The Path to Our True Potential

Aristotle and the pursuit of ourselves

Mind Candy is a newsletter on practical philosophy and human flourishment—aka how to live “the good life.” Each month we tackle a new theme.

Introduction to Monthly Theme

“Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make very small use of their possible consciousness, and of their soul's resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger.”

William James

Each of us has the ability to live a flourishing life. Within each of us is the capacity to find excellence in our lives, fulfillment in what we do, and purpose in what we pursue.

In the beginning, we have little ability to do much. We have to learn how the world works, how we function within it, what we’re better at and what we need to improve upon.

But built within each of us is the ability—the potential—to become better than what we are.

It’s not easy, yet it’s not impossible. Within each of us, even in the worst of situations, have the ability to lean into ourselves and maximize our potential.

We all know that feeling, when we’re in the midst of work, we’re firing on all cylinders, working and pushing ourselves further, taking limits we thought we had and pushing them further.

But we also know what it feels like to be on the opposite end of the spectrum. Feeling like we’re dragging, like things aren’t clicking, like everyone else is somehow succeeding and we’re being left behind.

Comparison is the thief of joy Theodore Roosevelt is to have said. Yet when it comes to potential, we’re in constant comparison. We look to the greats and what they have achieved. We see giant mountains they’ve climbed, we see them in hall of fames, or with their championship rings. Or in every day life, they’re the ones who we think have ‘made it’ with the corner office, or everything they touch seems to turn to gold.

And yet, the measurement of us to others shouldn’t be our guiding stick. As the psychologist Adam Grant has pointed out, “The true measure of your potential is not the height of the peak you've reached, but how far you've climbed to get there.”

So for the month of May, we’re focusing on how we, our individual selves, can view and implement our potential. We look into how we can maximize it, what it means to achieve it, how we limit ourselves, and much more.

“Know thyself.”

Inscription at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi

Deep within each of us is the potential for excellence. But excellence in what?

That’s the question only we can answer.

Aristotle made it clear that while each of us individually possesses potential, it is up to us to determine where that potential lies—what skills, subject matter, or area we would be experts in.

We can think of potential like a seed, when nurtured correctly, it holds the readiness to blossom into the tree it is meant to be. But without the nurturing, the constant care and watering, it never sprouts and fulfills its purpose.

Aristotle believed in four fundamental explanations for how anything exists—Material (what it’s made of), Efficient (the how it’s made), Formal (the blueprint for being made), and Final (the purpose for why something comes into existence, the reason).

It is up to us to figure out the final, the reason for our existence.

Some of us achieve our potential through various means including practice, exploration, and continuous pursuit whereas others do not. Aristotle believed in a specific template to fulfilling one’s potential, though it is not quick or easy.

Whereas the culture of today looks for instant gratification, Aristotle preached the need for time, devotion, and ultimate pursuit of one’s abilities.

Potential and Purpose

“All human beings by nature yearn for knowledge.”

Aristotle

Aristotle believed that potential and purpose were intimately linked, like two sides of the same coin.

Everything, according to Aristotle, has a purpose. Unlike inanimate objects, however, living creatures have what he called a dynamis, the power or capacity to do something.

A seed of a rose bush has the capacity, for example, to one day grow into a rose bush if watered, provided enough sunlight, and has its soil tended to.

Likewise, we humans have the capacity to grow into our purpose, but unlike other living things which have a definitive purpose, humans have a wide range of possibilities. Each of us is unique and different. For humans, Aristotle calls this rational potentiality, and it is tied to our ability to use conscious thought to figure out what our purpose is.

To Aristotle, purpose and happiness were closely related. The things we do that bring us happiness and that we’re good at, bring forth our purpose. The fact that we enjoy doing them, in Aristotle’s mind, is a signal to us that we should dive deeper in our exploration.

The first key to this is figuring out what we’re good at. Once we figure this out, we’re better aligned to double down and try to maximize our skills in that area. As Aristotle noted, we are most happy when we can maximize what we’re good at.

This means we must find ways to unlock our potential to enable us to use those skills for a purpose.

Potential, therefore, is our ability to be more than what we are, and actualization is our ability to find fulfillment within our purpose.

Plan and Implement

Telos, according to Aristotle, was the end product of our pursuits. It could also be described as the end goal of our purpose for being.

In order to have a chance at our ability to fulfill our potential, we have to do two things: plan and implement,

The first step in fulfilling our potential is planning. To Aristotle, once one knows what they are destined for, they must make a plan for how to achieve that.

One does not simply awake one day fulfilling their potential. Rather, it takes a diligent plan of how to actualize their potential to fulfill their purpose.

Aristotle advises to imagine the process of building a temple. In order for the temple to fulfill its end goal, it must first lay the foundation, smoothing rock, laying it down, and the pillars must be set, the corridors implemented, etc. None of these things individually make up the temple, however. It is the collective effort that ultimately brings forth the temple’s purpose.

The second step is allowing oneself time to pursue their potential. While we’d all love to one day wake up and have it, our potential requires work to not only uncover but to also learn to maximize.

We need to take what we have and think about how best to apply it in given situations. It is from this logical analysis and eventual application that we move from potential to actualization.

“Everybody who is able to live according to their own purposive choice should set before themselves some goal to aim at through living in a good way— the goal could be achieving recognition, or distinction, or wealth, or culture-on which they will keep their eyes fixed in everything they do. It is clearly a sign of foolishness not to create order in your life in terms of having an end.”

We don’t always need to have every step laid out in order to achieve our potential, however. Aristotle advises we can just have the rough outline and fill in as we go.

The process of actualization takes time and requires lots of work. One must use their reasoning abilities to constantly pursue the best course of action to bring forth their potential.

The key is finding ways to put oneself into situations or conditions that will assist oneself in strengthening their skills that align to their purpose.

Others Assistance

While the purpose of our potential can only be determined by us, achieving our potential takes more than ourselves.

Throughout life, we have guides that are there to help us better understand what we’re good at and what we have potential to achieve.

Sometimes these people are their to help raise us to a level beyond what we ourselves thought we could achieve. Sometimes they are there to help us break through plateaus. Other times they are there as coaches, providing the guidance we need to help us grow.

It is through these additional resources that we can better get within striking distance of our true potential.

It takes time and dedication to truly understand our potential, however. Aristotle thought that at age 49, we had hit our intellectual potential.

But these were not just 49 years of leisure, they were rigorous attunement of our mind to the purpose we were exploring and trying to perfect.

It was about moving us into circumstances that would allow the potential within us to be fed and fostered with the chance of growing.

Aristotle believed a big part of this started with schooling. He believed that in order for a society to truly prosper and flourish into its potential, education would need to be public and for all so that the foundation for potential was set for all. This helped move society into a the proper direction where everyone’s intelligence was growing equally and allowed for the best of people to come to light.

While we each have the potential for a flourishing life, we first must look to find our purpose, and it starts with figuring out what we’re good at, what brings us happiness and joy, what we can improve at.

Once we can figure this out, we open the path to grow our potential and truly find ways to maximize our purpose in the world.

Before you go…

If you enjoyed the above article, you may be interested in the following to continue your exploration:

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Until next time,

D.A. DiGerolamo

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