What are the possibilities?

How many are there?

How will you know?

These are big open ended questions, and rightfully so.

They are questions designed to prompt you to think beyond the scope of what currently is.

Don’t infuse them with probabilities, at least not yet.

When you’re exploring possibilities, learn to leave your mind as open as possible.

There have been numerous times in history when individuals dreamt of things that would eventually become possible. For example, Da Vinci’s drawings of flying machines were way ahead of his time but this didn’t limit him from thinking about what could eventually be possible.

Many times it takes technology and other events to catch up to ideas, but that shouldn’t constrain you from dreaming about what might be possible. When JFK first announced the idea of going to the moon and back the space program didn’t even exist. One could say that such a bold claim was foolish at the time, but in hindsight you can see that only after he announced what could be possible did the resources come together to make it a reality.

I mentioned probability earlier. The challenge with probability is that it only deals with the knowns of today, and there’s nothing wrong with that except that it can limit your thinking. If you start adding probability in to the equation too early then you’ll very quickly give up on your possibility thinking. Yes, having a healthy dose of skepticism can be helpful, but not if it holds back your thinking.

Learn to actively explore possibilities. Wide open ended possibilities. In fact, the more ridiculous the possibilities sound the further you should push them. So learn to keep pulling on the thread of ‘what if’ and ‘what can be,’ and discover as many possibilities as you can.

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