Discover the Power of Possibility Thinking.
People who believe in the potential of solutions are capable of completing tasks that seem to be impossible because they trust in the possibility of solutions. Here are some of the reasons why you should develop your ability to think in terms of possibilities:
1. Possibility thinking increases the number of possibilities available to you.
When you trust in your ability to complete a challenging task and you do so successfully, numerous doors open for you. Following the success of Star Wars, despite the claims of many who said the special effects he desired had never been done or couldn’t be done, a slew of new opportunities opened up for George Lucas. ILM, the business he founded to generate such “impossible” special effects, turned out to be a valuable source of cash that enabled him to fund his other projects as well.
He was able to create merchandise tie-ins for his films, generating an additional source of cash to help him support his filmmaking endeavors. However, his self-assurance in taking on tough projects has had a significant influence on other filmmakers as well as a whole new generation of moviegoers.
“George Lucas has dictated for two decades the essential broad notion of what is cinema,” writes popular culture writer Chris Sale-wicz. “First directly through his own work, and then through the unparalleled influence of ILM, George Lucas has dictated for two decades the essential broad notion of what is cinema.”
2.Openness to possibility thinking opens you up to a slew of other possibilities as well.
The ability to think in terms of possibilities attracts opportunities and people to you.
The example of George Lucas will help you understand how being a potential thinker can open up new chances and attract new employees to your organization. People that think large are attracted to other people who think big as well. If you want to do great things, you must learn to think in terms of possibilities.
3. Possibility thinking raises the chances of others succeeding.
Big thinkers who make things happen also open up doors for others to follow in their footsteps. That occurs in part as a result of the fact that it is infectious. When you’re in the company of potential thinkers, it’s impossible not to gain confidence and expand your thinking.
Discover the Power of Possibility Thinking.
4. Possibility thinking allows you to have big dreams and achieve them.
Possibility thinking may assist you in broadening your views and dreaming greater aspirations, regardless of your field of endeavor or job. Big thinkers, according to Professor David J. Schwartz, “are experts at producing positive and hopeful images in their own thoughts as well as those of others.”
If you embrace possibility thinking, your dreams will grow from the size of a molehill to the size of a mountain, and because you believe in possibilities, you will place yourself in the best possible position to attain your goals.
5. Possibility thinking makes it possible to achieve success in spite of one’s circumstances.
Automobile manufacturers were compelled to make their vehicles more fuel efficient during the 1970s, when oil prices were at an all-time high. For example, one automobile manufacturer instructed a group of top engineers to dramatically cut overall vehicle weight while developing a new model.
Despite their efforts to understand the issue and seek answers, they eventually came to the conclusion that manufacturing lighter automobiles was not possible, would be prohibitively costly, and would raise too many safety problems. They couldn’t seem to break free of their ingrained ways of thinking.
What was the automaker’s response to this problem? They delegated responsibility for the issue to a group of engineers with less expertise. With the help of the new group, the corporation was able to lower the weight of their autos by hundreds of pounds. As a result of their belief that a solution to the challenge was achievable, it was. With each endeavor for which you eliminate the label of “impossible,” your potential rises from ordinary to out of this world.
6. Possibility thinking provides you with a burst of energy.
There is a clear relationship between the degree of a person’s energy and their ability to think about possibilities. Who gets pumped up by the possibility of being defeated? In the event that you know something will not succeed, how much time and effort are you ready to devote to it? Nobody bothers to hunt for a long-lost cause. You put your trust in something that you feel has a chance of succeeding.
When you adopt possibility thinking, you have faith in what you’re doing, which in turn provides you with energy to pursue your goals.
7. Possibility thinking prevents you from giving up on your dreams.
Above all, those who trust in the prospect of success are optimistic. ‘The psychology of winning’ is a book written by Denis Waitley who writes, “The victors of life always think in terms of ‘I can.’ “I will.'” and “I am.”
People who lose focus their waking thoughts on what they should have done, or worse yet, on what they did not do.” If you feel you are unable to complete a task, it makes no difference how hard you try; you have already conceded the victory. If you feel that you are capable of doing anything, you have already won a significant portion of the war.
Rudy Giuliani, the mayor of New York City, was one of the individuals who shown himself to be a brilliant thinker of possibilities in 2001. In the hours after the World Trade Center catastrophe, Mayor Giuliani not only guided the city through the pandemonium of the calamity, but he also inspired confidence in everyone who came into contact with him and his administration.
After that, he shared his thoughts and feelings on the trip, saying, “I was really proud of the individuals I saw on the street.” Even though there was no mayhem, they were terrified and bewildered, and it seems to me that they needed to hear from my heart about where I believed we were headed. I was trying to think of a place where I might find some kind of analogy to this, or some teachings on how to deal with it.
So I started thinking about Churchill, and I started thinking about how we’re going to have to rebuild the spirit of the city, and what better example to look to than Churchill and the people of London during the Blitz in 1940, who had to maintain their spirits despite being bombarded for months on end? It was an idea that brought comfort.
When Giuliani finally went to his residence for a break at 2:30 a.m., sixteen hours after the aircraft attacked the skyscrapers in New York City, he chose to read the World War II chapters of Churchill:
A Biography by Roy Jenkins instead of resting. He heard how Winston Churchill inspired his people to see the potential and how he kept his people going during the darkest days of war. Six decades later, Giuliani followed in his predecessor’s footsteps by doing the same for his own people.
WHERE CAN I FIND THE ENERGY OF POSSIBILITY THINKING?
If you are a naturally optimistic person who already believes in the power of possibility thinking, then you are already on the same page as me. Some individuals, on the other hand, are inherently pessimistic or cynical, as opposed to being optimistic.
They feel that those who consider possibilities are naive or dumb. If you are inclined to pessimism, allow me to pose the following question to you: how many extremely successful individuals do you know who are always negative in their outlook? How many people do you know that believe in the impossibility of their goals and go on to accomplish great things? None!
People who believe that something cannot be done have two options. They can either prepare for the worst and live with the consequences, or they can adjust their perspective. That’s exactly what George Lucas accomplished with Star Wars. Believe it or not, despite the fact that he is a believer in possibilities, he is not a naturally optimistic guy. His reasoning is that “I’m a cynic, and as a consequence, I believe that the best protection I have against it is to be hopeful.”
To put it another way, he chooses to think optimistically. According to him, “as cheesy as it sounds, the power of positive thought may go a long way in changing our lives.” Consequently, dedication and positive thinking paired with skill combined with knowledge of one’s art… that may seem to be a naive point of view, but it has worked for me and it has worked for all of my friends, so I have come to believe it.”
If you want to put possibility thinking to work for you, start by following these guidelines:
1. Stop focusing on the impossibilities and start focusing on the possibilities
The first step in becoming a possibility thinker is to refrain from focusing on and dwelling on the negative aspects of any particular event or situational predicament. As sports psychologist Bob Rotella explains, “I advise folks that it’s OK if they don’t want to fall into the habit of positive thinking. All you have to do is remove all of the bad ideas from your head and whatever is left will be great.”
If you are new to possibility thinking, you will need to give yourself a lot of coaching in order to eradicate some of the negative self-talk that you may be hearing in your brain. As soon as you find yourself instinctively cataloging all of the things that may go wrong or all of the reasons why something cannot be done, stop yourself and say, “Don’t go there.” Then ask yourself, “What is it about this that is right?”
That will assist you in getting started. In addition, if negativity is a major issue for you and you find yourself saying unpleasant things before you’ve given them any consideration, you may need the assistance of a friend or family member who will notify you every time you say something bad.
2. Avoid the “Experts” at all costs.
So-called experts do more than anybody else to put people’s ambitions in jeopardy by putting them down.
Possibility thinkers are very hesitant to rule out anything as impossible in their minds. “I have learnt to use the term impossible with the greatest of care,” stated Wernher von Braun, the father of the rocket industry. Furthermore, Napoleon Bonaparte said, “The term impossible does not exist in my lexicon.”
“Never tell a young person that something cannot be done,” JohnAndrew Holmes once said. If you feel you must seek professional guidance, remember the words of JohnAndrew Holmes. God may have been waiting for ages for someone who was ignorant enough about the impossible to pull off that feat.” No matter what experts say, if you really want to accomplish anything, you have to give yourself permission to think that it is feasible.
3.Make an effort to see possibilities in every situation.
Being a potential thinker entails more than just refusing to allow oneself to be influenced by negative thoughts. It’s something greater than that. It is seeking for opportunities to be optimistic despite the current conditions. In a recent interview, Don Soderquist, former president of Wal-Mart, shared a fantastic tale that highlights how a person can see the good aspects of any circumstance.
Soderquist had traveled to Huntsville, Alabama, with Sam Walton in order to launch a number of new businesses. While they were there, Walton recommended that they check out the competitors. According to Soderquist, the following occurred:
My friends and I walked inside one particular [shop], and I have to say that it was the worst store I’d ever seen in my life. It was a nightmare. There were no customers in attendance. There was no assistance available on the floor.
The aisles were clogged with products, the shelves were bare, and the store was filthy; it was a nightmare. He [Walton] would go one way and I would walk the other way, and we’d kind of meet on the sidewalk in the middle. “What are your thoughts, Don?” he inquired.
“Sam, it is the most disgusting shop I’ve ever seen in my whole life,” I said. “I mean, did you take a look at the aisles?”
“Don, did you happen to see the pantyhose rack?” he inquired.
“No, I didn’t, Sam,” I clarified. It’s possible that I was in a different aisle than you. “I wasn’t aware of it.”
“That was the most impressive pantyhose rack I’ve ever seen, Don,” he said. “I took the fixture out of the cabinet, and on the back was the name of the manufacturer,” he said. When we return, I’d want you to contact that manufacturer and arrange for him to come in and meet with our fixture specialists. I’d want to have that rack at one of our shops.
Absolutely the greatest I’ve ever seen,” says the author. “Did you happen to notice the ethnic cosmetics?” he inquired next.
“Sam, it must have been right next to the pantyhose rack, because I completely forgot about it,” I said.
In response to Don’s question, he responded, “Did you know that we have four feet of ethnic cosmetics in our stores?” These individuals had 12 feet of it at their disposal. We are completely and utterly missing the boat.
I jotted down the name of the distributor for a few of those goods. When we return, I’d want you to contact our cosmetics buyer and arrange for these individuals to be admitted. “We have a pressing need to broaden our range of ethnic cosmetics.”
Now, Sam Walton didn’t come up to me and say, “Don, what lesson did you take away from this?” or anything along those lines.
He had already struck the nail on the head by searching for the positive, seeking for ways to improve, and aiming for greatness before I even realized it. It’s so simple to glance around and see what other people are doing wrong. Nonetheless, one of the visionary leadership skills that he demonstrated to me, and which I will never forget, was to seek for the good in what other people are doing and apply it.
In order to see the opportunity in any circumstance, one does not need a genius IQ or twenty years of professional expertise. All that is required is the correct mindset, which can be developed by any individual.
4. Make your dreams a size larger.
It is one of the most effective strategies to build a mindset of potential to challenge yourself to dream one size larger than you typically would. Let’s face it: most individuals have unrealistic expectations. They don’t think in terms of the larger picture.
In the words of Henry Curtis, “Make your ideas as magnificent as you want them to be, since twenty-five years from now, they will appear mediocrity.” Put ten times as much effort into your ideas as you originally intended, and twenty-five years from now you will regret why you did not put ten times as much effort into them.”
If you force yourself to dream more expansively, to see your organization as one size larger, and to set objectives that are at least one step above what you are comfortable with, you will be pushed to develop your company. Furthermore, it will prepare you to trust in higher possibilities.
5. Call into question the current status quo
The majority of people want their lives to continue to improve while yet valuing peace and stability at the same time. People often overlook the fact that you cannot progress while remaining the same. Growth necessitates change.
Change necessitates the disruption of the existing quo. If you desire more opportunities, you can’t be satisfied with what you have right now, either. In order to become a potential thinker, you will come up against many individuals who will try to convince you to abandon your aspirations and accept the current quo. Achievers are unwilling to accept the current state of affairs.
As you begin to explore greater possibilities for yourself, your organization, or your family—and as others criticize you for doing so—take comfort in the knowledge that other possibility thinkers across the country and around the world are thinking about curing cancer, developing new energy sources, feeding hungry people, and improving quality of life at the same time you are reading this. They are defying the current quo in the face of overwhelming obstacles, and you should join them.
6. Take a cue from those who have accomplished great things.
Great achievers can teach you a lot about possibility thinking, and you can learn a lot from them. In this chapter, I made reference to George Lucas. Perhaps he doesn’t appeal to you, or you have a negative attitude toward the entertainment business.
In spite of the fact that I am not a huge fan of science fiction, I love George Lucas as a thinker, creative visionary, and businessperson. Find several high achievers who inspire you and do some research on them. Keep an eye out for persons who have the mentality of Robert F. Kennedy, who popularized George Bernard Shaw’s rousing statement: “Some men observe things as they are and ask, “Why?” “I have dreams of things that have never happened and I think to myself, ‘Why not?'”
I understand that many individuals are uncomfortable with the concept of possibility thinking. So call it what you want: the drive to achieve, trust in one’s own abilities, faith, or anything you choose to name it. It’s true what they say: individuals who feel they can’t accomplish something really do it. But if you feel you can do it, you will be able to! Possibility thinking has the ability to do such amazing things.
