Are You Living Up to Your Full Potential?

As you already know, Chris and I ventured to Phoenix, Arizona this past weekend. We decided to travel by car instead of by plane, which meant we had a lot of time to talk about anything and everything (12 hours round-trip, to be exact). For Chris, it was torture; for me, it was Christmas.

family roadtrip! phx bound! #pearls #roadtrip #phoenix #lhasaapso #shihtzu #summer #dogsofinstagram #instadog #family

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On Saturday night we were sitting at the dinner table with my friends, some whom I have known for over a decade. I couldn’t help but notice the various life stages we are all in. My friends run the gamut: parents, students, professionals, entrepreneurs, starving artists. Despite the busy lives they lead, I was happy we were able to group together for a few hours.

I left feeling particularly impressed with one friend, a successful 40 year-old consultant turned entrepreneur, who in his personal life manages to compete in Iron Mans and still party like a Coachella rockstar.

I’m pretty sure I have been saying for 2 years now that I am going to complete a 10K…

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It got me thinking, how much of our potential are we using? I asked Chris to evaluate himself with a percentage.

At first Chris answered, 40%. My response was, “Really? I read somewhere that the average human uses 10%. 40% is quite high unless your first name is Elon, last name Musk.” After thinking about it further, Chris replied, “Okay. Maybe 20%.”

20%. I do this reactionary and obnoxious thing in my head as I ask Chris a question. I like to predict what he is going to say next and also answer my own question for myself. 20% is the exact number I would have said if someone asked me. But is it really 20%? If I think back at the past 24 hours, my day looked something like this:

7am – Woke up.
730am – Finished checking Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Missed calls, Text messages, Gchat messages, The Skimm, NY Times’ top stories. Got ready to seize the day!
8am – Walked Kang Kang. Picked up Kang Kang’s poop. Watered the two (dying) rose bushes in our ‘backyard’. Fed Kang Kang.
830am – Made breakfast and coffee. Began work.
6pm – Wrapped up work to make dinner. Walked Kang Kang. Picked up Kang Kang’s poop. Fed Kang Kang.
7pm – Depending on the day, it can vary with activities: exercise, yoga, practice piano, read, write, veg on guilty pleasures (damn Netflix and The Bachelorette). Today was a rare one – I jalked (jogged + walked) 2 miles, swept floors, unpacked, washed one load of laundry, wrote this article.
1130pm – Sleep and repeat.

My weekdays have become quite routine, which is fine. But if I honestly critique myself, I will admit I do not focus the entire 9 hour workday. What I do in the 9 hours I set for myself I could probably accomplish in 4 really focused hours. My 7pm-11pm activities (as of late) have been filled with vegging on guilty pleasures more often than exercise. When I do find the time to read or write, it’s typically been mindless status updates over published works.

I am betting most days I am closer to 10%. 

The Rabbit zodiac in me strives to be above average in everything that I do. Starting today, my new life goals consist of: limiting TV to a maximum of one hour a day; picking up more books; writing more articles; networking and volunteering more frequently… finally completing that 10K.

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I was going to write this post on Monday and hashtag it: #MotivationalMonday. But since I procrastinated and it is now Tuesday, I will just hashtag this: #TuesdayTruth.

Don’t expect me to give 20% overnight,
Emily