Seeing the Possibilities - [225 and Beyond - #008]
This week I read this tweet that resonated with me:
“I'm convinced that at least 50% of achievement is just knowing what's possible.
The 4-minute mile went from impossible to ordinary overnight.
Many events in my life were the same way: Decades of "can't be done" then a sudden eye-opener changes everything.”
It boils down to this: If you don’t know something can be done, you probably won’t try to do it. However, if you do know something is possible, you can then set goals and work towards them.
This idea can be applied in two main areas: Career development and skills development.
Career Development
When I was a student, I know that reading posts written by court reporters talking about how much they earned for a particular job motivated me to keep working hard. It made me realise what could be done with the right skills.
If you isolate yourself and don’t speak to anybody about the state of the industry where you are, you might be missing out on opportunities simply because you don’t know they exist. So pick up the phone, send some friend requests on Facebook, and start asking some questions!
Once you get a good grasp of the options out there, you can set goals and make plans to reach them.
Skills Development
Think back to the example of the 4-minute mile for a moment. Before Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mark, it had daunted runners for generations. Yet since it was shown to be doable, thousands of runners have conquered that once-daunting barrier.
Likewise, watching speed contests, perfect Q&A realtime at 280 words per minute, or a captioner writing to Eminem rapping at dizzying speeds opens our eyes to what’s possible and propels us to reach new heights in our skills.
It’s also a classic case of “Show me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are.” If you only know and speak to court reporters who haven’t made any progress in their skills and careers for years, you probably won’t be thinking of how to improve either!
From Me:
As you might have noticed, I’m moving to doing a newsletter every two weeks because every week was a bit too much for me. Next time I’ll be following on on the subject of innovation! I love to hear from you guys, so please send me an email if you have anything to say 😃
Quote of the Week:
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” - Jim Rohn