Hughs Blog

Probability vs. Possibility

Selling tickets for flights to the South Pole in private airplanes when you have never been there before is not what most people would say is good planning. Here we were taking in millions of dollars of unearned revenue from people all over the world (42 of them to be exact) who wanted to stand at 90˚ South, and we had never been there! Welcome to my world as a partner in the world’s only private tourism company in Antarctica.

We were told that we were reckless, unprofessional, dangerous and some newspapers called it ‘crazy tourism, at its best”. In the end it was the best thing that we could have done: just get the program out there, and try it out. We needed to be focusing on what is possible, not what history or ‘experts’ would have told us was probable and here’s why.

The way that author and personal development master, Brian Klemmer explains it (www.klemmer.com) the realm of probability is based on the past. The realm of possibility is based on the future. Think about it: all probabilities are a reflection of what has already happened (like statistics, history, estimates and guesses), while possibilities, by definition, have to be about what can happen in the future. My experience is that we hang out in probabilities far too much; we consider our odds, weight the consequences (based on our past experience), we examine market data, we ask people what happened for them. Past, past, past, past.

Here’s killer question for you: how much of your current thinking is based on probabilities?

In my workshops I often ask groups is they are good at remembering names. Usually I might get one or two hands going up. Then I demonstrate what happens when you meet someone for the first time when you believe you are poor at remembering names. You say “hello” and say your name, then the person you are meeting says “hello” and says their name and then you immediately think “who cares!”.

Why would I put any effort into remembering names (even though I took those annoying customer service courses that instructed me to repeat it three times in the first 10 minutes of meeting someone new) if, based on past experience, the probability is I won’t remember them?

But what if I adopted the belief that I can remember names if I just put some effort into it. Then the next time I meet someone new I pay attention, I maybe create a mental image of the name, I use their name and, presto!, I am slightly better than before. I’m not perfect, but I have advanced into the realm of possibilities because I now consider myself capable of remembering names.

That’s a simple example, but what about some other nasty beliefs you might be harbouring:

- I’m a procrastinator. Or I work better under pressure.
- I have so much to do I have to work every night.
- I am ‘heavy set’ and can’t keep the weight off.
- This is as good as my relationship will get until she/he changes.
- I’m not the type that keeps goals, so why bother making them?

Sound familiar? We all have these nagging dysfunctional beliefs in us somewhere and they are really invisible, until our actions give us away. Something we want in our life doesn’t happen, we’re disappointed, and then we remind ourselves why we never deserved it in the first place and the probability is we won’t in the future either. Another self fulfilling prophecy in action.

So, how do we switch from the realm of probability to realm of possibility? In short, we need a new belief married to repetition anchored to an emotional charge. I know, it sounds like pat your head while rubbing your belly, but, trust me, if you want to truly make a switch in your life and get out of your old formula, you do need to start thinking about what new formula will get you there.

Stay tuned for my next blog that will go into more detail.

In the meantime, here’s a simple exercise. Spot something in your life that you want and you are not getting. Become incredibly clear about what it is you want (be specific: don’t say “feel better about my work”, instead say “to end my day feeling like I have made a difference with at least one person”) and how it feels to not get it.

By the way, with the South Pole, we ran five flights in that year and continued to fly in groups successfully for the next dozen years. And no question: we would never have gotten there without dreaming big and focusing on the possibility of doing something no one had ever done before.

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This Column has 1 Comment

1. Sixinineguh

   Posted On: March 5, 2009

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