Welcome aboard for another week at the daily podcast with your host, Jonathan Doyle. In today’s episode, we embark on a journey to explore the pursuit of excellence and unlocking your full potential. As Jonathan shares insights from his own experiences and observations, get ready to delve into the essence of chasing potential, transcending fame and fortune, maximizing impact, and breaking free from mediocrity. So, grab your seat and let’s navigate through the pathways to achieving your fullest potential together.
Listen on:
Welcome Aboard: Guide to Unlocking Potential
Well, hello there. My friend, Jonathan Doyle, is with you once again. Welcome aboard for another week at the daily podcast. I’m in the studio, this is going to come out on Monday, and I hope you had a good weekend. If you’re listening in real time but if you’re checking in at some other point, welcome aboard.
Housekeeping, as always, please make sure you’ve subscribed to this humble little podcast. Hit the subscribe button. And everything else you need to know about me is on the website: jonathandoyle.co. What do I do? Speaking all around the world, global keynote conferences, and staff training on a whole range of topics. So if you want to know more about what I do, it’s all there at jonathandoyle.co. And on Instagram, @jdoylespeaks.
You might want to check that out because next week I’m going to be on a speaking tour. I’m actually planning to run a 25-kilometer round trip to the top of Mount Wellington. As regular listeners know, I’ve got an ultra marathon coming up on the 4th of May. So I got to get those Ks in. I’m going to get out of the hotel, and I’m actually speaking till 11, I’m going to get off stage, race back to the hotel, get changed, and run. It’s 2000 meters of climbing. So there are two kilometers of vertical climbing on top of the 25-kilometer run. If you’re interested, make sure you’re on Instagram, because I will be doing that probably next Monday. Please check that out.
Chasing Potential: Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Greatness
Friends, today, I got a really simple message for you, I think that the simple ones are often the most powerful. I really want to talk about your potential. I think we’re living in a moment in history where it’s extremely easy to not pursue your potential. Now, I don’t obviously think that we will ever fully reach it in this life. It’s moving goalposts, there’s always more. It’s one of the incredible things about how we’ve been created. There is always more and it’s relative at different times and different ages.
I told a lot of my cycling friends that there was a guy that broke the world record for what’s called the hour record. You have to ride as far as you can in one hour on a special track. Now elite cyclists do this at the most ridiculous time. It’s just phenomenal what they do, but here’s the thing, you can still do it in different groupings for different ages. This guy was over a hundred and he won the hour record, made the world record as a cyclist for that age category.
I told my cycling friends that I can still make it as a world champion; I just need to wait for everybody else to die. I still have a shot if I live that long. My point is simply that at different times in different seasons of our lives, our potential to do certain things will be different, but that potential is always there. It just manifests in different ways in different seasons. I don’t think we’re ever truly done, I don’t think there’s ever been a human that can sit back, relax, and say, Well, that’s it. I have completely achieved my potential.
Beyond Fame and Fortune: Discovering Your True Purpose
The reason I want to talk to you about this today is because I’ve been watching a documentary on Apple TV Plus called The Dynasty. I’m a bit of an American football fan because I’m in the States so much. I liked the game, I find it interesting, I find that energy and all the complexity behind it are quite fascinating. I’ve been watching this documentary, it’s on the New England Patriots.
To all my American listeners, please forgive me. I know you guys get really passionate about this, but it tells the story in many ways of Tom Brady, who most of you would know is seen as the greatest American football quarterback in history. Love him or hate him, there’s a part where he’s been through an enormous number of issues, scandals, and setbacks. Everybody’s saying that he’s too old, he’s too this, he’s too that.
So he comes out of this particular Superbowl, 23 points behind, and it’s literally like they scripted it in Hollywood. He just single-handedly, basically, wins the Super Bowl from 23 points behind. And there’s a scene where they’re interviewing him, they’re kind of trying to get to grips with what drives him. There’s obviously the money and he kind of already knows by this stage in his career, that he’s pretty much seen by everybody as the greatest quarterback ever. They’ve won five Super Bowls at this point. So the question is, well, what keeps you going?
This is a candid moment where he’s basically saying that all he was ever chasing was his own potential. And he wasn’t necessarily chasing fame, adulation, or even Superbowl rings. You know, the thing that he was simply trying to address was the question. Can I achieve my potential?
Maximizing Impact: Embracing Individuality and Potential
I think it’s an extraordinary way to live. It’s that way that optimized people live. When you’re optimized, when you’re really trying to get engaged with life. You realize, and I’ve said this to you guys many, many times, that you don’t win by running someone else’s race. So many times over the years on this show, I’ve said, You know that famous quote from John Duns Scotus in the 14th century, where he said that every human comparison is essentially diabolical. Which means that every way in which we compare ourselves to someone else and feel inadequate is essentially the way it’s expressed by that particular philosopher. It’s satanic.
God created us. He gives us all this remarkable ability and potential, and all he asks of you and me is that we push our potential. See I can’t pursue yours. Just last week I sat on the show and said, you know, that I can’t do your pushups for you and you can’t do my pushups for me. That’s a unique thing about pushups, right? We all have to do our own thing. We are going to do our own work. I was struck by that. Someone at that level of success was really still interested in that one question. How good can you be?
A Journey Towards Virtues-Based Leadership and Continuous Growth
I’m speaking next week. I’m doing a week on virtues-based leadership for four separate leadership teams. I’ve been working hard on the preparation, and I am still fascinated. I don’t sort of come at it from the question of have I achieve my potential?
I come at it more now: how effectively can I serve people? How much of a blessing can I try to be during the time that I’m in front of people? I really want to help people. Because if I don’t, I’m just standing on stage making noise.
The goal is to keep trying to get a little bit better so that I can be a little bit more effective with others. So I just ask you today to look into your life and think about that question.
What do you feel about your own potential? Do you feel like you’re just killing time in some way? Do you feel like you’re stuck somewhere?
Being stuck is not your destiny. It’s not what you were created for. We’re all going to have seasons of being stuck. We’re all going to have times when we’re not quite sure exactly which way to go, but the thing is to keep moving and to keep trying.
Karen would say that if I had one X factor, it would be just perseverance and the ability to keep going. I think it’s why I run marathons. It’s a metaphor for life, it’s why I run ultramarathons. Keep going, keep going, keep going. So, my friend, ask yourself the tougher questions. What do you put here to do? Are you doing what you’ve been put here to do? Are you operating at the best level that you can, given the unique skills and abilities you have?
Breaking Free from Mediocrity: Embrace Excellence in Every Aspect
If you have children, I mean, all you have to do is look at your own kids and say to yourself, You know, is your desire for your own kids; that is they are average? I mean, do you look at your kids and say, you know, the one thing I hope for my child is that they are really mediocre. Of course you don’t. You know, what’s the one thing you love? If you’re a parent, when your kid’s doing well and you like it, that’s great. Keep going; do more of it.
One of my kids just got nominated for regional swimming championships. She’s really shy, she doesn’t like talking about it. She gets embarrassed if there’s any fuss around her, but I’m like, well, you know what’s my response? I didn’t go up to her, and guy, what are you doing, could you just get back into your books and stay average? We’re not trophy parents, we’re not whispering in her ear while she’s asleep, ‘swim faster.’ But we’re stoked for her. We’re like, cool. She’s doing it; she’s taken her skills, she’s using them, and she’s doing well.
That’s how God looks at you. You’ve got these skills, and you’ve got these talents. We just have to put them to use.
Conclusion
My friend, get after that potential. That’s the message today. Look at your life, do some journaling, ask yourself the tough questions, and then get after it. Just take that next step. Keep doing the things that are hard to do.
All right, please make sure you’ve subscribed. Jump on Instagram to @jdoylespeaks. If you want to see my adventures next week running up ridiculous mountains, and everything else is on the website: jonathandoyle.co. If you want me to do some training with your staff, on peak performance, personal excellence, self-leadership, all of that stuff. It is there on the website.
God bless you my friends, my name is Jonathan Doyle. This has been the Daily Podcast, you and I are going to talk again tomorrow.
2 Responses
Hi Johnathan , good luck in Tassie with your run and speaking , I am sure you will make a difference in the lives of many. Your podcasts really inspire me.
Thank-you
Thanks so much for your kind words Leonie. I really appreciate it. Tasmania is such a beautiful place!