MAXIMIZE YOUR POTENTIAL! Three simple words that have become such a buzz phrase that Google will give you 523,000 results for it. Three words that call for us to make the most out of what's inside of us. Every ordinary person is capable of extraordinary things and being able to do those things is the basic theory by maximizing your potential. One of the biggest attractions to maximizing your potential is that it can help us to realize our full potential by spurring us on to find out what it is we are passionate about and how we can bring out that passion inside of us. In other words, we work on discovering how our potential can become reality. My only question is that if we don't seek external sources to better ourselves then who will do it for us?

When you mix 5 gallons of blue paint, what color do you get? Simple enough question, but what happens to those 5 gallons when you mix in 1/3 cup of yellow paint? The difference in color that you get is what happens when two different color paints come together to form a new color. Both paints still have their same properties, but now through the process of sharing, something new and different is revealed. The same goes for ideas, concepts, and beliefs. There is so much talk of expanding your comfort zones, but how can we expand them if we're only familiar with our own thoughts as opposed to connecting and associating with people of differing thoughts? Arguments and wars have been started by narrow minded people who refused to acknowledge or understand another person's thoughts simply because they weren't like their own, but true innovation only comes from the coexistence of new and different ideas. We can engage in enough self-discovery to fully uncover all of our hidden talents, and untapped potential, but our potential can be heightened simply by mixing well with others.

We could spend all of our lives in solitude improving ourselves, but what good is self-improvement if we don't work on social improvement? One of my goals is to be the best writer I can be, but all of my research, all of my planning, and all of my confidence is for naught if I'm not willing to advance myself by reading the works of others who don't think like me or listening to someone else who doesn't share my same views. By shutting off all external schools of thought, we eventually become kings and queens of our own mental "ponds" when we could expand our horizons and become princes and princesses of the ocean. I'm comfortable with this analogy simply because it means expansion is a necessity for improvement. Expansion leads to growth and growth leads to improvement.

You can spend all of your time maximizing your potential to get the most out of yourself or you can maximize your interactions and get even more results by the wisdom and knowledge you put into yourself.