Zero Potential.

This week is a crazy one. We are no longer in the home stretch. I think we are now being stretched at home with the Magical Kenya Open starting next Wednesday. I’m trying very hard to be in the group that Indira Gandhi recommended—the one that gets stuff done, rather than the one that takes the credit. This is crunch time, and I’m being pulled in many directions.

I grew up with one line constantly appearing on my school report cards: ‘Lucas is a good boy and has a lot of potential.’ I often wondered who this ‘Potential’ was that I kept hanging out with, hehe! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as that is also the case with my son. In most parent-teacher consultations, he is portrayed as outgoing, caring, and popular, but he often distracts the class. I smile because my mum received similar reports about her son. Mummy Shark and I are looking for ways to encourage him to give his academics a little more attention, without dimming his light. I must admit, I like that he relates well to people, and that his peers like him; that’s a key asset in life.

My mzungu father, Mike, passed away about two weeks ago, and I was reflecting on his life with a pal last week. Our conversation touched on how we feel we have abilities and talents we are not using fully, or, worse still, using poorly.It is exhausting to be often told that we have a lot of potential when we are already trying our best. It’s like potential is a mirage that keeps receding as we get closer. Mike died with zero potential, at least according to my pal and me. He has left so much good in people and the world around him that there is no doubt he died empty. That’s how I would like to finish my race on earth: with nothing left to offer.

Many of us are aware that we can do more, and are made of more; yet we struggle to activate the potential within us. Why is that? Perhaps it is a case of imposter syndrome, or perhaps we simply lack the roadmap to follow. I prefer celebrating small wins since that is how we use our potential kidogo kidogo as life goes by. That’s my strategy for being effective in this huge role I’m in. I focus on one task at a time, seeing it through to the end without getting lost in the details.

I have good colleagues who remind me that my role is to direct and oversee, rather than implement every task to the finest detail. If I do the latter, I might exhaust all the potential I have before the event ends. Worse still, the event might finish me, hehe!

I once wrote about idle competence; I prefer that concept to potential. I see my potential as competencies that I possess, which I should put to good use. Perhaps the Ikigai model could help us take stock of our potential and understand how to deploy it. We need to identify what we are good at and connect it to solving a problem in the world that aligns with our gifts and talents. If our competence can solve a problem, and we are paid to do it, then we have hit a home run.

I think many of us find our passions incompatible with our jobs. Why do the things we enjoy doing not make us money? My coaching clients often ask me that question, and I have yet to figure out the answer fully.

I love wildlife photography and desire to use that gift to promote tourism and conservation in Kenya. I have made a few strides in that direction, though not as far as I would like. I had started feeling stressed when no opportunities were coming my way, until I realized that was making this passion/hobby less enjoyable. When we focus on making money from our gifts, the creative juices that make the gift visible in the first place start drying up.

Perhaps we should take the enjoyment and satisfaction of doing what we love as malipo (or down payment at least) before the currency starts flowing. We do not have to measure our potential in monetary terms alone. That’s where we go wrong: ‘no money, no potential’ is not a good way to measure our gifts. Although the money we make from our passions and interests is some of the sweetest chums one can make.

Father Mike did many things for free, such as being a Rotarian for fifty years. We could argue that he didn’t make any money from that, but I’m sure his social capital was at an all-time high. I choose to believe that he made connections there that brought some money his way through the good work that he did.

Maybe the best way to figure out this potential thing and spend it is to do what we love without always being fixated on a particular outcome. Going to the Mara on a photo safari brings me great joy. I feel most alive when out in the wild and I think that has something to do with the great sightings I capture together with my safari pals, Usha and Shiro. When we are in the zone, everything is clearer. I feel that even the animals show us their best sides and put on a display, because they feel our love for them, hehe. We are there just because we enjoy being in their space. That drives us more than the prospect of selling the photos we take.

Simply put, let’s live our lives to the best of our abilities, using our skills and potential to make the world a better place. Plus, if we can have some fun while doing it, later, at a ripe, old age, we will discover that our potential is exhausted. Then Sir God’s report will be different from my primary school teacher’s report. It will read something like: ‘Lucas was a good man. He lived fully and spent all his potential.’ Hehe!

Let’s aim for zero, folks.