Sometimes a simple question can open up a whole new world of possibilities
In one of the 67 step videos, Man on the moon, the question is, at the end of the video: what was impossible before, and now it is possible.
I looked, down the page to see what other people wrote, and nothing resonated with me. I had no answer.
But this morning I kept on thinking about my favorite TV show, Lie to me… I have watched all episodes at least three times. I wasn’t sure why… but this morning it all added up.
In one of the episodes, Hal, the main character, pulls a long con.
It is recognized as such, as a long con, by his staff, only in hindsight. Long con, long con… doesn’t sound savory, but he catches the bad guy… and he does it, as I can see now, in every episode.
A long con is a strategy. Several characters, masterfully put together to tick the mark into doing what the mark is supposed to do. You can use it for good, and you can use it for bad.
I went on google, and searched for “design long con” and read a little…
My weakest capacity has been designing a strategy. I definitely thought that I don’t have the talent, that I can’t.
It was impossible, for me. Definitely.
But all possibility opens up gradually. I see myself interested in designing a long con… for the design reasons, for it being clever, irresistible… I am attracted to it. I am starting to see it everywhere…
The color exercise, remember, is working… except that this time it isn’t a color, it’s a design principle I am starting to see everywhere.
I am not designing yet. I am in the knowledge phase of the KSE (Knowledge-Strategy-Execution) process. I am not in a hurry.
I feel that I am exercising capacities I didn’t know I had, but I know I had them because when I ask, muscletest says I have all 160 capacities turned on. Yet I have only been using 50 of those.
I can feel that this exercise, the long con design, is pulling out four from cold storage… I am really excited about that.
Now, why am I sharing this? To brag? To make you feel bad about yourself?
No, not at all.
A lot more is possible for you to do, to use, that what you are doing and what you are using.
I am not interested in the having aspect… although I know that in turn you are not interested in doing… And as long as you aren’t… you are stuck, and I have nothing to do with you… my articles won’t be useful for you, until you become interested, excited, turned on by the idea of doing more, using more.
But if you are one of my students, especially if I have activated capacities for you, this article is really for you.
It starts with the question… What seems impossible, but is actually possible if you use your new capacities?
Don’t look at the results, look at the doing. When you look at the results, peace of mind, creating something worthwhile, etc. seem disconnected from where you are… all those are the RESULT of doing, and you have been seeing doing as unsavory… or impossible.
You want to put your attention on the doing… What do the capacities make possible for you to do? Doing something you never thought you could.
Kate could finally use her brain to test-drive the options she has. Kim could finally use her spare time to apprentice with someone who does something that she’d like to do.
When I was 40 I quite architecture. I wanted to become a publisher… so I started by doing slave work for a printer, did typesetting, ad design, magazine delivery, advertising sales… all parts of being a publisher.
90 days later I had my own magazine and I was making a full time living with it. 90 days.
It started with the idea, continued with the looking: what the heck do publishers do? What do I need to become a publisher? How can I learn it, hands on, paying only with my time?
I worked 80-90 hours a week for those 90 days, and for a long time after that.
But, you see, I would not be writing this article, I would not have you reading this, hadn’t I decided 28 years ago, that it was possible. That I could, at least, start working towards it.
What is it that you haven’t started to work on because you could not see your way to it?
