Make "Impossible" the First Step on the Ladder to Success
What if the journey begins with "impossible" as the first step towards the realization of the objective? Is it possible for you to break the "barrier" (your circumstances).
No, it is not -- if you have self doubts. It is not, if you have a preset evaluation about your capabilities. It is not, if your "I can't!", based on past performance, is the indicator for future effort.
When your mind travels from the "Can I do it?" state, to your "I can do it!" state, from doubt to purpose, then opportunities will start being seen as possible, changing your views, adopting new ways -- and the results will surprise you to no end. Here's how to find new horizons in the unknown...
Steps
- Recognize a few examples of succeeding at the "impossible". With the same resolve, we can also make a seemingly impossible task as starting point and climb the ladder of success.
- For thousands of years, until 1953, scaling Mount Everest was considered impossible, but now people are climbing it -- even without oxygen.
- Since the invention of clocks, running a mile race in less than four minutes was considered impossible -- until 1954. Now people are doing it in less than three and a half minutes.
- India winning a cricket world cup was considered nothing more than a day-dream until 1983, but India not only won it in 1983, they repeated it 28 years later by winning it again in 2011.
- Be highly malleable in attitude and scalable in aptitude, to adapt to demands. Malleability does not mean being weak and soft. You can be firm, determined, yet flexible and responsive to ideas and strategies, to "reform", yet not necessarily "conform". Scalability means being able to stretch to any length or height; so you may add new inputs, channels, stimuli for setting goals and multiple related outputs to achieve them.
- Be a social animal. It is very important to be socially relevant to successfully achieve your set goals. What you can achieve is directly proportionate to the extent you can spread your reach - socially and virtually.
- Make (take) the “impossible” first step, and set goals beyond the accepted horizons. Generally if x is your achievement, the tendency is to aim for 2x as a most ambitious goal. But that is not enough. 2x can at the most be the first step on the ladder. The pinnacle should be 10x or more. Modeling 2x as doubling productivity/capacity would grow as: x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x,... so if x = 1 then 6 cycles yields 64, exceeding 100x in the next "snapshot". Is that a horizontal spread -- then think of vertical expansion, and so create your own raw materials for instance, or begin your own cabinet shop or equipment design or a construction division. These could be profitable spin-offs, if that is how markets devolve.
- Try, try to keep trying. It is better to try to fail, than fail to try. If you set 10x as your goal and fail, you still perform better than what you would achieve if 2x were your goal. Say that you "only" reached 8x profitably; now 16x is the current "first step", on the new level/scale...
- Think beyond the 2x bottom line. People work to meet bottom lines. Attractive bottom lines often make people complacent at 2x and less ambitious professionally (he or she ran, and stagnated at 2x). A happy bottom line is your start line where you begin your race to 10x... The race has to still be another run and won. Set your own personal bottom lines and strive to exceed them, beyond your own and peer expectations.
- Set your CVS to BVS, and your BVS to UVS. CVS is your current view scenario; BVS is better view scenario; UVS is ultimate view scenario.
- What you have currently is irrelevant, and what you had aspired for as the maximum achievement until yesterday is your present CVS (which is your new floor, but all previous steps are irrelevant). You should aim for achieving UVS. UVS should be CVS x 10, or BVS x 5.
- Don’t be cowed by "Doubting Thomas'" all around, criticism, discouragement, and lack of support. Most people cannot easily accept that people can aim for and achieve 10x goals (10 x 100% improving to 1000%), from elementary to advanced levels. Do not be perturbed and upset by the surroundings. Our tendency to feel threatened by ideas different from our frame of reference is why it's easier to be a critic than a leader. Keep the surroundings at a distance and bring the distant goals to the immediate proximity.
- Keep talking to yourself. Keep psyching yourself. Prioritize your to do list! You are your best motivator. Keep recalling and recollecting your winning moments. In your spare time, view and read about the deeds of extraordinary human beings. Remember, heroes don’t do different things. They only do things differently. Mentally and physically try to keep away from the detracting actors. Always keep in touch with or follow people who have already accomplished the goals you have set as targets.
- Evaluate your progress periodically using SMART values. SMART stands for Specific Measurable Accomplishments against Realistic Timeframes. Have you achieved what you should have set? Are the real time values same as the set values at that stage? Introspect, evaluate, and reset the goals.
- Be prepared to reframe your thought process. Many times there are hurdles that seem insurmountable and you seem to have approached a dead end. Just reframe the situation from different angles and keep doing it 'til you start seeing a solution from some angle. You have seen in a cricket match a decision is referred to the third umpire. He views it from different angles and one of the views gives him a correct decision which is different from the one from the field. Continuous reframing gives you new ideas and a correct perspective of the situation.
Tips
- Detractors and distractions could be a disturbance. Keep focused on the goals and let nothing bother you.
- Your initial period could be full of stress, strain, and disappointments. It is essential to keep your resolve very strong.
- Do and view things which motivate you. Keep away from other things.
- Set your time for learning, work and relaxation/rest. All the three should be in synergy, as combining elements produces a total effect that is much greater than the benefit of each individual element alone or until all are installed.
- Get new and expanded self motivation regularly.
- Extra work results in extra sapping of energy. Take a proper nourishing diet. Regularly be increasing your knowledge of health and diet, using medical research and understandings of dietitians.
- Make a correct evaluation of your present performance, your potential, and your stretchable potential. Consult experts and take their advice.
Warnings
- Be open, humble, and approachable during the pursuit and after accomplishment. Remember your accomplishment today will become unnecessary/"obsolete" tomorrow. So, continue improving, extending the old goal a little farther in your area of endeavor.
