Fallacy of Potential

Running 2 miles worth of strideouts (and 8 miles total) in 90 degree weather is a good way to get yourself killed. But that didn't stop me from doing it, or from feeling like a total bad ass when I was finished. Sure, my heart felt like it might bust out of my chest, but that just means I'm that much more manly, right?

During my insane levels of physical exertion today, I started thinking about limits. More specifically, I was thinking about my limits, and how I'm always trying to push myself beyond my capabilities (and not just physical in nature). This lead me to thinking about the word "potential" and a phrase I hate, "full potential".

Why do I hate that phrase you ask? Because it is meaningless. The word potential is an adjective, meaning it has to be used to describe something else. In physics, you don't talk about the "potential" of mass. You talk about it's potential energy. The same concept holds true when talking about your own potential. Potential for what? Potential to be a good father? Potential to eat an entire pizza? Potential to run until you collapse? Don't use the phrase "reaching full potential" unless you at least augment it with a point of reference.

The whole concept of potential is hogwash anyway. Having the POTENTIAL to do anything is meaningless, what matters is the DOING. You can potentially do anything all day, and still not accomplish anything. I could potentially become president some day. But surprise! That's not going to happen. My suspicion is that the most successful, and probably most content/happy people don't even think about what their full potential might be. They are out there DOING exactly what they are capable of doing, and the concept of wondering what their potential might be, is most likely foreign to them.

For the record, I wasn't always like this. Lazy used to be my middle name and I made a full time job out of procrastination. For whatever reason, as part of my overall transformation over the last few years, I just can no longer do that. If I see something that needs doing, I do it. If I think of something I want to achieve, I set out for it. I've stopped bothering to worry about what if's, and just go for it, and see what happens. I find life to be much more fun that way.