A guide to realising potential
Everyone has strengths - and weaknesses. But are „weaknesses“ really as negative as they often seem?
In personal development and coaching, it becomes clear time and again that many supposed weaknesses are protective strategies that serve us in certain situations - and at the same time harbour potential for growth.
In this article, you will learn how you can better understand your weaknesses by changing your perspective, recognising their causes and transforming them into strengths step by step.
9 steps to personal development
- Make a note of your three biggest weaknesses.
- Release the negative evaluation from this quality and recognise that this behaviour, which you have previously described as a weakness, is a behaviour that can unfold as a strength in other situations.
- Recognise which blockage overlays the strength behind the supposed weakness.
- Try to recognise the protection strategy behind it.
- Find the trigger that sets off this protective strategy in you.
- Write down the belief that „labels“ this strategy.
- Transform the belief.
- Support change by taking new actions in your everyday life.
- Celebrate the change you notice in your life.
Exercise Developing potential part 1
Understanding strengths and weaknesses anew
I invite you to an exercise.
Write down what you think are the biggest Weaknesses on. Write down: „I think my greatest weaknesses are ....“
And now create another list and write down your three greatest strengths.
Do you notice anything? Do you find parallels or are you just discovering that the characteristics you have noted are just two different sides of the same coin?
Weaknesses are not absolute. Rather, they are behaviours that are useful in some situations and a hindrance in others.
Example: Change of perspective Weaknesses
Charlotte wants to learn to work in a more focussed way. Her colleagues criticise her for working on too many topics at the same time.
In fact, Charlotte has a pronounced ability to broad perception. She quickly recognises moods, team dynamics and parallel topics. This helps her to keep an overview. However, she is easily distracted when it comes to focussing on completing a project.
Conclusion: Charlotte's supposed weakness is actually a strength. In this situation, however, it is overlaid by a blockage that makes it difficult for her to keep her focus.
Ask yourself: In which situations is the behaviour of your supposed weaknesses useful to you?
The pattern behind the blockages
Most blockages that we have consciously or unconsciously erected in our lives and that prevent our potential from unfolding have something to do with protection. It is therefore helpful to recognise and understand the protective strategies behind our weaknesses before we bring them into change.
Example: Recognising and understanding protection strategies
Charlotte, for example, feels a strong need for security. Her fear of overlooking something has led her to constantly direct her focus outwards. Her behaviour protects her from overlooking mistakes or incalculable risks. However, it prevents her from maintaining her focus.
Question for you: What does your behaviour, which you describe as weakness, want to protect you from?
Identify trigger points
To change protection mechanisms, you must change the Trigger know. These can be different for each person. Sometimes it is the behaviour of another person, sometimes it is a certain situation or sometimes words or thoughts trigger us.
Example: Recognising trigger points
Charlotte realises that she loses focus especially when requirements and contacts are constantly changing - a normal part of her project business. In such situations, her system goes on alert.
Ask yourself: What external situations trigger your defence mechanism?
Recognise beliefs
Most of our protective strategies have their origins in pregnancy - i.e. in the time before we are born - birth or early childhood development up to the age of around 7 years. We have also inherited some of our protective strategies from our ancestors, such as our parents.
The titles of these protective strategies are so-called beliefs.
Example: Identifying beliefs
Charlotte remembers: As a child, she was often passed around. Some people made her feel safe, others didn't. To be prepared, she learnt to turn her attention outwards.
This gave rise to her belief system:
„I'm only safe if I keep an eye on everything.“
All beliefs limit the realisation of our potential. This is why life mirrors them to us and invites us to transform them.
Question for you: Which belief „labels“ your protection strategy?
Exercise Developing potential part 2
Transforming weaknesses into strengths - developing potential
The moment you realise that certain beliefs are hindering your development, you have taken the first step towards transformation.
There are various ways to transform beliefs. Below, I will introduce you to a path that helps many of my coachees to transform their beliefs and personality patterns. You can use this approach or find the path that is right for you.
Exercise: The photo album
- Imagine you are holding an empty photo album in your hand.
- Mentally add the situation that spontaneously comes to mind when you think of the belief as a Polaroid in this album. Feel whether other situations appear in your mind's eye and stick them in the album in the form of further photos.
- When no more pictures appear, close the album and note the belief on the cover.
- Then imagine that you have a spotlight with a very powerful light in your heart and direct this light onto the photo album in the confidence of change. Observe how it changes or dissolves.
- Believe in your creative power.
- Support the change you have initiated with new actions in everyday life.
This way you can let go of old beliefs step by step.
New actions for your everyday life
Through the photo album exercise, you have changed the energy field that underlies your previous protection strategy and therefore your „weakness“. In order for you to feel the transformation of this energy field in your life, it is important to act differently than before. Because only through a new action or new behaviour will something really change.
Example: Making change visible through new actions
Charlotte's new decisions - initial sparks for new behaviour:
- „I make it clear when there are too many issues at the same time.“
- „I consciously plan me-time.“
- „I regularly withdraw to think through issues in a focussed way.“
Ask yourself: What new actions can you develop to release your protective mechanisms in order to fulfil your potential?
Perceive change - look at yourself and the change with gentleness
I invite you to take a gentle look at what changes in your life as a result of the new behaviour. And please: don't judge yourself if things don't go perfectly right from the start. On the contrary: keep the focus on what you do succeed in and celebrate yourself for it. Because your thoughts have power and if you focus on what you don't succeed at, it will become stronger. However, if you manage to recognise what you do succeed in - no matter how small - it will gain strength.
Conclusion: Developing potential is a process
Weaknesses and strengths are not opposites, but context-dependent behaviours.
By using your Protective strategies, trigger points and beliefs you can change them - and thus unfold your hidden potential. The important thing is that you say yes - to yourself and this journey - and don't expect everything to be perfectly different from day one.
In my own process of developing my own potential, I have learnt that even things that are supposedly not going perfectly contain valuable clues to what is still dormant within us and wants to be brought to life!
Have fun on your journey!
