Episode 25: Possibility
Hello, my friends! Welcome to episode 25. So my exciting news is that for episode 25 I have finally bought an actual microphone. It is neat to see the progression of this podcast project. First learning to launch it, next learning audio editing, and now an actual microphone. Thanks to my biggest fan (AKA my Mom) I took the plunge and got a microphone!
So with that exciting news, I wanted to talk about the possibility today.
I was recently watching all creatures great and small which is a TV series about James Harriet and all his vet adventures; the two young vets are in a situation where they are at their wits end with what to do and one of them looks up in a book an idea that that is uncommon and likely experimental and since they don’t know what to do they are thinking of trying this new procedure and the one vet (actually the one that hasn’t passed his exams yet says:
“The one advantage of knowing nothing is that anything seems possible.”
Really think about that.
When we don’t know “better” then we have this amazing ability to create dreams.
We have this amazing ability to think up out-of-the-box solutions to problems.
We take risks that others wouldn’t dare take.
We keep looking for new solutions.
We have this hope and unimpeded vision of things going well, this openness to newness and change.
And it seems that when we have experience or when we actually think we “Know” stuff then we dream less,
we don’t think outside the box,
we even box others in sometimes,
we are so resistant to change,
we are often risk adverse,
we only want to do things in the same way we have done them and
we often seem to have tunnel vision and are close off to new things.
It is often experience closes us off to possibility but I don’t think that it has to.
But we have to watch our brains and see when they are choosing efficiency over possibility.
Our brains always will choose efficiency first.
They like consistency.
They like things to stay the same.
So it makes perfect sense that once our brains think we know something then other things are no longer a possibility.
But how could you like more from a place of possibility?
Just small places where you could approach situations as if you knew nothing and therefore you could believe that something different was possible.
One technique for this is to practice day one mentality.
Do you remember the first day of your current job?
For some of you that may be yesterday and others that may be ancient history. But think back.
Did you have opinions about who was good to work with and who to avoid?
Did you have judgements about projects should go?
Did you know what was “acceptable” to say in meetings and what wasn’t?
Did you know what information was important and what information could be ignored?
Did you have any idea how long a project or task would take?
How did you act on day one?
Did you listen carefully to all things being said?
Did you feel a little apprehensive and hopeful?
Day one can be scary but on day one we are not carrying all the baggage of the past with us.
We try to put things into context from things we have known in the past but often there are things that we have no context for so we simply have to learn.
We don’t have the same habit of jumping to conclusions on day one.
We are more willing to fail and to get things wrong because we don’t know any better.
We get to see the world through fresh eyes.
We get to experiment.
We are not as efficient.
But we are open to possibility.
In the past when I travel for work, the first trip to a place is always interesting.
You really don’t know if the GPS is taking you in the wrong direction.
You don’t know what are good restaurants to eat at.
You don’t know the roads to avoid or the shortcuts.
But because you made the trip you are stepping into discovering new places, finding your next favorite restaurant, seeing new sites, getting lost, or having a new experience.
So when you find yourself stuck.
Try to take a step back.
Ask yourself how you would have approached this on day one.
How would you approach this if you knew nothing?
You just might discover some ideas that you had never thought of before.
It will be fun.
Have a wonderful week.