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Living in a World Full of Possibility

Posted by in Inspirational, Personal Development on June 28, 2012
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live-in-possibility

Anything is possible. Sort of. You have to first live in a world of possibility where anything is possible in order for anything to be possible. I know. That’s a mouthful.

Right after college I lived in possibility. I decided that I wanted to play bass on Broadway. It never occurred to me that it might not work out. A whole bunch of people told me that I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t listen. I was so sure of myself that they might as well have just called me a giraffe. It was equally as ridiculous of a comment as it was to tell me that I didn’t stand a chance.

In less than 1 year I was playing bass in the Tony Award winning Broadway show Rent. Possibility.

It Didn’t Last Forever Though

For some reason I packed my stuff and moved out of that world. I don’t know why. I’m not even sure when. There wasn’t any one particular event. Nothing specific happened. I didn’t throw in the proverbial towel or anything. Things just changed. Or perhaps it was just me that changed. Not sure.

I began to live in overwhelm. Scarcity. Complacency.

I lived in extremes.

It was a subtle change so I didn’t really notice it right away. Don’t get me wrong, I was still successful and appeared pretty happy. Things just started having a strange aftertaste. I found myself more and more frustrated with people, places and things. I suppose nouns in general seemed to rub me the wrong way.

This place wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as the world of possibility. I internalized a lot of stuff. The food sucked. Everything seemed so hard too. Even the good stuff came with an asterisk. A catch. It’s hard to celebrate an accomplishment when everything good that happens ends with a “but…” Those of you that live there, and you know who you are, get what I am talking about.

I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. This wasn’t where I belonged so I had to find my way back. I did. Or at least I am. I learned that it takes constant effort to stay here. So, technically I’m still working on it.

How to Live (and Stay) in a World of Possibility

It’s very simple but not always easy to do. When you are stuck in a place of overwhelm or scarcity, nothing seems possible. Including the possibility that anything is possible.

Say that ten times fast.

But it’s worth the effort. You should give it a shot. In fact, I challenge you to give it a shot. Here is a little taste of how you can get started.

Changing Your Mindset

If you are living in the bad place it’s because of one reason alone. You. That means that you have control over changing it the second you decide. So, decide.

All it takes is a change in your mindset. And changing your mindset starts with one thing. Changing your language. That’s all. I know it sounds overly simplified. It kind of is. Although this isn’t the magic potion that’s going to change everything, if you are committed it’s going to give you a taste and that’s all you need in order to get addicted to the feeling of possibility.

It’s a simple exercise. Just alter a few words that you use everyday. That’s it. Do it for a week and then check in with me. I dare you. In fact, I double dog dare you! That’s right, I’m going right for the throat.

Here are a few examples of words you need to change. You’ll find more as you focus on your language. Change those too. Add them to the comments below if you want. See what happens.

But → And
Should → Could
Try → Will
Have To → Get To
Guess → Know
Problem → Challenge
Spend → Invest
Exhausting → Exhilarating

Enjoy your new world of possibility. Leave me a comment below and let me know how it goes!

About Marc

My name is Marc Ensign and my mission is to Save the Internet from all of the gurus, rock stars and ninjas dirtying up the place with their nonsense. I write a lot about the pitfalls of being human as well as social media and SEO. Which reminds me, if you want a new take on SEO (i.e. one that works) check out my free (and pretty awesome) SEO E-book!

  • http://www.websitebegin.com Joe Boyle

    Marc, I can personally relate to this article. Since before I can remember, I’ve always had a strong desire to create things. At age seven, I got into WordPress (I made a blog about this game I played, where I provided resources, advice, and tricks for a game that was pretty popular at the time). Since then, I’ve always weaved in and out of it. I’ve created websites in many different niches (gaming, animation, game-creation device, web development, technology, recycling, engineering), and have really thought it as my passion.

    I remember at age 13 when my website was at it’s peak, I really was at a high point. Then, like your Broadway-bass-playing-career, I left it because I didn’t want to do it anymore. I don’t exactly remember when I felt like it was over. It’s like an interview John Lennon had on the Dick Cavett show, where Cavett asked when he first thought that the Beatles would split. John said something along of the lines of “Not really… It’s like asking when you first fell in love. I don’t really remember”.

    Being away from web development for a year gave me a lot of experience in other fields, and helped create a ton of memories, but the real value came from what happened when I reentered – I have TONS of ideas and am on a mission to change things.

    I like that list you have there – it’s pretty neat. If we all changed our mindset from “can’t” to “can”, then things will change. I am in the process of writing a guest post that explains that exact process (;

    Side note – sent you an email today, eagerly awaiting a reply (;

    • http://www.marcensign.com/blog Marc Ensign

      Another great Beatles quote/analogy. It’s not even a matter of changing from can’t to can. The word can’t shouldn’t even be a part of your vocabulary. It’s such a debilitating word…it sucks away all of your power. Take that one out altogether.

      For the rest of them, start small. Spend the next day focusing on how often you say the word “but” – you’ll be surprised. A friend of mine put it best. The word ?but” is life’s eraser…it negates everything you just said. For example:

      “I like your idea but I would make it better by…” really means you don’t like the idea. The “but” erases everything before it. Change it to “and” and you have a completely different sentence:

      “I like your idea and I would make it better by…”

      Try it for a few days. You’d be surprised.

    • http://www.marcensign.com/blog Marc Ensign

      Got your e-mail also…going to check out your post and reply to it in a minute.

  • http://twitter.com/mightyrenegade themightyrenegade

    There were times I really enjoyed (still enjoy) my ‘career’. Tried changing my language and taking the Napoleon Hill route and ‘acting’ the way I wanted to be. It usually worked for a little while. For me, I had to remember to let my mind go one way if it wanted to but keep my actions going in the way that would give me the most positive net effect.
    Really like the ‘living with the asterisk’ analogy. Nice piece Marc.

    • http://www.marcensign.com/blog Marc Ensign

      Thanks! It’s really easy to start to fall back. You just need to keep pulling yourself back in. Remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing. If you are having a really hard time with it, your “why” isn’t strong enough. Keep dangling that carrot in front of your nose!

  • xmuver

    Change the word “exhausting to exhilarating”…I get the notion of reframing. It’s great to think/speak/act with words that are empowering and positive. But….(I mean) and… telling myself lies will only frustrate and invalidate me. Sometimes we take this positive self-talk way into the b***s*** zone. Some things are exhausting! Sometimes things do suck! How about some help owning this fact and moving along anyway? It’s the picking myself back up, licking my wounds, and continuing to live and play in the possibility sandbox that I seek. Sometimes the neighbor’s cat does take a dump in my sandbox, and I “get to” clean it up…sometimes I find a treasure hidden in the sand and it’s awesome! However, it’s during those litter box days/weeks I could use help remembering the possibilities…so keep writing Marc, I’m paying attention…not always fully agreeing, but (and) that isn’t important anyway.