” It seems that every life form on this planet strives toward its maximum potential… except human beings. A tree does not grow half its potential size and then say, “I guess that will do”. A tree will drive its roots as deep as possible. It will soak up as much nourishment as it can, stretch as high and as wide as nature will allow, and then look down as if to remind us of how much each of us could become if we would only do all we can”. – Jim Rohn
Indeed, most life form seems to strive to its maximum except human beings – why? because we have been given the dignity of choice. Think of it – you and I can be given a conducive environment for studying but still choose not to study; or we can choose to call in sick for work when essentially, we are in good health. You can choose to be all, or you can choose to be less. Life is a series of decisions; many of them binary. Each one offering potential paths that fate might take us down. And it’s when making these decisions, that we are fronted with the three self-imposed limitations; and we are left to decide which path to take between the path of least resistance (fall prey to the self-imposed limitations) or the path of most resistance (overcome the self-imposed limitations).
THE THREE SELF-IMPOSED LIMITATIONS
To be successful, be it in exams or life at large, we must all work to eliminate those self-imposed limitations that are stunting our personal development. And just like Jim Rohn said, “no matter who you are, there are three self-imposed limitations you have to contend with.” Let me tell you about them.
- Procrastination
We don’t tell ourselves, “I’m never going to write my symphony.” Instead we say, “I am going to write my symphony; I’m just going to start tomorrow.” – Steven Pressfield
The first self-imposed limitation that we humans impose on ourselves is procrastination. Procrastination is especially dangerous because of its accumulating nature. When we put off doing some minor task, it doesn’t seem to be all that important. And if we let a few things slide during the day, it doesn’t seem like such a bad day. But let enough of those days pile up and you have the makings of a disastrous year.
Steven Pressfield, in his book – the war of arts, asserts or posits that, most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.
Adolf Hitler wanted to be an artist – at age eighteen, he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study. He applied to the Academy of Fine Arts and later to the School of Architecture. Ever seen one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I’ll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas. Put in other words, it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was to overcome resistance.
Late at night, have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture or a student who struggles to sit down and study? Then you know what Resistance is.
Procrastination is the most common manifestation of resistance because it’s the easiest to rationalize.
- Blame
Blame is another self-imposed limitation. We have had long training in this self-imposed limitation going back to a certain fruit garden where the man said, “It was the woman. She got me into this.” And the woman blamed the serpent.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the common phrase, ‘a bad carpenter blames his tools.’ If you’ve been unsuccessful in an exam, I am confident that to a certain degree, you might have apportioned your lack of success to someone or something – from your employers, for not giving you enough time to study to the furniture or pens you used in the exam.
At one time or another, all of us have blamed someone for something. When we assign blame, we are pointing the finger to who or what is responsible for a fault or for a wrongdoing. We are trying to make others accountable. Why do we point fingers instead of looking within? The ego strives to defend itself. Therefore, when we blame outside forces, we don’t have to face our own weaknesses and failings.
Greg Anderson once said;
“When we blame, we give away our power.”
Personal growth partly stems from taking responsibility and being accountable for our deeds. And by assigning blame, we rid ourselves of both. When we blame, we give away our power of being responsible and accountable and ultimately the potential growth that comes with it. If you keep shifting responsibility to ‘it’, ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’ – you’ll always free yourself of accountability and blinded by a false sense of truth. To realise the latent potential within you, eliminate the third person pronouns from your thoughts and in their stead, start thinking in terms of ‘I’ – and you’ll experience a surge of personal growth.
- Excuses
Excuses, the third self-imposed limitation, is a close relative of blame.
I once had a boss who never took excuses. If he assigned you a task and for some reason you didn’t do it on time, he’ll call you to his office. He’ll usually give you about a minute to explain (or give excuses) why you haven’t done the task. Once you were done, he’ll say – “I understand all those excuses are appropriate and valid, but where are the results?”
Guess how many excuses exist? Right, millions! And people create a million more in the course of their lives. In fact, people go to tremendous lengths to avoid facing the truth, which is that they are responsible.
Just like blame, when we give an excuse, we rid ourselves of the power of being responsible and accountable and ultimately the potential growth that comes with it. One thing I learnt from my boss is, you can come up with any number of excuses in life and create a million more if you may. And most of these excuses might be appropriate and in certain instances valid. But the biggest question is – have you done what was required of you? If you can answer this question, you’ll realise that you don’t have to make excuses.
Elbert Hubbard once said;
“Don’t make excuses – make good.”
Resolve
To a certain degree, we all have some latent potential within us. Therefore, it behoves each one of us to take it upon ourselves to unveil that realised being within us and be prepared to overcome any limitations, self-imposed or otherwise, that might come our way in this quest.
All the three self-imposed limitations mentioned above can be overcome but only after coming to a firm resolve – one which is backed up by the unflinching purpose to realise your latent potential. This purpose must not only be settled within you, but you must also employ an iron-willed determination to accomplish it. When confronted with such iron-willed determination, I can see Time, Fate, and Circumstance calling a hasty conference and deciding, “We might as well let him have his dream. He said he’s going to get there or die trying.”
Benjamin Disraeli once said:
“I have brought myself, by long meditation, to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a will which will stake even existence upon its fulfilment.”
In a Nutshell
Take a rocking chair test and envision yourself on a queue to haven. The person in front of you in the queue goes through and your next in line. Upon coming face to face with him; God selects and rolls out a long script of achievements with your name on it; and he starts reading it out to you. And the script reads, “multiple best performing student, CA Zambia ambassador, best employee of the year ended, changed people’s lives through public speaking, started a business that changed people’s lives, created employment etc.” and you say, God I agree that’s my name on the list of those great achievements but unfortunately, I didn’t achieve any of those. And God says, “Actually, these were the things you were supposed to achieve had only you overcame the limitations you imposed on yourself.” How would you feel?
About the Author
My names are Chota Munthali. I possess a CA Zambia qualification and I am currently in the employ of KPMG Zambia where I am designated to the post of Accountant 1 under our Audit and Assurance Practice.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article are the author’s and are not necessarily those of KPMG.