We have all been there, looking at something and wishing we had it. The girl, the car, the money, the family, the lifestyle…but then we tell ourselves “Yeah, but that’s not me”. The people who get that are cut from a different cloth and we keep telling ourselves that until it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. We waste the wings we got believing the entire time that we can’t fly and that it’s impossible for us. We don’t even see our wings most of the time.

1. The Invisible

This is the area we know nothing about since it’s is not even on our radar. We don’t know that it exists, only when we discover (by accident) or someone else tells us that, do we move the needle from the Invisible to Impossible.

Let me give you some examples of The Invisible.

1. Ibrahim Hamato – A table tennis player with no hands. He plays using his mouth and neck, but the biggest surprise is how he serves.
2. Building a 15 story hotel in 6 days in China is an every day activity.
3. Charlie Munger reads 500 pages per day. Considering that the average book is around 250 pages, that means he reads 2 books a day or 650-700 books a year. An average American reads less than 4 a year.

The Invisible now becomes visible. You know that it’s happening somewhere out there but not here, not where you are, not in your life. So that’s why the Invisible becomes the Impossible. “Oh wow, that’s amazing. But it’s impossible for me.” So welcome to the second stage.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

2. The Impossible

This is the area of get-rich-quick schemes. This is where the hagglers mostly operate, promising to give you something that would move you from the Impossible area to the Actual area, but it doesn’t work like that in real life. You are not accustomed to that kind of lifestyle and you can’t handle the jump.

If you need a proof of that, just look at what happens to the lottery winners who go from rags to riches. The suicide and depression rate within that group is one of the largest in the country, and the paradox is that they were happier with their lives before they won the lottery.

All of the steps need to be taken in order and you can’t jump through them. You need to feel each and every single one of them and figure out how to get from one to another. From the area of the Impossible, you start questioning how. How do I get there? How do I move ahead? This asking leads you to the mindset shift (from fixed to growth mindset) needed to make something impossible, possible.

3. The Possible

When you shift your mindset from a fixed to a growth mindset, that’s when you reach the Possible area. You start believing that it is possible FOR YOU to achieve that. It is no longer something which exists out there for someone else and it’s no longer for the people you think are made from a different cloth.

You start believing (and proving to yourself) that there is no “made from a different cloth.” You realize that there is just hard work, perseverance, and belief. Now, the biggest hurdle has been jumped and it’s time to give your mindset shift complementaries. The complementaries are based in knowledge and skills. When you start working in the area of the Possible, that’s when you step into the next area of the Probable.

4. The Probable

This is where you mix your mindset shift and the belief that you can do it, with the necessary knowledge and skills to do it. This is where your Why and How gets its What.

In the area of the Probable, you learn the What of the craft. You learn how to make your dream and your vision a reality. This is the part where habits and every day (compound) actions take place. This is one of the longest periods because most skills take so much time to become second nature.

If you want to achieve your vision and dream, you need to attain mastery in the field which would bring you there. Mastery simply takes time, but don’t be discouraged, you are now on the right path and success is inevitable. Just keep on pushing, keep on working, keep on grinding and believe it will happen. When it happens, you will begin to enter the last phase.

“No one gets very far unless he accomplishes the impossible at least once a day.” – Elbert Hubbard

5. The Actual

This is where your vision and your dream becomes a reality. This is the end goal you will feel, touch, smell, and live through. But only if you believe, work for it and achieve mastery. This is the place where dreams come true but it isn’t a magical place that fell from nothing. It is a product of your beliefs and hard work you put in for years until you saw the desired results.

At that moment, the hard work and perseverance finally pay off in the best feeling in the world, the feeling of accomplishment. The moment when you conquered not the people around you or the environment, but the moment when you conquered yourself.

And because of that, you are now living your dream in the reality.

What’s next?

On to the next goal you have. The circle never stops, the only thing that changes is our position on it. I have obtained the Actual in one area of my life, but in the other one, I am still at the Probable phase so there is still a lot of work to do.

How about you? Which area of your life’s dream are you in and how would you continue your pursuit towards the Actual? Share with us below!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com