Happy Sunday Everyone-
A friend, mentor, and advisor, hit me between the eyes with a quote from Napoleon yesterday, it read “Sometimes death only comes from a lack of energy. And a lack of energy comes from taking on less than we are capable of”. This person shall rename nameless, but it wasn’t just a quote for me to read, it was directed toward me to consider, “am I living up to what I’m capable of being/doing, and what does that mean?”. I’d like to take that quote and those questions and push them on to you. As we finish 2023, I’ve matured past new year’s resolutions (9% of the population execute on them and I need higher odds for change than that) but I don’t think I’ll ever mature past self-reflection, and the end of a year is a natural time to do that. I think it’s fitting today is Sunday, the last day of the year, and we all might have a little more time to consider those questions.
When I break down the quote to my own life, I come up with the following questions to consider:
- What are my God given capabilities i.e., my strengths?
- What are the activities I need to be doing to exercise those strengths & capabilities?
- What does my world, and those around me, look like at the highest level when I’m executing on my capabilities i.e., taking on WHAT I AM capable of?
- Is my calendar reflective of me taking those strengths, those capabilities, and building them into my schedule so it’s the majority of what I’m doing daily? i.e., loving life.
Questions 1 and 3 are the clarifying questions and acknowledgment of my strengths and capabilities, question 2 & 4 is the execution of putting them into practice. Me identifying what my strengths are is something I pretty much already know, me making sure I’m putting them into practice, with purpose and intention, is where I get more excited. Side note-it’s not arrogant to identify your strengths, it’s smart. It’s also a strange but great exercise to confirm your strengths with a trusted friend. I can say this because my buddy JJ and I recently did this a few months ago, although not with this exercise in mind.
When I’m in my zone, when my energy is at its highest level, when I’m feeling my best, the most fulfilled, the most unstoppable, is when I’m exploiting my strengths. Whenever I’m getting out of my comfort zone utilizing my strengths is when my personal magic happens. Most likely, for you too. We all have different strengths, we all have different natural skills & talents, the question is are we making the most of them. I’d like to say I’ve been tracking in the right direction, but when I get a quote like this sent to me from someone I trust & respect, it lights a fire under my ass to make sure I’m executing on all I’m capable of. It’s my personal rally cry for 2024.
So instead of a new year’s resolution for you, I’d ask you the same question I was asked coming out of the that quote, what are you capable of? and what is your plan to put your capabilities into intentional action in 2024.
Happy New Year!!