It’s Mindset Monday!
There’s something deeply comforting about staying with what’s familiar because the familiar feels safe.
It’s predictable. It’s manageable. It feels certain. And when the possibility of doing something different, new, or untraditional presents itself, our minds are remarkably quick to generate reasons why it’s a bad idea.
It’s not the right time.
What if it doesn’t work?
I’m not qualified enough.
People will think I’m foolish.
What if I fail?
What if I regret it?
It’s easy to build a convincing case for why you shouldn’t try.
Instead of asking, “Why should I do this?”
What if the question is, “WHY NOT?”
“Why not?” interrupts the automatic resistance. It challenges the stories fear has been telling us. It creates space for possibility.
When you hear yourself (or someone else) finding reasons why you can’t do something, that pattern and ask “But what if you can?“
Instead of assuming you can’t do the thing, ask “HOW CAN I do this thing?”
This is possibility thinking!
Asking “HOW can I…” allows space for possibility, and for your brain to get into creative solutions mode.
I’ll bet if you think back, there’s at least one example of somet great experience that began because you decided to act even before you were ready, or you were too naive or optimistic to even realize you weren’t ready.
The career change that felt terrifying.
The relocation that made no logical sense at the time.
The relationship that required vulnerability.
The creative project that started with no guarantees.
The person you asked out who ended up your spouse.
Had fear been allowed to make the final decision, those doors never would have been opened!
This doesn’t mean be reckless, or that every leap is wise or every risk will work out exactly as planned. It means that too often, we disqualify ourselves before life ever gets the chance to respond.
Sometimes the greatest regret isn’t failure; it’s wondering what might have happened if we had been brave enough to ask one simple question:
Why not?
