
opposition it takes to discourage them.
Every problem introduces a person to himself.
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential

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“The key to reaching your potential is to have more solid
reasons for reaching it than reasons against reaching it.”
- Dr. John Maxwell
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential

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Innovation is a life skill – what are you doing to promote it?
• Specialize – which also means stating what you don’t do
• Stay the most focused when things look the most difficult
• Be the tortoise, not the hare
• Mitigate the fear of starvation
• Know yourself really well (are you willing to look at yourself objectively?)
• Let your work be the reflection of who you are – not the reverse
• Spread the word about who you are, the gifts you bring to the picture,
and how you want to put them to use.
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
Keys to Reaching Your Potential

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RESOURCES
Additional Reading:
– Talent is Never Enough by Dr. John Maxwell
– What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
– SHIFT by Peter Arnell
– Leadership POV blog by Lars Ray
Coaching: Lars Ray
– Email: larsray@hotmail.com
– Mobile: 469-525-7060
– Blog: Leadership POV
Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential

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15Lars Ray Why People Do Not Reach Their Potential
Thank You