Our Sense of What's Possible Doesn't Work

First published on July 28, 2017

Human beings overestimate what they can achieve in a day, a week, even a month or a year. This is why our to do lists so often don't get finished and always get rolled on. 

But we grossly underestimate what we can achieve in a number of years. This is why we don't start the big projects. We don't realise how far away we'll be from where we are now in two years, three years, let alone ten years, if we put our minds to it. We don't think we can change much in that time, so the big projects don't seem worth stating. 

This is a very human trap, introduced to me through a quote from Tony Robbins. Once you have a sense of Possibility about you, and understand this, then suddenly anything becomes possible if you reframe the time period. Maybe you can't change career and make the same money this year, but give yourself two years, or five, or ten, and why shouldn't you? In ten years you could complete a bachelors degree, a masters and a PhD. You could be a PhD level expert in anything! Or in even less time, you could be fluent in any language. Well, there's possibility there. 

But there's more to it than that. One of my favourite questions to ask coaching clients is 'What would make this conversation extraordinary?' Sometimes even, 'What would have to happen in this conversation to make it the most extraordinary conversation of your year?' 

And here's the thing: not every time, but more often than not, that thing then happens. If people have the possibility muscle to answer that question, they often choose something within their grasp, something that two people dancing with possibility and awareness and creativity can achieve in 60 or 90 minutes. What is extraordinary is possible.

I sat down with a client recently to review our objectives. I had asked her a version of the extraordinary question before we started - 'What are the 'impossible goals' for the next four months of our work together?' And after only three months, we had achieved all three of the 'impossible goals'. 

Part of what these questions do is move people out of the very sensible, very realistic, space they are so used to spending their time in. And once you are in the space of Possibility, you will find that your mind has been playing tricks on you. More is possible than you think. 

And don't forget the Icarus Deception: it's dangerous to fly too high, but we never hear the other part of Daedalus' warning - it's also dangerous to fly too low. 

So come fly with me, into Possibility. What would have to happen, to make this next hour extraordinary? What is your impossible goal for this year? 

And what's the smallest, tiniest step you can take towards that extraordinary outcome? And what's the smallest, tiniest step you can take towards that impossible goal?