Will Your Vision Help You Reach Your Potential?

Part 1

Sight is what you see with your eyes. Vision is what you see in your mind. What do you see for your future?

Sometimes our vision only meets our capabilities, not our potential.

Capabilities are what we know we can do. Potential is what we can do in the future.

This may require a new beginning in how we think about our vision and our potential. We may need to ask ourselves some vital questions, which I’ve divided into two sections: The Pain and The Process. This leads to the question: Will your vision help you reach your potential?

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

It’s Called Pain for a Reason

The Pain. Pain requires us to ask ourselves fact-finding questions we may not like the answers to.

1. Have I set the bar too low for myself? If yes, why?
2. Am I only pursuing what I already know I can accomplish? If yes, what do you gain from that?
3. Am I living down to my capabilities versus up to my potential?

Ouch! That may be your reaction to any of these questions because you don’t like the answers. I once heard a pastor say, “Don’t focus on the pain; focus on the process.” My pain management doctor concurred and told me, “If you only focus on your pain, you will always be in pain.”

Are you only focusing on what you can do – capabilities- versus what you could do – potential?

Is your vision based on what you have already done, or what you see yourself doing?

Many times, painful questions have painful answers. So, what is your process for staying focused on a vision that helps you reach your potential?

Why The Process Is Important

Arthur Jones, a noted Australian sociologist and former Fortune magazine editor, is credited with the quote:

“All organizations are perfectly designed to get the results they get!”

This quote has been modified in several different ways by many different people, with one of the most popular versions being:

“Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets!”

 And I will change it one more time:

“All processes are perfectly designed to get the results they get!” (Randolph, 2026)

Regardless of your intent, the design you use gets you the results you receive.

The Process Defined

The Process. Because pain normally does not stop instantly, we must have a process with a focus on relieving the pain. The same is true when pursuing our potential: What does our vision look like?

1. What’s most important? This may require prioritizing or reprioritizing the things in your life. Please notice I wrote your life, not your business. What’s most important in your life?
2. Why is what’s most important, most important? Sometimes we prioritize based on what we think others want to hear, rather than what benefits us. Remember, this is about your vision and your potential, not someone else’s.
3. What do you expect for each priority? Some may see this as EROI (Expected Return on Investment), but it’s really about expectation and priority management. Why make something a priority if it offers little expected benefit or value toward what’s most important? How does this priority help you reach your potential?

From Priorities to Vision

1. What are your vision and potential? Both vision and potential focus on the future, but the future is almost any time beyond right now. What’s your vision for this year? Yes, not 5, 10, or 15 years from now, but this year? Once I knew my vision for the year, I worked backward month by month to set goals to achieve it. Then I can look at my 3- and 5-year plans.
2. How will you align your vision with your potential? You might be able to do anything, but you cannot do everything. Does your vision pass the FAS-R test? Is it feasible, acceptable, and sustainable? I will change the R from risk to realistic. Is it realistic?
3. Are you in the right position? If you play in the wrong positions, no amount of vision will help you reach your potential. Are you maintaining momentum toward your potential, or simply muddling in mediocrity?

Some Final Thoughts

My potential has a deadline. Your potential may be unlimited over time, but mine is not. I want to achieve certain things by the time I reach a certain age, and if I do not, I am good with that, but that’s just me. This makes these last questions the most crucial ones:

Is this only my beginning? Or,

Have I already tapped out on my vision and potential?

Reference:

Schulman, J. (2022). “Every System Is Perfectly Designed to Get the Results It Gets”. In: Schulman, J. (eds) The Problem of Practice Variation in Newborn Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94655-5_19

Related Links:

• The Promise of Potential in Leadership Development Success
• Trauma Healing: It’s A Process
• Perfection: The False Expectation in Leadership