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1. Stop Focusing on the Impossibilities
The first step in becoming a possibility thinker is to stop yourself from searching for and dwelling on what’s
wrong with any given situation. Sports psychologist Bob Rotella recounts, “I tell people: If you don’t want to get
into positive thinking, that’s OK. Just eliminate all the negative thoughts from your mind, and whatever’s left will
be fine.”
If possibility thinking is new to you, you’re going to have to give yourself a lot of coaching to eliminate some
of the negative self-talk you may hear in your head. When you automatically start listing all the things that can go
wrong or all the reasons something can’t be done, stop yourself and say, “Don’t go there.” Then ask, “What’s
right about this?” That will help to get you started. And if negativity is a really big problem for you and
pessimistic things come out of your mouth before you’ve even thought them through, you may need to enlist the
aid of a friend or family member to alert you every time you utter negative ideas.
2. Stay Away from the “Experts”
So-called experts do more to shoot down people’s dreams than just about anybody else.
Possibility thinkers are very reluctant to dismiss anything as impossible. Rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun
said, “I have learned to use the word impossible with the greatest of caution.” And Napoleon Bonaparte
declared, “The word impossible is not in my dictionary.” If you feel you must take the advice of an expert,
however, then heed the words of John Andrew Holmes, who asserted, “Never tell a young person that
something cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for somebody ignorant enough of the
impossible to do that thing.” If you want to achieve something, give yourself permission to believe it is possible
—no matter what experts might say.
3. Look for Possibilities in Every Situation
Becoming a possibility thinker is more than just refusing to let yourself be negative. It’s something more. It’s
looking for positive possibilities despite the circumstances. I recently heard Don Soderquist, former president
of Wal-Mart, tell a wonderful story that illustrates how a person can find positive possibilities in any situation.
Soderquist had gone with Sam Walton to Huntsville, Alabama, to open several new stores. While there, Walton
suggested they visit the competition. Here’s what Soderquist said happened: 15
We went into one [store], and I have to tell you that it was the worst store I’ve ever seen in my life. It was
terrible. There were no customers. There was no help on the floor. The aisles were cluttered with
merchandise, empty shelves, dirty, it was absolutely terrible. He [Walton] walked one way and I’d walk
the other way and we’d kind of meet out on the sidewalk. He said, “What’d you think, Don?”
I said, “Sam, that is the absolutely worst store I’ve ever seen in my life. I mean, did you see the
aisles?”
He said, “Don, did you see the pantyhose rack?”
I said, “No, I didn’t, Sam. I must have gone on a different aisle than you. I didn’t see that.”
He said, “That was the best pantyhose rack I’ve ever seen, Don.” And he said, “I pulled the fixture
out and on the back was the name of the manufacturer. When we get back, I want you to call that
manufacturer and have him come in and visit with our fixture people. I want to put that rack in our stores.
It’s absolutely the best I’ve ever seen.” And he said next, “Did you see the ethnic cosmetics?”
I said, “Sam, that must have been right next to the pantyhose rack, because I absolutely missed that.
”
He said, “Don, do you realize that in our stores we have four feet of ethnic cosmetics. These people
had 12 feet of it. We are absolutely missing the boat. I wrote down the distributor of some of those
products. When we get back, I want you to get a hold of our cosmetic buyer and get these people in. We
absolutely need to expand our ethnic cosmetics.”
Now, Sam Walton didn’t hit me on the head and say, “Don, now what lesson did you learn from this?”
He had already hit me on the head by looking for the good, looking how to improve, striving for
excellence. It’s so easy to go and look at what other people do badly. But one of the leadership