Doing Impossible Things

Around this time each year I've found it helpful to spend some time writing out the intentions I have for the upcoming year. Sometimes I use them in an almost daily, structured way to create the results I want; while other years I write them once and tuck them away with only an occasional glance later on. Both methods have worked for me at different times. You've probably read a lot of self improvement advice - perhaps even at Inspiring-Self-Improvement.com about the topic of intentions. You know, things like: focus on what you want; start with the end in mind; and create a clear and compelling, heart-felt vision. You want to dream big - and so you should, with all the excitement and anticipation that the New Year brings.

Yes, following your bliss toward an emotionally engaging vision can give you a lot of motivation. Focusing on your vision is good advice as long as you have some (at least vague) kind of notion of how you might accomplish your vision. But what do you do when the gap between your current reality and your grandiose, "impossible" vision is so great that you just feel lost or overwhelmed whenever you begin to think about how you might accomplish it? There's not even much motivation to make even one step because the "impossible" sized vision will still seem light years away.

"Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Each January when I would review my old intentions and begin creating new ones, I noticed after many years that there were a couple of things that kept cropping up year after year that never seemed to happen. As I recently questioned this, I came to realize that I had been trying to make myself believe and accomplish impossible things. This is perfectly fine except that the visions I held seemed too far away to inspire the effective action steps required to get from beginning to end. With the help of my Life Coach, I discovered that I was missing the power that is hidden within my current reality.

The Power of Your Present Reality
Whenever I create a new product or piece of art, I use the same general process. I get inspired with a vision of what the end result will look like, and then I start thinking about what materials, skills, emotions, or knowledge I already have in my current reality. These become the collective materials I have to work with. These give me a starting point from which to begin thinking about "how can I accomplish this?" For a small, easily attainable goal like a piece of artwork, I may be able to see each action step of how to create it from beginning to end. Grandiose visions are not necessarily planned out so easily. But you can still use the same process for the huge, "impossible" results you want to create. No one ever created a masterpiece without first considering which materials they were working with.

"In order to achieve 'impossible' results, you are better off to AIM with the end in mind, but BEGIN with the beginning in mind."

Your current reality will give you more clarity for creating action steps because it is grounded in what is. Although reality can be hard to face sometimes, it most certainly IS where you are going to start from. The good news is that you don't have to know what your sixth, or tenth, or even second action step will be. An accurate and objective assessment of your "current reality" materials you have to work with will likely present you with at least one step to take that you could accomplish TODAY. And once you have taken that first step, it becomes another tool or piece of knowledge to add to your arsenal of current reality. Then simply repeat the process.

When you harness the power of your present reality, even just one little step will seem big IF you compare it to where you came FROM. In contrast, the gap between the first step and the "impossible" end result might still seem insurmountable. It's like starting out on a trans-Atlantic ocean voyage in a small boat. At the beginning, it is fun to watch the objects on land get smaller and smaller as you go out to sea. The contrast between what was and what is seems dramatic -- it's easy to see how far you've gone! But if all you're doing is looking for the land to appear in front of you, you might turn around out of disappointment when it doesn't suddenly appear just beyond the breakers. Your current reality can serve you well by providing you bearings to at least get out to sea. Then once you are fully committed, and begin to get your "sea legs", the land can safely disappear behind you as you pull out your compass and learn new ways of moving forward.