Are You Open To The Possibilities?

pos•si•bil•i•ty

ˌpäsəˈbilədē/

unspecified qualities of a promising nature; potential

The fact of the matter is that we all have infinite possibilities. “Webster” defines the word infinite as “extending indefinitely: endless”. Your own endless Million possibilities.

But let me start with asking you a question. What do you want out of life? You probably have heard this question multiple times before. But have you ever honestly answered it? Often people suppress what they truly want and would even reply that they are content with what they have, that they don’t need or want more.

But let’s go back for a moment to the time when you were a little boy or a little girl. Remember what made you happy? What created joy in and for you? What made you want to experience things? At that time, the only thing you had were possibilities. The world was yours. It was a laboratory, a playground. It was the time when you could express your uniqueness. But somehow along the way you started to rationalize your desire. The possibilities started to fade. You might even have started to justify this non-productive situation you were in, a situation where you could barely see hope of a happy outcome. But I am here to tell you that you truly have 100 Million Possibilities at your disposal. We all have our true potential locked up and are not even close to tap into it. But without a clear direction, vision and purpose we are lost. That is why I want to talk with you about goals.

The second part of my professional adult life I spent in the sales industry. If you know a little bit about sales then you know that goals are part of the mechanics and foundation of the job. I remember the exercise of giving my goal sheet for the month to my manager. It felt futile to me because I didn’t understand the true purpose of a goal.
Most of us in sales have been taught that a goal needs to be reached and must be attainable. And this is probably the reason why I didn’t like setting goals. Every time I didn’t reach my goal for the month I felt like a failure. This continued until I started working with my mentor Bob Proctor (from the hit movie 'The Secret') and I understood that the true purpose of a goal is to grow. A goal is designed to draw something from within you that you didn’t even know was there. If you look at it from this point of view, not reaching your goal doesn’t become a problem anymore, right?
A real goal is giving you a sense of direction, it helps you to bring to the table the necessary elements to become who you really want to be.

I like the way Bob differentiates goals in three categories: A, B and C. To keep it simple I will use the exact same terms he does.

An A type goal defines what you are already doing. Let me give you an example. Let’s say you are driving a Honda Accord you bought brand new a few years ago. Now you decide that you want to buy another new Honda Accord because you like the car. You have been satisfied with it. It was reliable, comfortable and good on gas. But here is the challenge. Technically you already know exactly how to purchase this new car because you already did it in the past. This goal would not include any growth nor would it draw anything new out of you. This obviously doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy the new Honda Accord but it would not constitute a real goal. Remember the true purpose of a goal is to grow.

B type goals are something you think you can do. This is where you would look at your resources, write down a beautiful plan and if all the things would happen the way you have planned it out then you would accomplish your goal. In theory this looks like a good strategy, wouldn’t you agree? This is pretty much how most people set their goals. Do you know what the problem with this is? You are not inspired. There is no fire lit in you. As soon as the going gets tough, people give up on their goal. Does this make you think of the many New Year Resolutions you failed to accomplish? Well, they fall exactly into this category because after a few days or weeks you got bored of your goal and then you convinced yourself to stay with what you have and gave up.

The C type goal is want. I am talking about what you really want. Remember that was the very first question I asked you. What do you want? Most of us have been rejecting what we truly want out of life because we have been told very early in our lives that our want is impossible, that it can’t be done, that we are dreamers. But if you listen to the tiny voice inside of you you know that going after this goal will make you the happiest person on this planet. You know you will never work a day in your life again because you would do what you love. The C type goal makes you feel alive, it gets you out of bed in the morning, it gives you a sense of purpose. And the purpose of a goal is to grow. This is the very essence of our being. From the moment we have been conceived we needed to expand, cells were duplicating in order to create us.
Make sure you have a goal that inspires you and every day will be a day of joy.

Excerpt from the book "100 Million Possibilities" by Marc Jospitre and Dana Popov