In August 2013 I had the great privilege of being a participant at this incredible thing called Awesomeness Fest.

Held in Bali, and the brain-child of entrepreneur Vishen Lakhiani, Awesomeness Fest lived up to its crazy name. Part TEDTalks, part leadership development, part personal development, part business development, part networking (a profound kind, not the skimming kind) and all over extreme fun.

I was thrilled to attend alongside Nathan Basha who, by the way, is your next keynote speaker – BOOK HIM NOW!

I learned so much, and I’d like to share some great stuff connected with the 5 elements of being truly incharge. One of these is Living Your Potential.

Low expectations – an absolute killer

People with disabilities are by and large, plagued by low expectations. Centuries old and deeply embedded not just in the community but often in the consciousness of those close by, like family. Couple this with another deeply held view – of people as recipients only, as just the receivers of service and the good of others – and we’re in trouble. Low expectations and not a contributor in your own right? It’s a killer combination.

Thinking big

So when we talk about Living Your Potential our vision is really that. Let’s smash the ceiling. Let’s think big for ourselves and those we love.

I believe that a significant experience of disability is no barrier because all human beings need 2 great things to thrive and be fulfilled – the need to grow ourselves and the need to contribute. If we’re thinking that this isn’t for the person close to us then we too are plagued by that killer combination. Living our potential is all about what is deeply inside every person and how we can live from that place. When we are working from this place, we more easily attract others to join with us, and we can more readily see, create and jump on opportunities. When we are in this place then all the tools, financial resources and practical skills needed for self-direction have great purpose. The reason for them, and the use of them, is much clearer.

Some tools to think big

Here are some things I learned at Awesomeness Fest that may grab you. They are all about asking yourself some really cool questions.

If you’re answering these questions with someone you care about, I urge you to think deeply, creatively and laterally into these spaces. If people can’t articulate an answer, how else can we know and discover these things about them? How can we challenge our own beliefs and assumptions that might hold someone back?

Idea 1 – find your outrage!

What are your core values?

One way of finding this out is by tapping in to your outrage!

How can you tap into your outrage? Tell someone trusted a couple of your Hell No stories!

What’s a Hell No story? Well it’s just that – it’s a time in your life when you decided enough was enough. Something had crossed your line and you decided to take a stand.

The job of the person at the receiving end of your Hell No story is to pick out the words dripping with meaning and start asking you why this is so important. Keep asking questions about why and eventually you’ll start looping back on yourself or you’ll get to a ‘just because!’ answer where there is no explanation because you just feel so deeply about this.

There you have a core value! This is what drives you. In here is your great gift.

What is your great gift? The thing you have inside you that has no off-switch. Perhaps it stopped working for a bit and this is when you noticed it; you noticed it gone and life wasn’t the same.

Idea 2 – what is your eventuality?

What the? Eventuality?

This is a way to take a crack at those seeds of self-doubt when you’re working on/out your bold mission.

Shake self-doubt by thinking of your bold mission as an eventuality. Behind your vision are forces propelling it into creation. It will happen with or without you so why not you in there as part of it or as leading it?

What is your eventuality?

Write it down and then remove yourself from the equation. Will it come true? What are the forces that will make it eventual?

When we are mission-driven and communicate our passion and our big dreams we excite, invite and entice people naturally. What an exciting way to think about asking, inviting people and building your tribe. When people see that it’s going to happen, that it’s big and powerful they are much more likely to join with you. This is such a great technique when we think about asking and inviting others in to our lives countering the isolation that is the experience of many many people.

For more on this see the guy who’s idea it was – Khailee Ng

Idea 3 – The 3 most important questions

And finally you might find that these questions really grab you.

All of us have two great needs – to grow ourselves and to contribute. True fulfilment comes when we do this – when we get to experience great things and become a more creative person, and when we get to put something back.

We can make a list in three different areas that help us with this.

Experiences – make a list of all the things you want to do and get out of life. On your last day you look back and feel like you’ve truly done it. Think about this as if time and money were no object.

Growth – make a list of all the ways you want to grow and become a more creative human being.

These first two can mean happiness. Fulfilment comes when we think about contribution.

Contribution – make a list of all the ways you want to contribute to the world. This is not saying that the purpose of life is to give. But rather, life is just better, life is fulfilling when we can chip in to it.

Click here if you want to be guided through these questions by the guy behind AFest, Vishen Lakhiani.

I’d love to hear how you go!