On August 31, 1998, at or about 10 o'clock in the morning, I received a call from a speakers bureau asking about my availability to give a speech on Friday, September 18, at 4:00 P.M. in Santa Monica, California. I responded that my calendar was open for that date and I would be happy to serve the client. The bureau agent said she would call me back with the details.
Thirty minutes later I received a call from a representative from the United States Department of Health and Human Services. She explained that the department would be sponsoring five best- practices conferences regarding welfare reform across the country. The plan was to hire a different motivational speaker to close out each of the five conferences. My name was suggested for the first conference by a member of the planning committee. The representative asked, "Is it possible for you to be our closing speaker in Denver, Colorado, on Friday, September 18 at 11:00 A.M.?"
I said, "Yes!"
Having thus committed myself to speaking in Denver, Colorado, and Santa Monica, California, on the same day with about five hours to get from one venue to the other, I began the logistical planning by checking with airlines for flights from Denver to Los Angeles.
Saying "yes" to the possibilities worked to my benefit. The bureau agent later informed me that the client changed their plans and my services were not needed in Santa Monica. I spoke in Denver. My presentation was so well received that the department hired me for the other four conferences. To this day I get speaking engagements that are spin offs from the original Denver speech.
Is there anything that is impossible for you to do? Yes, there is. It is impossible for you to perform or undertake anything that you will not accept as a possibility. In order for it to happen, you first must believe that it can happen, and then you must believe that you have the power to bring it about.
If you close your mind to the possibility, it will become impossible for you. Your body will only act on what your mind conceives; hence, you are unable to perform the impossible. You must be able to picture it in your mind and believe it to be realizable before you can find the way to bring it into reality.
Within the eternal universe, the possibilities are not limited by either time or space. Every moment that appears into the present brings with it new possibilities. Things believed to be impossible for humans one hundred years ago are now possible. What you see as impossible today will be reality tomorrow. The possibilities are endless.
If you restrict yourself to the tangible, you cannot experience the intangible. If you are bound to the physical, you cannot connect with the spiritual. If you lack imagination and creativity, you cannot tap into the endless possibilities.
Even if your mind is open, beyond your finite mental capacity lies other possibilities. If you do not believe this to be true, there is yet the possibility that you are wrong. To think that it is impossible is a self-fulfilling belief which negates the possibility for you.
The exploration of the world of possibilities begins with the word "yes." You must develop the habit of saying "yes" whenever someone asks, or you think, "Is it possible." When you say "yes," you commit yourself to the thoughts and actions that will make it happen. If the project involves knowledge you don't have, you are committed to gaining that knowledge or creating a partnership with a person who has the information. If it involves resources you don't have, you are committed to gathering such resources. Your saying "yes" to the possibilities commits you to devote your time and effort to see the project to the desired conclusion.
You should never restrict the world of possibilities by the word "no." The world of possibilities should be limited only by the laws of nature, your rules of moral and ethical conduct, and the freedom of others to live meaningful lives.
Saying "yes" provides the antidote to negativism. It cancels out the "not" of cannot, the "im" of impossible, and the "in" of inability, incapacity, and incompetence.