Possibility Thinking

Possibility Thinking is the ability to see solutions in seemingly impossible circumstances. It’s the lens you look through to take a positive stance in the midst of immanent failure and see opportunity.

How does it work?

Possibility Thinking starts with developing a positive life stance. When your belief and approach to your everyday life is negative, it’s nearly impossible to see potential in people, circumstances or challenges. Developing a positive life stance is an on-going practice.

The power of a positive life stance:

1. Life is filled with good and bad.
2. Some of the good and bad I can’t control… it’s life.
3. Some of the good and bad will find me.
4. If I have a positive life stance, the good and bad will become better.
5. If I have a negative life stance, the good and bad will become worse.
6. Therefore, I choose a positive life stance.

Possibility Thinking in action:

One Michelin-star chef and 3.6 million meals served.

Just four days after the devastation of Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria in 2017, world-renowned chef Jose Andres boarded a plane and headed to Puerto Rico. For Andres, the endeavor started as a short trip to set up some mobile kitchens around the country and help feed people until the government could establish something more sustainable. It turned out, this process would take much longer than Andres thought.

What began as a problem for Andres and his organization, World Central Kitchen, became an opportunity to get creative.

“At the end of the day, what I try to do with every problem, we try to transform it into an opportunity,” Andres said. “And that’s what, in a very simple way, got us going.”

Now, nearly two years later, Andres and World Central Kitchen have served over 3.6 million meals to Puerto Ricans and have empowered the local economy by sourcing their supplies from the island.

In the midst of difficult bureaucratic circumstances, Andres found a way to reach his intended goal – to feed the people of Puerto Rico and help revitalize a devastated country.

Do it now:

Memorize the positive life stance mantra above or develop your own to begin shifting your thinking to see more and bigger possibilities.

Wise words on Possibility Thinking:

“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it, even if I may not have it at the beginning.” – Mahatma Gandhi