Myles Munroe said,

“The wealthiest place in the world is not the gold mines of South America or the oil fields of Iraq or Iran. They are not the diamond mines of South Africa or the banks of the world. The wealthiest place on the planet is just down the road. It is the cemetery. There lie buried companies that were never started, inventions that were never made, bestselling books that were never written, and masterpieces that were never painted. In the cemetery is buried the greatest treasure of untapped potential.”

The medical breakthroughs never invented or discovered the vast majority of skills, talents, and potential that was never reached lie there dead. That's a sad and sobering thought, and I hope that it'll never be said of you, my bravehearted sister, because your potential, your capacity for growth and development is incredible, and all you have to do is say, ‘Yes!’ I wanna make sure that I die empty and I tap my potential.

I'm gonna give you just three things today about tapping your potential and going deep within you. To explore and wonder, have I done everything that I'm supposed to be doing on this earth? Have I pushed myself to my limits? Have I found my edge and said, this is it? I've accomplished all that I was meant to accomplish. And that's the first point that I just wanna give you today, is to identify your potential. That requires self-awareness, right? And a willingness to explore some new opportunities.

So when we're young, we automatically have this desire to explore. It's called autonomy. We start making our way away from mom and dad. We wanna start exploring and hopefully, as a little toddler, that was encouraged. If that was encouraged, you most likely still have an adventurous spirit. If you were shamed for doing that, you might have lived the rest of your life. Just kind of looking through the glass window, if you will look through kind of foggy glass and saying, ‘I could have. I wish I would've, but I'll never know.’ Very sad, but I'm gonna encourage you. It's never too late. I'm gonna tell you right now, bravehearted woman, you can still have autonomy, you can still have individuality, and you can still be cheered and rewarded for exploring. Get out there and see what else might I be called to do.

But as children, we got curious. It's part of our natural development and growth. We began to wonder about this awe and wonder of life in the world, and we asked so many questions. I don't remember. I was too young, but I'm told that I asked a lot of questions. Then, if you have children, maybe you remember when they went through that phase. Well, it's time for you to get that wonder back, that curiosity back, it's time for you to start identifying. What is my potential? What is the largest amount of things I can accomplish or do that will bring joy and honor and glory to God? So tapping your potential requires you to get curious about yourself. That’s when we start wondering, is this all that there is? And we can answer that by saying, ‘No.’

What else? I wanna give you those words. What else am I called to do? What else has God placed inside of me? You all know that I say this almost every time I'm with you, but I hope it's sinking in that you have seeds inside of you for every season of your life. You haven't been to midlife before. This is your first time arriving and you haven't seen these seeds that are in you. That are meant to blossom. That they were given an assignment and a time ~ a kairos time and a supernatural timing of God. That said, in the fullness of this time, in this season, these seeds are meant to come forth and blossom and bloom. Aren't you curious about what that is?

Well, recently one of my clients and I were talking and. I said to her, there's this one area that you don't really wanna talk about that you're a little shy about, but I wanna encourage you. You have a very, very powerful story. Now, she was really afraid to go there. She didn't wanna talk about it, and yet she had this sense that, that this was part of her destiny. So I said, what would happen if you become willing to share your story? How might it change you? Or those that you love? She thought about it for a while and she said, ‘Well, I absolutely know that I can help them. I know that I could offer a lot of wisdom. I've learned so much from this experience and this obstacle and thing in my life.’ This thorn in my flesh, if you will, that I've had to navigate for the last 20 years, it's not going away. It's something that God has given me grace for. I know there are so many pitfalls and potholes and things that I could help them avoid, and I could teach and instruct. I know that I could also really empower families and help relationships. I have so many resources. I know I could share that with them, and I could even put it in a book, or I could blog. I could blog about it, or I could even podcast about it. Because the more we started talking, the more curious she got and the more willing she was to explore. I just kept nudging her and nudging her. And pretty soon she was like, ‘I wanna do this. I have to do this.’ But she wasn't willing before because she didn't ever feel that pressure just to say, face your fear and identify what might still be locked in you. And before we knew it, she was exploring new territory. She was like a pioneer woman ready to blaze a new trail. How about you?

By the way, parenthetically, this fall I'm gonna be starting a writing class for midlife women. We're gonna learn how to effectively tell our story. If you think you might be curious about that, I'm offering a signup at the end of this podcast. It's my download this week just to, I'm not gonna be able to take everybody. It's gonna be limited enrollment details coming, but if you feel called to share your story, but don't know how to do it, I'm gonna be helping you.

The second thing that I wanna leave you with today is to encourage you to cultivate your potential through writing, through getting a journal and a piece of paper, and begin to gain and explore your thoughts verbally. We've done that, but now let's start writing. Because once we start writing, we actually open up parts of our brain that we didn't know we were editing and limiting before that we wouldn't. Speak it or it wouldn't come to our mind, but there's a creative juice that starts to flow and the power of the brain and curiosity and wonder, all of that goes to a whole new level when you start writing. You start releasing really like a fountain, like a flow that starts coming out as you begin to write.

I want you to write about what consistent action can you take toward this idea. If you have an idea, if you have a dream, or if you have a goal, I can help you make those goals smart so that you make sure that you do. But tapping your potential will require you to identify, obviously, what those dreams are or maybe what you like and what you love. Cut your paper down in half. What I love doing. What I don't like doing. What I don't wanna do. What I wish I could do more of. On the other side hand just begin to write those things down, and then we can make them specific and measurable and create a roadmap for you to incrementally start down the pathway to achieving those goals.

I remember when I said for the first time, I wanna write a book. I was 50, you guys. I had not written. I had just gone to a few writers' conferences and I wanted to write a book. I had always seen that since I was a little kid, probably 10 years old. I knew I'm gonna write a book someday. My name is gonna be on this, but I had no clue really how to do it. But I just got myself in the environment. The environment where seeds grow. Seeds don't grow in everything. The palm trees won't grow indigenously in Michigan, but they will in Florida or some other tropical place. The seeds of you might not break open and sprout until you get in the environment and life gets quickened and all of a sudden that starts to happen.

While I was tapping my potential since then, I've written 6 books. I just finished my sixth book. Super excited to bring it to you very soon, but I created a roadmap. What do I have to do to write? Well, I need to upgrade my equipment. Okay, so new computer. What do I need to do to write this book? Well, guess what? I actually have to start writing. So, when will I write? What days will I write? Oh, every day. What time? Every day. Morning. Okay. How long? 15-20 minutes every day. You just incrementally start doing it and baby-stepping your way before you know it. Average people, by the way, do none of this. It takes very little to become above average. Before you know it, at the end of the month, you have a chapter. At the end of six months, you have six or eight chapters, and you've got a book. So my books are probably 13 chapters, but the point is that you're making progress towards your goals and then you prioritize them. What do I see myself doing as you're writing this down? You're just brainstorming, You're just creating. You're just dreaming. You're not editing. You're just allowing yourself to dream on paper, and then you can kind of move them around like a shell game and say, ‘Well, I need to do this before I could do this, and I would need to do this fifth thing that I wrote down actually second before I do this third thing.’ And you just begin to move things in place, prioritize them, and then take action.

Here's the third thing I wanna leave you with. If you're gonna tap your potential, you're gonna have to face the fear monster ~ self-doubt, and imposter syndrome. If you will, it’s just a demonic suggestion against your mind to tell you you're not capable or you're not qualified, and that you have a wrong motive for doing what you're doing. Tell it to shut up because it is a lie and it's designed to keep you stuck. Once you identify that you can face the fear. Because if you're gonna unlock your potential, it's vital. It's crucial. It's a battle. It’s a war that's gonna have to be waged and won. You don't have to win it all in one fell swoop. You're gonna have to win it over and over again. The battle is of overcoming self-doubt and some fear about getting started. But fear may stem from these limiting beliefs that have been going on in your mind for a long time. So, don't focus on what you can't do. Look at what you can do.

Don't get stopped by the mountain that I can't scale this mountain. When a pathway around and through the mountain is just off to the right, all you gotta do is take one step. You don't have to scale it. Going straight up the middle. There is a way, and besides you can speak to that mountain, and tell it to get out of your way. But coaching can transform this process for you. If you need a coach, coaching will come alongside you and help you accomplish your goals and dreams that you'll never be telling you. You won't get there on your own but with a supportive community around you. With supportive friends and a professional who knows how to help you identify the roadblocks that may be coming against you and push you to new heights, you can tap your potential.

So be honest with yourself. What are the areas of your life that need improvement? Be honest. Where are you stuck? Tell yourself the truth about you. Where do you need to grow? What are the excuses you need to be willing to relinquish? Because you're not gonna get results and keep your excuses at the same time. Where do you need to let go of fear and apprehension? Where do you need to calculate the risk to identify that I can do it? I can face this. At worse, if this is what happens, I can do hard things. I can handle that. I can risk that risk. I can take steps of courage. And that's what we're all about, empowering you to take courageous steps because you have potential and you don't want to end your life with a regret that you didn't have the opportunity to tap.

So let me just leave you with this growth of potential that often lies just outside your comfort zone. To tap into your full potential, you have to be willing to take those calculated risks and embrace new challenges. Stepping out of your comfort zone does allow you to explore unfamiliar territory and learn new skills and discover those hidden abilities. I'm promising you, you have hidden abilities. Yes, you do! Push yourself to try new things and hard things. It's okay, even if they seem intimidating at first. Oh, we’ll be intimidated.

When I learned how to water ski at 52 years old, I was extremely intimidated. But I just did it again last week by the way, ‘cause it's summer here in Michigan, got the skis back out 10 years later, and uh, I'm going around and I'm saying, Dawn, you are a bad arse. Yes, you are. You are doing this. What was I facing? I was facing really turbulent water. Fear came into my mind and I started thinking, Oh my God, I'm gonna fall. Well, the body follows the mind. My eyes, I was looking down at the water. The body follows the eyes. I go. So I put my head up, I just hung on and I just said, you are doing this. Good job. Look at your way to crush it.

Now, when I water ski, I have two skis and I hang on for dear life. But the wind in my face baby, I just adore it. But that doesn't mean that I didn't have to tackle a hard thing, stretch, say the right thing to myself, push myself, and pursue this new opportunity even though I was scared and spitless. Okay. But you can do it too. You can do it in whatever area it is. You can write your story. You can learn new things. You can craft a book. You can write a song. You can start a business. You can teach children. You can read church scripture out loud from the platform. You can sing on the worship team if you got the gift. That's the thing. If your dreams align with your gift, mix your talents, and your calling of God, you can do this. You can unlock new layers of potential that are hidden within yourself.

So that's what I got for you today. I'm gonna leave you with that and encourage you once again, I get it. The thing is just don't be stagnant. Just don't ever get stuck. Don't be stagnant if you're doing the same thing. At the very least, change your furniture, and move your bedroom around. Get rid of some little clothes, buy some new ones, and change your hairdo. Start getting yourself used to doing things differently. Do squats while you brush your teeth. Whatever you gotta do. Get your brain used to doing some new things, okay? Get your brain used to doing some new things and crush it ‘cause you got one unique, beautiful, amazing life to live. Do not meander in the mediocre. You've got an amazing life. Go for it.

That's what I have for you. I'm gonna leave you like I always do. Hey, by the way, before I leave you, I have a download for you. I want you to enroll in this writing class, and we're not ready to really offer it yet, but if you'll just gimme your email, let me know when the writing class is ready. I'll be sure to send you a registration and all the information. So that's it.

Dawn Damon, your BraveHeart mentor. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and if this has helped you share it with someone else. In the meantime, ladies, beautiful people, it's time for you to find your brave and live your vision!