How Most People Destroy Their Potential Without Realizing It

Most people have destroyed their potential without realizing it.

We clearly know this from the scientific research.

One of the clearest signs this has happened...

Burnout...

Which is impacting over 80% of the workforce today...

And is expected to get worse.

How do we know that this destroys our potential?

When we are in burnout...

The research shows that we are operating at 5% or less of our productivity potential...

And for many people...

They actually drop into negative productivity.

If you didn't know it before, now you know that it is absolutely possible to be working extremely hard...

And moving backwards in the process.

I have been in many organizations and worked with many leaders where this was the case.

But here is the interesting question...

How?

How is it that this happens?

Especially on such a large scale in today's world.

To fully understand burnout, we have to understand that it is not "just" a work problem...

It is a psychophysiological and health problem, which work frequently contributes to negatively.

There are two main principles within this that we need to understand...

Which explains how so many people destroy their potential without realizing it...

Then struggle to do anything about it after it becomes a problem...

Keeping them in a vicious cycle that is difficult to escape.

The first thing we need to understand is stressors.

All of life presents stressors to us...

And all stressors can be good or bad.

What determines if they are good or bad?

Our Stress Threshold.

See, we all can only handle so many simultaneous stressors...

And all stress adds.

So if you did not get enough sleep?

That is a stressor that is added.

If you have been eating poorly as of late?

That is a stressor that is added.

Having a tough time at work?

That is a stressor that is added.

Family problems or fears?

That is a stressor that is added.

No matter what any leader "says", the truth is that our psychophysiology does not care whether you are at work or at home...

All stressors impact every area of our lives...

Period.

Now, if we are under our Stress Threshold, usually we experience some stressors, and our bodies will positively adapt and recover.

Growth.

But...

If we go beyond our Stress Threshold...

What is known as Dis-Stress...

What usually happens is that we struggle to adapt and recover from those stressors.

Now, generally our bodies do have the ability to recover with a little extra time...

And we begin to perceive that going over our Stress Threshold isn't "that" bad...

But this is a psychophysiological trap.

In today's world...

Most people are constantly going past their Stress Threshold.

And most people subconsciously believe that they will be alright and "figure it out".

The reality?

The constant Dis-Stress causes Stress Damage, or Oxidative Stress.

This Stress Damage can accumulate in our bodies...

And itself become a stressor that adds to our Stress Threshold.

This constant and growing level of Stress Damage in the body then makes it more difficult for us to handle "any" other stressors...

Essentially, we reach the Stress Threshold faster with fewer stressors.

However...

This process does take a bit of time...

And because we have been subconsciously moving past our Stress Threshold consistently...

We discover our second problem...

Habits.

See, when we do anything, and we "succeed" toward our goal...

Our body recalls that pattern.

So, if in our work...

We worked 80 to 100 hours to finish a project...

And succeeded in the project...

Our body "recalls" that pattern as a "successful" pattern.

If we continue to do that pattern...

It becomes a Habit.

Now, this is where it becomes very tricky for us, as humans, when it comes to psychophysiology.

As we have established...

We can move past the Stress Threshold and into Dis-Stress as a short-term solution...

But it becomes more and more problematic the more we rely on it...

But because of the number of stressors that we have in our lives...

We create a habit of moving into Dis-Stress as a solution.

When our bodies begin to break down...

We might "want" to look for a new solution...

But...

As soon as we go into Dis-Stress...

We begin to lose the ability to think logically...

And nearly always automatically go into whatever Habits we have established to "solve" the Dis-Stress.

So...

If our Stress Damage has accumulated...

Making it easier to go into Dis-Stress...

And our habits cause us to choose the same "solutions" we have used in the past...

It means that we end up doing that that "cause" more Dis-Stress by habit...

Therefore making the problem worse.

Can you see the problem?

We create a self-fulfilling prophecy of worsening Dis-Stress...

That becomes difficult to escape from...

And destroys our potential.

Even when people take a vacation...

Assuming that they actually recover during it, which is not guaranteed...

When they get back into the office...

They have not established any new habits...

Meaning that almost immediately they are finding themselves back in Burnout...

Struggling to find any escape.

They know it is a problem...

They want a solution...

But they simply cannot figure out how to escape.

They try to establish different solutions...

Big life changes...

Utilizing supposed "miracle" solutions and practices...

Only to end up in the exact same place...

Because the way they are attempting to do these life changes...

Actually causes significant stressors...

Which pushes them into Dis-Stress...

Causing them to default to their old habits...

Maintaining the problem.

This is how so many people destroy their potential without realizing it.

It starts out as small "wins" that "feel" like success in the short-term...

But come at a significant price in the long-term.

The price of decimating your potential.

The solution to this...

Is to understand human psychophysiology.

How we "actually" work...

Not just in pieces...

But as a complete system.

Solving one area of psychophysiology at the expense of another area of psychophysiology does not help...

Yet is how most people approach their problems.

A clear example of this is starvation diets or utilizing synthetic GLP-1 hormones...

Which may "help" with weight immediately...

While actively harming hormone production in the long-term, causing more problems later...

And research has been showing, ironically, makes people gain weight back faster and makes it more difficult to keep up...

Hence, another stressor that destroys our potential.

If we are going to reach our potential...

We need to first deeply understand our psychophysiology and how we got to where we are...

Then create real solutions...

Based on the entirety of our psychophysiology...

So that we can escape from this trap...

And become everything we were meant to be.

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