If you ask anyone who knew me as a little kid, you would know that probably my favorite phrase was “What If ______?” What if dinosaurs were still real? What if our house burned down? What if we had a million dollars? What if, what if, what if? Over and over again.
It got to a point one time that I remember my mother legitimately almost having a mental breakdown after a full day of waking kids up, getting them ready for school, dropping them off, TEACHING all day, picking us up to take us to practice, waiting in the hot car, etc. etc. etc. only to have me start asking her REALLY stupid “What If” questions. But she somehow held it together. And thank God she did. Who knows if she got on me at that point if it would have quelled my curious mind.
Unfortunately for those around me, I still ask that questions almost every single day. I think the question “what if?” is possibly one of the most powerful questions you can ask. I constantly hear people talking about how they CAN’T do some project, some new workout, some new hobby, or really make any changes in their life. But “what if” you can? Whenever I am presented with a problem, my immediate reaction is to say, “well what if it weren’t a problem? What if we could solve it? How would we go about doing that?”
What if you run a marathon? What if you start a new company? What if you find the love of your life? What if you cut out all bread? What if you find a new friend to accompany you in your new workout routine? What if you took that leap into that new relationship, job, trip, etc.?
If so, how would you get there? How would you start? What would it look like? How would it make you feel? Now write all of that down! This is the start of a goal.
What is something that inspires you? Go do it! The gap from thought to action is something that GREATLY intrigues me and generally where we get bogged down. We can plan and prepare (and we should) until the cows come home, but without action, we won’t make any changes.
My “what if” moment is really “What if I can inspire someone to take that first step into their dreams?” That is what motivates me. That’s what drives me. What if I save someone’s life? What if I’m able to donate 1mm because I’m wealthy? What if I’m able to make just one person’s day every day by smiling at them? I honestly don’t know what I’m doing half of the time, and I’m not 100% prepared, and I don’t have all of the answers. But I’m still going after it and trying to learn and grow through experiences. IT’S AWESOME!
What is your “what if” moment?
It’s really all possible. You are more powerful than you think. Find what drives you and lean into that. I think we could all use a little more “what if” In our lives!
-Go, Do & Grow!