To: The Great Leaders Who Have a Passion for Continuous Learning
In his book, How Successful People Think, John Maxwell devotes a chapter to possibility thinking. Among the reasons he suggests why great leaders should be possibility thinkers is that possibility thinking creates energy and attracts other people. Not only does it create possibilities in the leaders, but also int the people they lead. He writes: “Above all, possibility thinkers believe they can succeed. Denis Waitley, author of The Psychology of Winning, says, “The winners in life think constantly in terms of ‘I can, I will and I am.’ Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have done, or what they don’t do.”
How to acquire or strengthen our possibility thinking? Maxwell offers the following thoughts:
- Stop focusing on the impossibilities – “The first step in becoming a possibility thinker is to stop yourself from searching for and dwelling on what’s wrong with any given situation.
- Stay away from the “Experts” – These are the naysayers. “If you want to achieve something, give yourself permission to."
- Look for possibilities in every situation – Keep your eyes open and don’t be distracted by the negatives of a situation.
- Dream one size bigger - “If you push yourself to dream more expansively, to imagine your organization one size bigger, to make your goals at least a step beyond what makes you comfortable, you will be forced to grow. And it will set you up to believe in greater possibilities.”
- Question the status quo – Understand that the status quo is a limit that you can change; you only need to act to go beyond it.
- Find inspiration from great achievers – “Look for people with the attitude of Robert F. Kennedy, who popularized George Bernard Shaw’s stirring statement: “Some men see things as they are and way, ‘Why?’ I dream of things than never were and say, ‘Why not?’”
This week, dream one size bigger! Open yourself to find the infinite possibilities in your life – professional and personal – and in yourself. Be granular. Look at every situation that comes by, and find in each something more than it could be. The one thing you do can change the world; the one person you touch can change a life.
Have a beautiful day and a fantastic week!!!
Mike