Let me share with you something I’ve observed repeatedly, especially in my most driven clients:
They have big goals, but all too often, not nearly enough capacity to carry them out.
Your dreams need room to breathe and to grow. For this reason, that means you need to create the capacity for that to happen.
Capacity is your ability to handle more: More responsibilities, more opportunities, more failures and wins, more meaning and fulfillment. If your capacity is maxed out before you hit your goal, you probably won’t make it. In the off chance that you do reach the finish line, chances are you’ll be too run down to enjoy it.
The good news? It’s even more likely that your capacity has room for expansion.
Building More Capacity to Achieve Goals and Dreams
How do you build more? Here’s what I teach my clients (and practice myself):
1. Strengthen Your Resilience
Your body, mind, and spirit need elasticity and toughness. Healthy habits like meditation, movement, and maintaining a balanced diet keep you from cracking under pressure and help you recover faster when life hits.
2. Manage Your Energy, Not Just Your Time
You’ll never create more hours in a day, but you can use your energy differently. Prioritize what matters most at any given moment, and protect your energy from distractions that drain you. Accomplishing one paramount thing each day beats attempting to check off a bunch of insignificant to-dos.
3. Build Flexibility, Not Rigid Plans
Real life changes. Sometimes pivoting is the only way to avoid hitting a brick wall. Having backup resources in place is the best way to create wiggle room – setting aside financial reserves, establishing trustworthy relationships, and developing skills that keep you adaptable.
4. Assess Wisely
When you’re overwhelmed, everything feels urgent; it’s not. Building capacity requires discernment. Stop reacting, and start asking yourself questions such as, “What actually matters right now, and what’s just noise?” or “What’s immediately urgent versus non-critically important?”
5. Reframe Your Failures
Stop viewing setbacks as defeat. They’re data. Ask yourself: What can I learn from this? Then move forward with your newfound information.
6. Say No
No is a complete sentence. Every yes is a tradeoff. Say yes to what matters most and only that.
In essence, the people who achieve big things don’t just have talent or drive. They’ve built the capacity for what they want.
In short, if you’re maxed out, it’s time to retool so that capacity can expand.
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