Them: “Yo
u are not going for it, are you?”
Me: “Why not?”
Them: “What if it blows up in your face and you have nothing?”
Me: “What if it doesn’t blow up and I have everything?”
How many successful people do you know that are negative thinkers and afraid of taking risks? How many people who are always thinking anything new is impossible have been able to achieve great things? Let me answer those questions for you, none.
How many of us are stuck in the mindset of impossible? I venture to guess, there are many who look at life from the aforementioned way instead of looking at all the great possibilities that exist. You may wonder how one goes about changing. Please, keep in mind, something I have mentioned many times and truly believe in: “Without change, nothing happens. When nothing happens, there is no growth.”
The first step is to stop yourself from searching for and dwelling on what is wrong with any given situation. We have ALL done this. We look for all the things which may go wrong instead of looking for what may go right. I myself have done it many times. Then, one of my mentors asked me: “If you were to do this, will you die?” “Of course not!” I replied rather abruptly. He came back with: “Then?” It really annoys me when they are right so often. Another way of saying this is; “Negative self-talk.” The best way to handle it, Stop.
Secondly, stay away from the ‘experts.’ God may have been waiting for someone who did not know anything about impossible to come along to do it. If you truly believe in something and further feel the something you want to do can be done, why are you talking to the ‘experts’ who will be discouraging you?
The third thing to do is to dream ‘big.’ People dream way too small. The speed of business today, if you do not dream at least five times bigger than you are dreaming right now, you will be ten times behind this time next year. People dream inside their comfort zone. What is the result of dreaming this way? Yes, exactly. The same thing you got yesterday. Can we all agree how boring it is to dream within a comfort zone?
Fourth, if you want to achieve greater possibilities, then you must; challenge the status quo. It is the status quo which keeps you at peace, stable and comfortable. Not a recipe for exploring possibilities.
Finally, look at the amazing people which have accomplished such great possibilities. Follow people who do not ask permission or wait for something to happen. All inventions and gadgets produced every day were not accomplished in the first attempt. These people challenged conventional thinking and went for the possibilities.
John F. Kennedy in paraphrasing George Bernard Shaw said: “Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream of things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’ As you may recall, it was he who stated the impossible goal, in his day, 1961, that man would walk on the moon by the end of the decade. July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. The impossible became a possibility.
Some things have blown up in my face. However, I did not die. Having everything from the ones which didn’t/don’t/won’t, makes the risk worth taking every time.