Why it can’t be done
Why it can’t be done
This is a gift. When people are telling you why something can’t be achieved, they’re sharing part of their worldview. It may be a widely held belief, or it may be a personal protection mechanism. But it’s how they (singular or plural) have rationalized inaction.
Now, what they’re saying likely has merit. Obstacles are all around us. Anyone who tries to move the ball forward on a regular basis sees that. But the obstacle is also likely not fully recognized in the story of rationalization. It’s simply been agreed, implicitly if not explicitly, that this is the point where progress stops.
And everybody waits.
For someone else to move that obstacle.
The trouble with that, of course, is that if everyone is waiting for “someone else” then there is no one else.
It’s better to take the gift of why it can’t be done and unwrap it. Look at the obstacle that everyone agrees on but that nobody has examined for a good long while. See what it is, why it’s there, and how it can be changed. And it’s likely not the obstacle that needs to be changed, but the perception of it. Looking at it anew, re-examining it in the current context (because it’s been there so long), and talking about it will likely lessen it’s power over everyone.
Dispel the mystique. Figure out how to work around, ignore, redefine, or do something about the obstacle now that it doesn’t seem quite so onerous. After all, the obstacle wasn’t really such an obstacle to begin with. It was an excuse.
Photo credit: sagebrush photography
March 9, 2013
Why it can’t be done
This is a gift. When people are telling you why something can’t be achieved, they’re sharing part of their worldview. It may be a widely held belief, or it may be a personal protection mechanism. But it’s how they (singular or plural) have rationalized inaction.Now, what they’re saying likely has merit. Obstacles are all around us. Anyone who tries to move the ball forward on a regular basis sees that. But the obstacle is also likely not fully recognized in the story of rationalization. It’s simply been agreed, implicitly if not explicitly, that this is the point where progress stops.
And everybody waits.
For someone else to move that obstacle.
The trouble with that, of course, is that if everyone is waiting for “someone else” then there is no one else.
It’s better to take the gift of why it can’t be done and unwrap it. Look at the obstacle that everyone agrees on but that nobody has examined for a good long while. See what it is, why it’s there, and how it can be changed. And it’s likely not the obstacle that needs to be changed, but the perception of it. Looking at it anew, re-examining it in the current context (because it’s been there so long), and talking about it will likely lessen it’s power over everyone.
Dispel the mystique. Figure out how to work around, ignore, redefine, or do something about the obstacle now that it doesn’t seem quite so onerous. After all, the obstacle wasn’t really such an obstacle to begin with. It was an excuse.
Photo credit: sagebrush photography
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