Big Potential Summary

Big Potential

How Transforming the Pursuit of Success Raises Our Achievement, Happiness, and Well-Being
by Shawn Achor • 2018 • 240 pages
4.16
2.4K ratings
Self Help Business Leadership
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Key Takeaways

1. Embrace collective potential over individual achievement

The conclusion of a decade of research is clear: It's not faster alone; it's better together.

Shift from Small to Big Potential. Our society's focus on individual achievement is misguided. Research shows that success is not about survival of the fittest, but survival of the best fit. True potential is unlocked through collaboration and interconnectedness, not isolation.

Redefine success metrics. Traditional measures like individual sales targets or test scores are poor predictors of long-term success. Instead, focus on:

  • How well you connect with and contribute to your ecosystem
  • Your ability to complement others' skills
  • Your impact on elevating those around you

By helping others improve, we increase available opportunities and shine brighter collectively. This "Big Potential" approach leads to exponentially greater achievement, happiness, and well-being compared to pursuing "Small Potential" alone.

2. Surround yourself with positive influencers to elevate success

The height of your potential is predicted by the people who surround you.

Create a Star System. Consciously cultivate connections with positive, authentic influencers who support and reinforce each other. This constellation allows you to tap into the power of positive peer pressure.

Build a diverse network of three types of Positive Influencers:

  • Pillars: Provide unconditional support
  • Bridges: Connect you to new resources and opportunities
  • Extenders: Push you out of your comfort zone

Foster reciprocal bonds within your network. Balanced, two-way relationships amplify happiness, engagement, and creativity. However, be cautious of collaborative overload – strategically limit connections to avoid spreading yourself too thin.

3. Expand your power by empowering others to lead

For power to expand it needs to be recognized, desired, and reinforced.

Lead from every seat. Empower everyone in your ecosystem to create change, regardless of their official role or position. This exponentially increases collective potential and prevents leader burnout.

Strategies to expand leadership:

  • Recognize your own ability to lead from any position
  • Develop an "Elevated Pitch" to inspire others to lead
  • Use progress as fuel to reinforce leadership efforts
  • Find meaning in your current role to unlock leadership potential

By expanding the power to lead throughout your system, you magnify your own influence and raise the ceiling on what can be achieved collectively.

4. Enhance resources through authentic praise and recognition

Praise creates a Virtuous Cycle—the more you give, the more you enhance your own supply.

Become a Praise Prism. Instead of absorbing or deflecting praise, learn to refract it outward to enhance others. This creates a renewable resource that primes the brain for higher performance.

Keys to effective praise:

  • Avoid comparison praise that diminishes others
  • Spotlight what people are doing right
  • Praise the support system, not just top performers
  • Democratize praise across all levels
  • Activate the "Hidden 31%" – positive but unexpressive individuals
  • Praise to encourage future potential, not just past achievements

By authentically enhancing others through strategic praise, you create a Virtuous Cycle that elevates collective potential.

5. Defend against negative influences to protect your ecosystem

We may not have the power to control the world, but we do have the power to DEFEND the good within it.

Build strategic defenses. In our hyper-connected world, we must actively protect ourselves and our ecosystem from negative influences that threaten to derail our potential.

Defensive strategies:

  • Build a moat: Create media-free periods in your day
  • Develop a mental stronghold: Practice gratitude, optimism, and mindfulness
  • Learn Mental Aikido: Reframe stress as a challenge, not a threat
  • Take strategic vacations: Use time off to recharge and gain perspective
  • Know when to quit: Recognize when it's time to change course

Remember that negative emotions like fear and sadness aren't inherently bad – they become problematic only when imbalanced. Use these strategies to maintain equilibrium and defend your ecosystem's potential.

6. Sustain gains by creating meaningful momentum

Without an unbalanced force, people in motion don't always stay in motion.

Generate collective energy. To sustain momentum towards Big Potential, create positive energy and channel it in a clear direction.

Strategies for sustained momentum:

  • Create "Tours of Meaning": Reconnect to the purpose in your work
  • Utilize "Vivid Direction": Paint detailed pictures of future success
  • Celebrate wins: Reinforce progress through shared celebration

By continually reinforcing meaning, direction, and progress, you create a Virtuous Cycle of positive momentum that lifts the ceiling of potential higher and higher.

7. Visualize success vividly to pull yourself towards it

Action is not driven by the past, but pulled by the future.

Harness the power of mental imagery. Vivid visualization of future success increases motivation, shapes behavior, and even impacts physical performance.

Techniques for effective visualization:

  • Create detailed mental movies of desired outcomes
  • Write about your best possible future self
  • Use perceptual simulations or virtual reality to enhance vividness
  • Focus on visualizing success routes, not escape routes
  • Craft compelling narratives to inspire collective vision

The more vividly you can picture a positive future, the more attainable it feels and the more powerfully it pulls you towards achieving it. Use this strategy to sustain momentum towards your Big Potential goals.

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