Here are my top 7 signs that show you if you are living up to your fullest potential or not and how you can change that in this very moment.
1. You feel unhappy
This is literally the most basic sign that something is wrong. Your body and your emotions try to tell you that there has to be something changed. Feeling unhappy is an action signal and you should listen to what it tries to tell you! Usually being unhappy means that your “idea” in your head of how things should work out for you do NOT match the reality you are experiencing. Therefore you feel not at ease with yourself and also unhappy. But how do you break out of it?
First you have to understand that your emotional state is just the result of your past decisions and actions. When you are feeling unhappy and dissatisfied in this very moment, you might have made poor or low-quality decisions earlier on and you are now feeling the consequences of these actions. Although this might cause people to feel even more down, it could also empower you, because it would mean that by simply making BETTER decisions NOW you can instantly change your future emotional state and your life situation. It is your choice on what you will focus your thoughts on!
Action Steps:
- Take FULL responsibility over your current life situation and the decisions you made until this very moment! Although this might be painful sometimes it is also VERY empowering and the only solutions to breaking out of whatever undesired life situation you find yourself in.
- Read this article: Take 100% Responsibility For Everything You Do
- Write down what exactly you feel unhappy about? What could be some decisions you made earlier on that caused you to end up in this very situation right now? Although life is in itself very random and there are things that are just unpredictable and are just happening to us, it is always in our OWN responsibility and power to react to these events. Oftentimes the way we respond makes the whole difference.
- “Life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.” – John Maxwell
- What new (better?) decisions could you make right now that would improve the results you are getting? Can you try a different approach?
2. You feel depressed
Feeling depressed literally means that you are depressing something inside yourself. There is something inside you that you need to let out in order to resolve your depression. It can be this little feeling inside you that you KNOW that you are capable of more than you are currently experiencing in your life. It can be the realization that you have become lazy and your emotions try to warn you by making you feel uncomfortable. Usually depression is a cry for help and by that I mean that your body SHOUTS (quietly) at you to help him express what is inside you (what you are really capable of). Don’t ruin the fun and let it all out!
Action Steps:
- Depression just means that you should do more of the stuff you usually avoid doing! Do something crazy. Do something risky. Say something you normally wouldn’t say. Don’t even dare to give a f*** for some time! See what happens and see how you will feel afterwards. I can promise you the depression will resolve in no time!
- Read this article: Do Not Depress Your Depression
- Sit down for a moment and think about all the stuff you would really like to do right now. Remove all the stuff society or social conditioning tries to tell you. Dig deep down and see what YOU care about. Then do this very thing. The more you connect with your inner self the little depressed you will feel. You will become more authentic and open-minded. You share your thoughts with other people and you no longer hold back, and people will love you for that!
3. You are complaining a lot
When you find yourself complaining a lot, you actually refuse to accept what is in front of you. You don’t like how things turned out for you and you want them to be in some other way. It is a very toxic behaviour and does nothing more than pulling the people around you down and making them no longer spend time with you. When you find yourself complaining, you are denying the only thing you will ever have in your life: this very moment.
You are either focusing your thoughts on the past or on the future and neither of them is real. Watch yourself. Most of the time when you find yourself complaining about stuff, it is either about past things that happened to you, or about some future expectations that you don’t like. Even when people complaining about little things like the weather what are they actually doing? Denying the present moment, wishing it to be different from what it is, and projecting future or past expectations onto it. Does this behaviour change anything about the weather? No. Does it change something about their mood? Yes. But not in a good way.
When you focus all your thoughts and actions and live in this very moment (and accept it as it is!), you will realize that it is actually the ONLY moment you will ever get. It is in fact perfect and there is no need to complain about anything. There might be just some stuff that needs getting handled.
Action Steps:
- If you know that you are complaining a lot and you WANT to change, create some contrast for yourself and try the 10 DAYS WITHOUT COMPLAINING CHALLENGE! You just drop complaining completely and you do it for 10 days straight! Complaining at any point during these 10 days puts you back to day 1 and you restart your 10 days. This is a great exercise, but I might warn you: It will take you more than 10 days! =)
- Read this article: How Giving Up Complaining Can Transform Your Life
- Instead of complaining about anything, couldn’t you just do something to simply change it?
4. You feel miserable when you compare yourself to other people
First things first: don’t compare yourself with others. Look at yourself and put the focus on your own progress! If you still want to compare yourself to others to see where you are standing in relation, do it in a helpful way. Look at what they are doing and try to learn from them. Seeing other people being successful in any area of their live should never be a need for you to feel bad. It should always act as an inspiration at most. Still, focus on doing your own thing.
Action Steps:
- Look at the people around you and see what you can learn from them. Copy what they do right, drop what they do wrong and add your own unique style as it says!
- Oftentimes we look at other people and feel down because we forget what we have accomplished in our given time. It helps to write down a little recap from time to time. Sit down and write down your last 100 achievements. Yes, 100! Don’t stop before you are finished and write down everything that comes to mind that you should be proud about yourself. See how you will feel afterwards.
5. You think there has to be more
Whenever you are hearing this little voice inside your head that tries to tell you that “there gotta be more” it is usually a sign for not living up with your fullest potential yet. It tries to lead you somewhere by making you uncomfortable, making you curious and putting everything in perspective. The “voice” wants to inspire you to dig deeper and force you to search for alternatives and new options. You might feel worried or anxious thinking about this, but wanting more than others is usually a good sign. You are not settling for less than you are capable of. Still, you might not have found a solution or a workaround. Oftentimes there are just very little missing pieces in the puzzle and when you found them, everything clicks and falls into place.
Action Steps:
- Take a quiet moment and really listen to that inner voice. What is it pointing out to you? Why do you believe that “there has to be more”? Have you experienced anything in your past that assures you that you maybe can do better? Do you know other people who are living a lifestyle you might want for yourself, but have not found a way to achieve it for yourself? Listen to the voice inside yourself. It usually knows pretty much everything about your true purpose and desires.
- As soon as you know what you want and also WHY, ask yourself what is the smallest step towards that very destination. What can you do today to get just one tiny step closer to it? Any step is better than none. And a true decision to change something in your life is only made by also taking the first action towards it.
- Repeat this process every day for at least 1 year and see where it will lead you. You will be astonished of yourself and what you have accomplished!
6. You spend a lot of time watching TV and playing computer games
Excessive watching TV and playing computer games is a typical way of escaping reality. To some degree it is fun, but when it gets out of hand you might try to cover up something. You might try to avoid some inconvenient experiences (like starting a risky new business, avoiding a necessary talk with somebody important, looking for a new job, etc.).
Action Steps:
- Watch yourself and see if you find yourself playing video games or watching TV shows that you are not really interested in. Whenever you get some entertainment for yourself, enjoy it consciously and fully.
- Just as a little test you can try this out for yourself: at night after you have been watching TV, sit down and try to remember all the movies, series, and shows you have been watching. Try to list them all. If you cannot write down the full program you have been watching, this might indicate that you are just wasting time and numbing yourself. You are not doing it being fully present. Also try to remember the last commercial you saw on TV? Can you even remember ANY?
- If you are serious about getting ahead in life, try out to cut down on TV, gaming and other numbing activities. For example: instead of coming home and sitting down watching TV with your spouse, dedicate one hour for something important before. In that single hour, do something you have always postponed. Dedicate that time for something you care about. Something that is important to you and your progress in life. Spend some quality time with your friends, family, children. Do something more important! After some months, look back and see for yourself what you have accomplished in that time. See the result of taking little steps every day for yourself.
- (If you can’t make room for your dreams and goals, you are not meant to achieve them anyways. Sorry!)
7. You blame other people for your own shortcomings
Blaming other people (just like judging them) is pure poison when it comes to personal growth and achieving something great. When you blame other people for your own shortcomings, you are giving them all the control and power over your life. You picture them as the cause of your problem, so they also have to be the solution. It totally removes all your responsibility, but also all your power. You will feel like you CANNOT change, because it is not within your control. Never give away your personal power over your OWN life. You should be the person in charge. You should be the person who pulls the strings. And therefore you also have to make the decision to protect your personal power and never give it to anybody else other than yourself.
Action Steps:
- Whenever you catch yourself blaming some circumstance or person for any of your problems or issues, pause, and tell yourself the truth. You are responsible for your life’s decisions. You are in charge.
