Full Potential, What is YOUR Top Speed?


We need to get up. We need to get moving. We need to keep working.

Do you know the top speed in YOUR car?

I do — it’s 127mph.

Do you know the acceleration in YOUR car?

I do — it’s about 7.3 seconds to 60mph.

Do you know the ideal speed for high mpg in YOUR car?

I do — it’s about 80–85mph.

Do you have answers to those questions?
Have you tested the answers you’ve received to confirm that they’re accurate?

I have.

I don’t take things at face value and you shouldn’t either.

YOUR TOP SPEED

Do you know the top speed for YOUR life?

I’m testing mine.

Do you know the acceleration in YOUR life?

I do — and I’m working to improve it.

Do you know the ideal speed for the highest efficiency in YOUR life?

I do — and I’m accelerating it.

Do you have answers to these questions?

Have you tested the answers you’ve received to confirm that they’re accurate?


Why wait?

Every day that you wait to determine the answers to these questions that you may or may not have asked yet becomes a day that you are operating and thereby living below your potential.

“If you’re still talking about what you’re going to do, you are NOT ready to do it.” — Leonardo Da Vinci

It’s incredibly important that we understand exactly who we are becoming and what our capabilities are. We need to be aware of where we can grow and become better and where we are already great.

In much the same way as a car, if we are in neutral, we can push the accelerator as hard as we want to but will not go anywhere unless someone is pushing us.


We need to shift out of neutral and begin to move on our own.

When we are just waiting for a push, we could be waiting a lifetime.

We need to get up. We need to get moving. We need to keep working.

People wait and wait for others to guide them — but sometimes they don’t get guidance.
People wait and wait for others to motivate them — but sometimes they need to motivate themselves.
People wait and wait for others to act differently — but sometimes they never change.

Life is fleeting

Life is here today and gone tomorrow.

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” — James 4:14 NIV
“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.” — Confucius

We are NOT the leaders of everything that goes on.

Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react.

There are no excuses, there just can’t be.

As T.I. said in Big K.R.I.T.’s song, Big Bank, “My children can’t eat no excuses.”

And that’s facts.

If your children need to get fed and you’re here making excuses, that’s a day that they might not have anything to eat.

A borrower is slave to the lender — so why do we borrow from tomorrow and waste today?!

We need to remember that there are always repercussions and reverberations from the actions or lack of action that we take today.


And beyond that, tomorrow is not promised. We may never wake up again after going to sleep today — we might not even make it to sleep tonight.

Our life is a mist — mists don’t last forever… and mists don’t last very long either.

Every action matters and every moment is important.

“Every time I look in the mirror I remind myself that a small action today and tomorrow and the next day becomes a MAJOR action in the future.” — Harrison Wendland
“Don’t wait for anyone or anything or by the time you look up it will be gone.” — Harrison Wendland (March 2012)

Hands on the wheel

So obviously we cannot reach our top speed when we are trying to drive in neutral.

What about if we are looking at something scenic along the way?

Have you ever noticed that when you are driving and start to look at something — be it a nice car, a mountain, a waterfall, an accident, or anything else — that your wheel starts to turn and your car begins to travel over in that direction also?

Only a few degrees off from being straight and we could hit the cement barrier in moments. That’s scary.

“I have a friend named Larry who is a retired Air Force Pilot. One day he shared with me an interesting fact about flying. He said that for every single degree you fly off course, you will miss your target landing spot by 92 feet for every mile you fly.”

“Is that acceptable? Not if I am on the plane. On a flight from JFK to LAX, that might put me 40 miles out in the Pacific Ocean. One degree off could be the difference between making it to an important meeting on time, or using my seat as a flotation device.”

— Tim Enochs, source.

40 miles out in the ocean by being off by a single degree. WOW.
Now think about your life.
There are 52 weeks in the year.
That means 52 weekends.

If you made a commitment with yourself that you were going to work out 4 days a week and read 2 books a month this year, that will require intentional action. If you spend the first 5 weekends partying that puts you a number of degrees of course — let’s say 1 degree for each action that takes you away from your goals or commitments to yourself.

You can work as hard as you want to during the week but if on the weekend you allow yourself to go off course, you’re going to have to expend additional resources to redirect and get back on course.

Sometimes that’s the toughest thing.

Most people do NOT know their top speed because they do NOT know the destination they are heading towards. It’s pretty difficult to understand how fast you can go or when you’re most efficient if you’re just floating.

“(A goal) must meet two criteria. It must be stated in a way that you and anybody else could measure it. I will lose 10 pounds is not as powerful as I will weigh 135 pounds by 5 o’clock on June 30. The second is clearer, because anybody can show up at 5 o’clock on June 30 and look at the reading on your scale.” — Jack Canfield.

Find your top speed

Take some time and seek to understand why God created you.

Why are you here today and not 50 years ago?
Why are you female and not male?
Why are you tall and not short?
Why are you Japanese and not Egyptian?
Why are you drawn to architecture and not art?

You’re you and you’re unique.

Your top speed may not be the same as mine but there’s a reason for that — your purpose is not the same as mine either.

Discover who you are and tap into the full power that God has implanted within you for His purposes.

Chase your purpose and chase your vision relentlessly.

“God can do more in a moment than humans can in a lifetime.” — Harrison Wendland

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