Are You Living Up To Your Potential?

I was on a call this week and many of the participants admitted that they were suffering from “coronavirus fatigue”.  I thought this was a perfect term for the way I too was feeling and so in the spirit of that, I’m going to shift gears this week and this post will NOT be about coronavirus.  Instead I want to talk about something I’ve been pondering recently - the meaning of the word “Arete”.  

Now the standard definition of “arete” is a sharp mountain ridge, but that’s not what i’ve been thinking about.  What’s been on my mind is the greek definition, which refers to excellence or virtue, and the idea that the pursuit of this leads to fulfillment of purpose.  That when we reach certain levels of excellence we ultimately live up to our own potential.  I’ve been thinking about the philosophers, Homer, Aristotle and Plato who have all written about the concept of “arete” and the idea that it goes beyond physical and emotional strength, but also refers to moral virtues and a sense of goodness.

As we look for a path to this fulfillment, there is no way to commonly define “arete” because it is relative to each individual. This requires us to look inside ourselves for the answer of what we know we are capable of instead of comparing ourselves to others and their respective paths.  We can be inspired by others and their accomplishments, but it is only by looking internally at ourselves that we can truly know what we are capable of and many of us underestimate our own potential.  One of my favorite quotes is by Marianne Williamson;

“It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.  Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” 

Pursuing happiness or love can leave us feeling shallow and frustrated.  Pursuing excellence is the ultimate goal because it will create happiness for you and those you are in service of.  If we focus on quality in everything we do, we begin to see possibilities that exist and find purpose in our lives.  We are inspired to be even better tomorrow and reach that personal level of “arete”.  When we know we’ve done our best, there is something extremely satisfying that comes over us and leaves us fulfilled.  We become proud of who we are, regardless of what the rest of the world thinks.  So I ask you, are you proud of the quality of your work? The depth of your relationships? Your time management? Your health? Your mental strength?   I challenge you to look at the areas in your life where you are not living up to your own potential.  We are all destined for greatness, but it is up to us to pursue it.  Where are your opportunities to pursue “Arete”?

*Each week I share a leadership message with our team and we are honored to share it with you via MIBE Tribe.  MIBE (the acronym for Make It Better Everyday) Tribe delivers education on heart leadership and intentional culture building for the hospitality industry.