As the story of Achilles goes, to prevent his death, his mother Thetis took Achilles to the River Styx, which was supposed to offer powers of invulnerability. She submerged his body into the water; however, as Thetis held Achilles by the heel, his heel was not washed over by the water of the magical river. This became the same heel that took the first arrow which ultimately lead to Achilles death.
My question to you is, what’s your potential Achilles heel? What’s the one thing that’s potentially stopping you from reaching complete greatness? We, unfortunately, all have them we just need to clarify what they are to make a shift as so they don’t take us down.
Take a look at teenagers today. Many of them are actually hooked on technology. Some of them are totally hooked on games. Talk to any parent and he or she will share how their kids are playing the game of Fortnite for hours on end.
Could this be their Achilles heel? Could this be consuming their attention while distracting them from other activities? Could this be stumping their growth by them not reading or taking part in adventures that can help them grow?
What’re some of our potential Achilles heels? What’re some of the things that are potentially stopping us from reaching our true potential? I see technology again as being a potential big culprit in this debate.
Take the phone, have you ever had a lunch meeting that your guest placed their phone on the table in front of them? If you have, what does that say about the other persons’ respect of your importance?
Worse yet, have you ever been in a meeting that the person conducting the meeting get’s a call and actually takes the call and has you waiting for him or her to finish to presume the meeting? Really!!! How is this behavior helping this person in being a person of respect? How is this potentially stumping their growth as a leader?
Are you like Pavlov dogs where you react every time you get a call, text or email? Is this distraction type behavior eroding your time? Is this creating a state of overwhelm for you? Could this be your Achilles heel? Do you procrastinate, actually better yet, avoid going to the gym or properly take care of yourself?
Do you eat the things you know you shouldn’t and proceed anyway? Do you consciously avoid the things you know are good for you, however still, you continue to avoid it? Could this be your Achilles heel?
I invite you all to participate in an exercise. If you have a team, I encourage you to facilitate this one Monday morning, maybe even today if your Achilles heel is not taking immediate action. Have everyone simply write down what they believe is their Achilles heel?
Have them write down what’s some of the things that they believe are potentially stopping them from reaching their true potential or greatness? When you get clear on what they are, you can all then brainstorm on what shifts need to be made to move you all more in the direction of your greatness. Try this exercise as you just may be surprised by what shows up for you to help you grow.