“Potential”…Fancy word means….Haven’t Done nothing yet!

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Many years ago I learned from a very successful person, that “Potential” was just a fancy word meaning one hadn’t done “shi- yet”.  I will leave it to you to fill in the blank there, but the point was potential was great, but absolutely meaningless if a person never did anything with it.  When I was in high school as a freshman, there were two great running backs that were seniors.  One of them had started as a freshman, and broke all kinds of records for 3 consecutive years, he had been a superstar from the moment he stepped on the football field.  He never worked out, never did extra, he got by on pure, raw, athletic ability.  This 3 year superstar showed up to the start of the season overweight and out of shape.

The other guy meanwhile, had never started at running back his entire career, but he had worked out every off-season, he had trained, and trained and trained.  Every spare moment he had was spent in the weight room, going to football camps, running, etc.  He showed up for the senior year in the best shape of his life.  Want to guess who had the better year?  That is right, the guy who was too slow, not quick enough, didn’t have any raw talent or ability had out worked, out hustled, and out trained the superstar to the point where he actually became the team leader himself.  He ended up having a season for the ages, breaking all of the previous records set by the guy who showed up out of shape.

The point is simple, there are some places in life where we can get to a certain level of success by just cruising on whatever God given talent we have been given.  To get to the highest levels of success in life, you have to push yourself, and it doesn’t matter nearly as much how talented you are, as it does how hard you are willing to work, how much you can learn, and how long you can keep up a super human effort to become great!  So think of it like a good news, bad news scenario.  The good news is, you can outwork, out hustle, and out train people way more talented, with more potential with you…..you are just going to have to work harder and longer than they will in order to achieve that.  Good luck finding a way to be the best you can be, because in the race of life, the only person we should really be competing with, is the best version of ourselves…

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About the Author

W.J. Vincent II has spent the last 20 years of his life building businesses from start-up to success in fields as varied as Real Estate, Technology, and Environmental Health. In January 2012, Natalia, his wife of 13 years, tragically passed away, her body having given in to her short but dramatic three-month battle with a brain tumor. Her sudden passing left W.J. a widowed father of a 1-year old baby girl and 4-year old boy of his own, along with a 12-year old boy and 15-year old girl he had been helping his mother-in-law to raise due to her battle with multiple sclerosis. Faced with a challenge greater than any he had known, W.J. was able to find strength and inspiration from the Bible. There were many miracles and messages that saw him through the darkest moments of his life.