Believe the Unbelievable
March 28, 2013
Why is it so easy to find reasons we can’t do things or know that certain things won’t happen in our lives? Often when I’m working with someone, the thing they want to achieve is barely out of their mouth before the reasons why this desire is unreasonable, impossible, unrealistic, unachievable is in the room with us. How can the dream survive if it’s surrounded and drowned by all the doubt?
It’s a normal protective thing to do. We all do it to some degree. We want to temper our desires so the (what feels like inevitable) fall won’t hurt so much. But this protection can take over and literally snuff the life out of possibility. I’m not saying to be unrealistic. It is good to be honest about what stands in your way and admit where things might get challenging. That is healthy. But when there is no room to dream and believe not much can or will happen.
I have several clients who have seen their circumstances change significantly over the past year. Not things that fell out of the sky suddenly. Not purely lucky events. Things happened because they believed enough and moved forward. When I ask each of them now: ”Would you have believed me if I had told you when we first met that this is where you would be today? That this would be your new reality?, they each admit that no, they would not have believed me. Never. No way.
And that shows that believing the unbelievable is not a crazy thing to do. That’s the little bit of oxygen that is necessary to make things happen and get your fire burning. People are always so certain they know why things won’t work out. That’s what I ask my clients to let go of: that undermining certainty. I can’t predict the future, but I do know when people get out of their own way amazing and unexpected things happen.