Episode Transcript
[00:00:12] Hello, my name is Skip Pogue, and I'd like to welcome you to Imagine the Possibilities.
[00:00:19] I really do appreciate the fact that you're willing to listen to this, and I think by you doing that.
[00:00:28] And maybe you listen to other podcasts. I hope so. And maybe you read books. I hope you do.
[00:00:34] Maybe you surf the Internet to learn more things.
[00:00:38] And each of those proves to me, and hopefully to yourself, that you want to get better, that you want to do better, and that you want to accomplish remarkable things. Because I believe we each have it in us to do that. I believe we can all accomplish remarkable things if we want to.
[00:01:00] I don't think it's hard, as long as it's something that's ingrained in us, that it's part of that energy that we store.
[00:01:09] This podcast is about potential energy.
[00:01:14] Now, physics defines potential energy as stored energy.
[00:01:19] It's not being used, is stored.
[00:01:23] Think of a rubber band stretched out. Or how about the water behind a dam?
[00:01:30] And that dam may be a hydroelectric plant, and it is using the potential energy, that water, to generate electricity, which allows me, by the way, to use my computer, my mixer, and my lights and everything else that's electric powered.
[00:01:47] Or it could be a rock on a hillside that just needs a touch to release that potential energy and roll down the hill.
[00:01:57] How do we translate?
[00:02:01] How do we transfer.
[00:02:04] No, no, I know what it is. How do we transition potential energy from a physics standpoint to potential energy in our life?
[00:02:15] And it's actually pretty easy because all the stuff we've got stored, the talents, the dreams, the strengths we have, they're stored in us, but we don't use them. We don't release that potential energy.
[00:02:31] And that's what we need to do.
[00:02:34] We need to turn it into, I guess what from a physics standpoint would be kinetic energy.
[00:02:39] It's energy that's acted upon. It's like all the water stored behind the dam. If that's all we do with it, nothing happens. But if we release it and it runs through those hydroelectric generators, wow, we got electricity. That's what we need to do, is release our potential energy.
[00:02:58] For us, potential energy could be in the form of stored talents, or it could be dreams that we have, dreams of things we want to accomplish, or it could simply be the strengths we already have.
[00:03:14] And just like in physics, we need to act on those, and we need to release that potential energy. We need to use our talents, we need to explore our dreams and accomplish the things that they're related to. We need to use the Strength we have to move forward.
[00:03:34] Think about this.
[00:03:35] What possibilities are you carrying that you haven't acted on yet?
[00:03:42] What possibilities are you carrying that you haven't released the full potential of?
[00:03:48] I think it's really exciting when we realize that our story isn't just about what we've done, but what we can still do.
[00:03:58] Where does potential energy show up? It shows up in the talents and gifts we had, hidden, skills that. That are just waiting to be shared. It shows up in opportunities, doors that are left unopened until we take a hold of that doorknob, turn it and push the door open and step through.
[00:04:22] Shows up in the inner strength we have, resiliency that we've stored from past struggles.
[00:04:31] What talent or ability have you kept tucked away?
[00:04:36] Is there an opportunity you've been staring at, but you haven't walked through that door yet? You haven't taken the time, turned a knob, stepped through it.
[00:04:49] When was the time you discovered that you were stronger than you realized you were?
[00:04:56] I can tell you that I've had numerous times that's happened. I thought I couldn't do something. I thought I couldn't accomplish something.
[00:05:03] I had this stored energy, this potential, but I hadn't released it. And all of a sudden I realized that.
[00:05:12] And when I let go of it, when I let. When I turned it to stored energy into action, boom, I was able to accomplish things.
[00:05:24] Now, what holds back our potential energy? Why do we hold it back?
[00:05:29] One of the big reasons is fear of failure.
[00:05:33] We're afraid that if we release that energy to do something we want to do, that we'll fail at it. Now, we've talked about fear of failure, and it's really a simple process.
[00:05:48] Release that energy if it happens, and I think it's a small chance, but if it does happen that you fail, what do you do?
[00:05:58] You start over.
[00:06:00] You start over with more knowledge, and you do it again.
[00:06:06] And if you fail a second time, you start over with even more knowledge. And you keep doing that until you're successful.
[00:06:15] It's really a simple process.
[00:06:18] You've just got to step through that failure and move on and keep trying. It may take two tries, it could take 10 tries, but eventually, with the knowledge you gain from each failure, you will be successful.
[00:06:32] Another thing that we tend to do is we want to stay in our comfort zone.
[00:06:40] It's just easier.
[00:06:42] We don't have to worry about things. We just stay there and we're comfortable.
[00:06:48] Our comfort zone is good, but our comfort zone holds us back and we've got to step out of our comfort zone.
[00:06:58] It's not a hard process. Once we understand that, we simply have to move forward. And the only way we can move forward in this case is outside our comfort zone. So take that step. Not a leap, but a step, and move out of your comfort zone and start getting done what you're capable of doing.
[00:07:22] Sometimes we hold our potential energy locked up because we don't have the direction we need, or we don't know the direction, or we lack clarity.
[00:07:34] In both cases, we need to just figure that out.
[00:07:38] And sometimes it simply requires a leap of faith.
[00:07:44] Think about why do we sometimes keep our potential energy bottled up when now we've started to understand what it really is and how that we really need to use it?
[00:07:58] What's scarier, trying and failing or never trying at all?
[00:08:04] For me, it's never trying at all. Because trying and failing is, like we've said, is not a bad thing. Because we have that opportunity to simply start over with more knowledge. And we can do that until we don't fail, until we complete whatever it is we're trying to do.
[00:08:28] Have you ever convinced yourself that you weren't ready for something when maybe you really were?
[00:08:36] Because I can tell you, I've done that. I've talked myself out of doing something with just the preface that I'm not ready.
[00:08:48] And after a while, without really a lot of soul searching or anything else, I discovered that I really was ready. And once I made that discovery, I hadn't changed anything. I just knew I was ready and I took action and I was successful.
[00:09:09] Now, when it comes to our potential energy, how do we truly activate it?
[00:09:16] Baby steps.
[00:09:18] I love baby steps. Little steps. If we take a giant leap, it may impact us so much that we can't move forward anymore and we just maybe decide, I'm not even going to do this. But if we take small steps, we start to build momentum and every step we take increases that momentum. So baby steps.
[00:09:48] I just completed a podcast on why versus why not?
[00:09:52] And that's a step we need to take if we truly want to activate our potential energy.
[00:09:59] Sometimes when we ask why, we lock the door, we keep it locked up, we keep it stored. But if we ask, why not do it, why not release it, we'll understand that it's okay for us to release it.
[00:10:18] I think a thing. I came up with a thing called Power Framework, and I think that will help us release, release our or activate our potential energy.
[00:10:29] Power. P O W E R the P's for purpose. We need to Understand the purpose of our doing something. The O is ownership. We need to take ownership of what we're doing.
[00:10:43] W is waypoints. We need to break that big thing down into smaller pieces.
[00:10:52] Waypoint. Because as we check things off, we know we're moving forward. And that's a good thing. That's a great thing. Because otherwise we may not see the movement and we may get aggravated. I don't know the word. But we may not complete the task simply because we still think it's too big to do.
[00:11:14] To ease energy, we need to keep our energy level high.
[00:11:19] We need to do things while we're doing this task that encourages us and makes us want to move forward.
[00:11:26] And the R is for resiliency.
[00:11:30] If we don't complete it in a single day or a single week, we need to have enough resiliency to understand we just have to keep moving forward, and we will finish that task.
[00:11:45] What one small step can we take today to release our potential?
[00:11:53] What one small step can you take today to release your potential?
[00:11:59] Think about it.
[00:12:00] What happens if we flip that question from why should I to why not do?
[00:12:08] Starts us out. It gives us. It doesn't take away the reason for doing something, and it actually encourages us to move forward with it.
[00:12:18] When you look at the power Framework, what one part of it speaks to you most right now?
[00:12:25] Just think about that.
[00:12:28] I talked about this in another podcast, but when I started teaching classes, I'd spent over a year going through training to do that, getting certifications and everything.
[00:12:41] But it wound up that that first class I taught, I had the potential energy, but I wasn't willing at that point to release it.
[00:12:56] So I was a nervous wreck.
[00:12:58] And I told the whole story. But it was one of those things. Once I released that energy, once I walked through that door of that classroom and released all that potential I had, I realized it was something I really, really wanted to do. I felt good because I felt like I was encouraging other people and helping them make a better life. Whether that life was their professional life, their personal life, or their spiritual life. I felt like what I was saying and what I was doing made a difference. And I still believe that to this day.
[00:13:36] We have to transition that stored potential into action.
[00:13:42] And if we translate it into action, that action quickly translates into growth. And that's what we want to do, right? We want to grow in all facets of our life.
[00:13:55] Where in your own life did you finally realize, or let me put it this way, in my own life, I finally realized potential that I'd Been holding back. And where does that apply to you? Where if you realized or where will you realize that by releasing that potential that you've been holding back, you'll only get better?
[00:14:22] When I finally did release that, how did it change me?
[00:14:28] It made me better. It made me understand more. It opened doors for more opportunity.
[00:14:35] It will change you, but I believe it will always change you for the better.
[00:14:42] In my case, I had somebody help me unlock that energy.
[00:14:47] It was a friend of mine, a mentor for me.
[00:14:51] Its name was Bob.
[00:14:53] And Bob saw the potential energy I had and I didn't.
[00:14:59] And he helped me release that potential energy to start using it, to start accomplishing things with it. And I did. But sometimes it doesn't necessarily take a mentor, doesn't take a friend. It just takes a leap of faith.
[00:15:15] And by doing that, you're off and running. Your potential energy is now working for you instead of just being stored in your head, in your heart.
[00:15:28] Everyone carries more potential energy than they realize.
[00:15:34] And I've often said that I believe everybody can accomplish remarkable things.
[00:15:40] And the reason I believe that is at some point you're going to realize that you have this huge potential. And when you do that, the things, some of the things you accomplish will actually be. Will truly be remarkable.
[00:15:58] I'd like to challenge you to do something this coming week. I'd like you to take and think about your potential energy and think about how you can release it. Maybe not all of it, but just a little piece of it. And then think about how that piece has changed who you are or what you can do.
[00:16:23] That's important. And it doesn't have to be releasing something huge, just simply one of the talents you have, or even a part of the talent or part of your dream.
[00:16:34] But do that this week. Just focus on that. Do it and reflect on what you've accomplished, what potential energy is inside of you.
[00:16:47] Reflect on that. What potential energy is inside of you waiting to be released.
[00:16:55] What one step could you take this week to act on that potential energy and work to release some of it or all of it?
[00:17:06] How would your life look different once you started moving forward with your potential energy? How would it look different going back? The. The point in this podcast was to help you understand your potential energy.
[00:17:24] It was also to help you. And this applies to me, too. It's to help us act on it.
[00:17:33] We need to always reflect and take action on not only our potential energy, but what happens when we release that potential energy.
[00:17:47] Just think about.
[00:17:49] Just imagine the possibilities if we all decided to release just a small part of our potential energy every day, imagine the possibilities that we have.
[00:18:05] I want to thank you for listening.
[00:18:08] I truly do appreciate the fact you're willing to take some time out of your day to listen.
[00:18:14] But the fact that you listen also tells me something about you.
[00:18:20] It tells me you want to be better, that you want to learn, you want to get new ideas, you want to follow your dream, you want to be successful. And that success is how you view it.
[00:18:34] Not how I think you have to or not what I think you have to do to be successful, but what you believe you need to do to be successful. Because success. And I think I'm going to do a podcast about it. But success isn't what someone else tells us.
[00:18:52] It isn't what they want us to believe.
[00:18:55] It's what we believe in our heart.
[00:18:57] When we believe we're successful, we are. And it doesn't matter what you're doing, it really doesn't matter. You can be a success no matter what it is. It can be some type of manual labor, but you can do it the best you possibly can and be successful.
[00:19:16] Success doesn't require us to be the president of the company.
[00:19:20] It doesn't require us to be anything but ourselves and do what we believe and understand for us is successful. If you have any comments or would like to be notified when the next podcast becomes available, the best place would be to go to Substack.
[00:19:44] Now.
[00:19:45] My substack ID is @itplife, so if you're searching for it, just put that in and it'll take you to imagine the possibilities. If you follow me on Imagine the Possibilities, you'll get a notification when the next podcast drops.
[00:20:04] And you also have the ability to comment on the podcast. And they're all available on Substack just like they are on a bunch of other places. But some substack's a cool way to follow along, get notification and make comments.
[00:20:19] Remember that your future belongs to you and it truly does.
[00:20:24] And whatever you believe your future is is your future.
[00:20:30] Like I said about other things, what I think about somebody else being successful or what I believe about somebody else's future, it doesn't make a hill of beans difference because it's only you.
[00:20:50] Don't let anybody tell you what your future looks like, what you ought to be doing, what you need to do in life.
[00:20:57] As far as being successful, remember that your future belongs to you.
[00:21:04] And when I say your future belongs to you, it truly does.
[00:21:08] Your vision of your future, your vision of success is the only vision that really matters.
[00:21:17] I can't accurately tell you what you need to do as far as success, because success is truly a personal thing.
[00:21:25] So don't get focused on somebody else's success or what they believe success is for you. Because I Like I said, it belongs to you. It's you that needs to believe and understand and know that you're successful in what you want to do.
[00:21:45] Stay humble, be kind, love unconditionally, laugh often, and enjoy life to the fullest.
[00:21:57] I hope you have a super day and I pray that God blesses you in a super way.
[00:22:06] Thanks again and God bless.
