Possibility

THINKING WITH POSSIBILITY IN MIND

You might be interested to know, that we all have beliefs that can limit us and perhaps some of you have experienced this.

It could be some persistent thought that prevents us from approaching that person we really want to, or joining a club or trying something new, or changing careers.
These thoughts that can stop us from doing the things we want to do, are called limiting beliefs. 

For some, this can be all consuming and debilitating.  And as the word suggests, they limit us from our true potential and add to our fears.  Thankfully we can do something about it.

How many of us have an awareness of our thoughts and then actually challenge these thoughts? 

Well, in order to do this, we actually have to recognise that we are having these thoughts.  Once you achieve this, try find the evidence to support your thoughts.  ‘I am scared because the bus might break down.’ (has it broken down before and do you know for sure that it will happen again?)

Guess what?  The evidence is almost always not there and this is when you get to challenge that thought.  This works for both adults and children alike.
Try it next time a ‘negative’ thought pops into mind.  CATCH it/stop it in its tracks and CHANGE it to something a little more ‘positive’.  This is known as unrealistic thoughts vs realistic ones. 

Now some of us get ‘stuck’ from time to time, feeling like there is no way out, no hope to reach for.   What if I told you that there are things you can do to help you to become ‘unstuck’ and grab onto that hope.

Start with the fact, that you are absolutely more capable than you give yourself credit for.  Some find it helpful to tell themselves this repeatedly or other similar positive phrases.  

So lets look at some questions to get you started.

1.  WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION TO CHANGE?
 
2. WHAT DO YOU ALREADY HAVE RIGHT NOW? 
A quote by Arthur Ashe. ‘Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.’  Sometimes all we can do right now, is breath.  Then go from there.  

3.  WHAT FUTURE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF HAVING? 
One or two years from now?  (break this down to 6 months or even less if that is helpful to you)
 
4.  WITH ALL OF THE ABOVE IN MIND, WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO GET YOU TO THAT VISION OF YOUR FUTURE?
(be that next week, 6 months from now or a year from now)
 
5.  TAKE ACTION
Just like in step 1, when you took action to reflect on your thinking about the possibility of change, do the same here with each step – grab hold of your vision you just created and start gathering all the resources, connections, information you need to make it become your reality. 

Having a different mindset, one open to possibilities, allows you be creative and to seek out positive things/possibilities. You will more than likely start to see that doors you thought were closed, are slightly open.  Suddenly there is hope and possibility.  We start to see challenges as possibilities and that can be very powerful.

As an experienced Education Assistant, there are two types of questions which we use in school, that relate so well to this topic.  The ‘what if’ question and the ‘I wonder’ question.  What if you tried something different today?  What if, for today, you used a different toy?  I wonder what will happen when you let that balloon go?  And so on.

In a school setting, we would provide the resources to allow for this type of thinking to take place.  As an adult you would need to determine what your resources are and then acquire more if needed, to keep your possibility thinking on track.

Remember, small changes lead to bigger changes.  The reason why this is, is because our focus shifts and we start to see doors ajar that were once closed.  In other words, small solutions appearing, almost as if by chance.  But the truth is, the veil has been lifted, eyes have been opened and we are looking for different things.

To conclude:  A quote by Glennon Doyle – Untamed.  ‘I see your fear, and it’s big.  I also see your courage, and it’s bigger.  We can do hard things.

#change #possibility 
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