The Importance Of Not Subjecting Reaching Your Full Potential To Others (Don't Allow Society To Define Your Success).

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Most people that would consider themselves to be motivated and ambitious will likely have goals that they want to achieve for themselves. Goals and aspirations among people will always have a degree of variance when it comes to what those goals may be. One person may strive to be the best mechanic, while someone else may be trying to be the best engineer. Because we're all different and have the ability to have different interests, the achieving of goals will always have some variance. What doesn't have variance is the fact that nearly everyone that is working towards a goal wants to achieve the highest level of that goal as possible. Think of it this way; if you are working towards something that you're interested in, do you think you just want to do enough to be able to just say that you done it? I highly doubt that is the case for most people. Most of us are seeking to do the best that we can at the things that drive us the most. With that said, the society that we live in often has a set bar for what is considered to be success. Furthermore, the aforementioned success is often based on what other people that may have achieved the same goals that others are currently striving for have accomplished. Because of this bar that society has set, many people are led to believe that they're failures because they haven't reached the level of someone else. It is a known fact that much of our society often pays attention to what the next person is doing, and this isn't any different when it comes to reaching our full potential. While I do believe that it is okay to model and seek out those that are already where many are trying to get to, it is also important to not subject your personal successes to that of others.

Yo, what's going on everybody? How is everybody doing out there? I go by the nickname of Brad H., and I'd like to once again welcome you all to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I am back for another week to present some wisdom that leads to inspiration and positive energy in our lives. Hope all has been well for everyone since the last topic. So the NBA Finals are right around the corner. We have had two great Conference Final series going on the last couple of weeks. As it stands now, the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers are knotted at 3-3 with a game 7 coming up. I'm not a fan of either of these teams, but boy you can't help but to root for the Celtics after coming this far with all the injuries they've had. I hope they're able to pull it out, but I have a feeling that LeBron is going to be too much in that elimination game. I hope I'm wrong though. In the west, we have an elimination game tonight as the Golden State Warriors trail the Houston Rockets 3-2. This has truly been a great series, and I was totally wrong in my prediction. Though I'm pulling for Houston, I honestly thought they might have gotten swept. The tides have surely turned though, as Houston was able to get gritty victories in games 4 and 5. This has been a wild series in the sense that the Warriors haven't looked like themselves the last few games. They have been unusually sloppy, and the Rockets have managed to capitalize on it. It would be a shocker to me if Houston manages to win tonight at Oracle Arena. I have a feeling that it is going to go seven games like the series in the east. I'm pretty excited for tonight, and I'm sure the rest of you NBA fans out there are as well. We will soon know who will be facing off in the NBA Finals. I think it would be awesome if Houston and Boston could get there. I can't speak for anyone else, but I think it would be nice seeing some new blood in the NBa Finals. Both the Warriors and Cavaliers have dominated that thing for the past few years, so something new would be refreshing. Lets wait and see how it all unfolds. Well that is it for my soapbox, so I'm going to go ahead and get into this week's topic of the importance of not subjecting you reaching your full potential to society.

Now that I've gotten all of that out of the way, it is time to go ahead and give the usual disclaimer that I give before getting into the topic of the week. Every single one of us has different ways of thinking and seeing things in this life. The mission here isn't to focus on what is considered right or wrong, but rather to provide some insight that will hopefully encourage us to get the juices of thought flowing in our brains. I personally believe that it is an amazing thing when you talk to someone, or you read something that makes you go; "I've never thought about that in that way before." Besides the inspiration that I try to provide on here, the promotion of being free-thinking and open minded are the primary goal of these topics. Of course I don't expect everyone to agree with what I have to say. Again, we all have our own opinions, and that isn't any different on here. Whatever your beliefs or thought processes may be regardless if they align with mines or not, I still appreciate every single person that is interested in what I have to say. Now that I've gotten that disclaimer out there, I'm going to briefly talk about why I felt this was a topic that I wanted to address. As I pointed out earlier, I've been thinking a lot lately about what success is when it comes to the world that we live in. It could just be me thinking like this, but I sorta feel like the society that we're living in paints this picture that success is only one thing. Of course there are going to be people that catch on and cling to this way of thinking, and then they find themselves feeling like failures if they don't reach the success that society has set as the bar. Because I vehemently disagree with this, I thought it would be good for me to get on here and hopefully encourage others to think of this in a different way.

I believe that it is in our nature as humans to be competitive. Most people have an innate tendency to want to outdo the next person in nearly every aspect of life. This is probably one of the biggest reasons why so many athletes get so aggressive in the events they participate in. Now although most of us aren't athletes, the competitive aspect of sports also stems into our everyday lives. People compete for job opportunities, the attention of a potential romantic suitor, and many other aspects of life. Again the desire to compete is all natural, but is it always really in our best interest to compete with others? As I mentioned earlier, the world we live in has a standard for what is considered success, but is what the world define as success really for everyone? When most people think of success in this world, most people equate it to having a lot of money, nice car(s), nice clothes, etc. Now in saying this, I am no way implying that these things aren't perks of being successful. I think it is a good thing to want to strive to have the best things you can in life. However, if we're being totally honest here, most people likely won't obtain much of these things. Not everyone will make a six figure plus salary. Most people won't live in a mansion or two story house. A good majority of us won't be able to comfortably afford clothes that cost thousands of dollars. A lifestyle that entails these kinds of things are only reserved for a small percentage of people, and because of the standard our society has set to define success, most people feel that obtaining these kinds of things are the primary way of defining success. Again, much of this deals with us comparing ourselves to other people.

Now because most of us won't obtain these grand things that come along with society's definition of success, comparing what our success is to others is irrelevant. Instead of engaging in the act of comparison, I think it is more important on focusing on reaching our own PERSONAL full potential. See from my perspective, every single one of us has a max limit on what we're able to obtain. Now I'm not saying that we should put limits on ourselves and our capabilities. From my perspective, maxing out means being able to have a realistic outlook on what is possible for our lives. See I believe that a good portion of people think that because we see certain people doing the things that we're interested in and finding the kind of success that I talked about earlier, that it should be them as well. If someone else is making a six figure salary in a certain career, then I should also be making a six figure salary as well. This is the mindset of many people, but maybe the person making the six figure salary is more experienced or more talented. That doesn't necessarily mean that they are better than you, or that you aren't good at what you do as well. It just means that someone else believes they are, which is why they probably do better financially. As I said earlier, it is always good to strive for better for yourself, but it is also wise to be able to discern when you have reached your peak. Instead of comparing yourself to what society deems as success, you have to define what you believe your person success to be. What is good for you personally won't always coincide with what this world is doing. Again, there is nothing wrong with wanting more for yourself, but being able to be comfortable with who you are and what you have in today's society is a strength in my opinion.

So with all of that being said, how exactly do we know when we've reached our peak? Like I talked about variance earlier in this topic, it all varies from person to person. This is one of those things when an individual has to search within themselves to know when they've reached their full potential. I believe that one of the best ways to get to this point deals with not comparing yourself to others and what they're doing. Always remember that what is right for other people doesn't always mean it is right for you. It's about learning how to be comfortable in your own skin. Secondly, it is wise to not let society or other people define what your own success should be. People often talk about how it is more important what you think of yourself rather than what other people think of you. I definitely think this applies to a topic such as this one. I believe that it takes having a strong mind to have the ability to not compare yourself to this world. While I think that some competition is good because it can help keep us motivated, being able to know when to be competitive is even more important in my opinion. We often hear about how the greatest battles that we face will often come from within. Being aware of what our full potential is and not being able to allow society sway us from that is a battle that most of us will face on a daily basis. One of this society's goals is to get us to believe that we need more in this life than what we really need. Yes, it is great having a lot of nice things, but having nice things doesn't define a person on the inside. So again, lets try to focus on reaching our own full potential. Try not to allow this world that we live in to dictate what is your personal success. Your life is your own, and you should live it according to what you know and feel is right for you on the inside.

That pretty much sums up what I think on this topic, so I'm going to go ahead and bring this one to close. I hope that some of you were able to find this topic understandable and relevant to your life. This has once again been another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective', and I would like to thank everyone again that stopped through. As I always like to end these with, I hope that there was some meaning and understanding that was able to be gained from this. Anyone that has any feedback or comments, please feel free to leave them. You can also hit me up on my Twitter handle @BradrickH if you have any questions or feedback. Looks like the Gulf Coast region is going to have some rain in the next few days with this tropical storm that is about to get into the Gulf of Mexico. Kinda wild that hurricane season is already upon us. Boy was last year a rough one. Hopefully this season doesn't be as bad. Stay safe out there everyone, and I hope everyone enjoys their Memorial Day holiday. Stay encouraged and I'll see you all in the next one. Peace!

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