When you hear the word “capacity” what is it that comes to your mind? For the New Year, my pastor preached a message in regards to our capacity and it has been on my mind ever since. Every year we have a different theme of growth at my church and needless to say that this year, it’s “capacity.”
Capacity is all about the potential inside of you which essentially boils down to the existing possibility within you. What I have learned over the years is that we do not know exactly what our capacity is until it is tested, stretched and strengthened.
Crisis will reveal the cracks in your character but it can also reveal what you are capable of and move you from one place to another. In these circumstances, we are almost forced to increase our capacity in order to grow or become who we have been called to be. But besides crisis or uncontrollable circumstances, how else does one increase their capacity?
The key word in defining capacity is potential. So many of us are filled with so much potential but for some reason, it remains just that – potential. Your potential is the existing possibility within you, meaning that something special exists but it will essentially be your conscious decision to take that existing possibility inside of you to its greatest potential. Once again, life is about the choices we make. If we want a better life then we have to make better decisions. You can choose to be one of those people who are filled with potential but never really did anything with it or you can choose to become someone who exhausts their potential to its utmost capacity.
Therefore, in order to increase your potential to in turn increase your capacity, then you are going to have to be willing to change. I want you to really go to the next level this year and I want you to be deliberate about it, instead of hoping that some sort of magic is going to fall out the sky and give you your perfect life or better yet hoping that you’ll win the lottery, I want you to be intentional in assuring the plan that you have for your life.
This is the key for increasing your potential – increase your value. We can make the mistake into thinking that we get paid for our time but we get paid for our value. I’ve noted before that two people can work for the same company while one makes a $30,000 annual salary while the other makes a $3.5 million annual salary. It’s the same amount of time but the difference is the value to the company. When you focus on increasing your value, then you will not have to go running after opportunities, the opportunities will start knocking at your door. Too many of us want an above average salary with an average work ethic.
So what do you need to do to increase your value? Perhaps it’s furthering your education, enrolling in a certification program, garnering a new level of clientele, reading a few books, volunteering, signing up for new training classes or hiring a coach.
There are some people who walk into a room, speak for an hour and walk out with a $20,000 check. I know it can be farfetched to even think that it’s possible for someone to make $20,000 in an hour, when it takes most people months to make that same amount of money. I don’t want you to mistake this and think that I’m saying to make everything about money; this is about you taking action to give birth to your wildest dreams. Let’s say you did win the lottery, you wouldn’t turn down the money right? So why is it that we cannot take the necessary measures in our lives in order to create the life that we think only winning the lottery will bring us.
For this year, I want you to increase your capacity. Increase the possibility that exists within you. How you choose to do that is your choice, but you have to be purposeful about it. The last thing you want is to look back in ten years and regret, only wishing that you have taken the time to hone in on your potential. Time is the most valuable asset that we can often undermine, but once it’s gone there is absolutely nothing that we can do to get it back. Today is a precious gift and that it is why it is called the present.
Do what you can to make yourself sharper, smarter, wiser, a better communicator or disciplined. Make the mindful decision to grow in value, maturity, relationships, understanding, awareness and selflessness as I will be doing the same!
How will you choose to increase your capacity this year?
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy