I had a realization the other day, and it was HUGE. I was working with a client, and I’m a big fan of looking at the possibilities. But, by nature, I’m an “impossible” possibility thinker. I can’t help but dream big, and I believe nothing is impossible (thank you to my parents for drilling this into us!), so when I’m asked about possibilities for myself, or am thinking about possibilities for my clients, they are usually pretty beyond what is just “possible”.

However, when I asked my client about the possibilities, she immediately started thinking of limitations, and what would not be possible due to her circumstances. She was trying to “figure out” how her vision would work, and well, “be possible”, based on my question. It was a struggle to say the least, exactly the opposite of what it should have been. I realized we had two totally different definitions of “possibilities”.

But, my client was correct in her struggle. My definition of “possibilities” is very different than what the word actually means. Breaking it down, the very word “possibility” implies that it’s practical, realistic, feasible, possible. And “possible” as defined by my good friend Webster is “being within limits”. Ugh! Limits? Webster also says it is “something that may or may not occur”. Double ugh! So, no wonder why she was trying to think within a box.

As I realized her struggle and my bad question, I asked us to take a five minute breather. I said, “Let’s not think in these five minutes, let us listen.” I told her to use visualization to unwrap the “limitation” rope that was around her. Break free from the self-limiting beliefs.

While I was listening, I heard the book “Living on the Edge”. In discussing polarity, and the world reflected in opposites, “possibility thinking is what has doomed you to mediocre results in your life.” Because when we think of “possibilities” we instantly try to create a strategy to make it work, and the strategy limits us- exactly what was happening to my client!

After our 5 minutes, and hearing this, I opened with, “Dream big. What’s impossible?” The conversation flowed much better, and the visions were like popcorn. I prefer possibilities of this magnitude- possibilities based on passion in the field of the “impossible”,  and to quote the words of Walt Disney, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible!”

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