Why is our potential so important?

Potential is hope and hope is an innate human survival trait – without which we perish.

People within our families, communities, workplaces, social and professional circles who identify, nurture and encourage the potential they see in others are themselves an important form of social and community capital. Their actions in spotting and unleashing the potential in others represent a kind of active investment in the future.

In our largest State of Human Potential survey to date, we set out to better understand the state of human potential in the ACT and across Australia, how much people have been able to realise their potential and what might have enhanced or impeded this.

We define potential as “the capacity to develop and fulfill our ability to be the best version of ourselves to lead happy and fulfilled lives.”

The survey has led us to wonder; what if we are able to tap into what is truly meaningful, authentic, and fulfilling in our lives and to be able to make conscious decisions to pursue and develop this?

What if we could fully tap into our latent individual and collective potential? How might we be able to not only live happy and fulfilled lives, but also to also cultivate hope, agency, and capacity to tackle our world’s greatest challenges?

Charles M. Schulz was once quoted as saying that ‘there is no heavier burden than an unfulfilled potential.’ Our hope is that that the Human Potential Survey can play a small part in shedding some light on how that burden might be lifted.

Andrew Simon
Founding & Managing Director
Yellow Edge Pty Ltd