Matt Mullenweg’s success with WordPress has convinced me to unThink “it can’t be done.” In 2003 Matt (as founding developer) released WordPress which is the platform this web-site and about 202 million others run on. (No I didn’t make that number up, it’s in the linked Wikipedia article).
Matt was in his late teens when WordPress launched (he’s only 26 as of this writing). I’d speculate that more than a few people told Matt “it can’t be done.” He was releasing an Open Source platform for bloggers in 2003.
Think back to your late teens, anything was possible. The world was your oyster. If you’re like me “can’t be done” was a phase your brain could not even process. Somewhere along the way you started letting self-doubt and the “expertise” of others creep in your brain and convince you somethings can’t be done.
Your change in thinking didn’t happen overnight. As a result your unThinking process may take a while. Maybe it was parents, siblings or jealous co-workers that crept in your brain little by little and crushed your “I can do anything spirit.” Fear not, you’ve still got some of that spirit inside you or you wouldn’t have had the courage to read this post.
I’m unThinking “it can’t be done.” Over the last few days I’ve looked back at some of the biggest successes I’ve enjoyed in my life. In the last couple years I’ve pulled some real rabbits out of the hat. I bet you have too. Take a few minutes now and focus on your biggest successes over the last five or so years.
Mixed in all that success was a lot of adversity. If you are anything like me achieving your biggest successes was a lot of work and often involved some serious adversity. The human brain is an interesting instrument, it blocks out most of the bad stuff. As a result I am theorizing it’s tough to look back and fondly remember some of you bigger successes because of all the BS that came along with them.
unThink “it can’t be done” one negative thought at a time. Recently I wrote about the importance of watching your thoughts. When I catch myself thinking “it can’t be done” I do two things. First, I ask why? In the face of no compelling and fact based why I immediately rethink the thought with “it must be done.” My biggest successes in life happened because they had to.
Are you ready to unThink “it can’t be done” and reThink it with “it must be done?”
Great post Jim! I remember meeting Matt at Gnomedex '05. A very nice, soft spoken guy.
Do you know of any good podcasts to help keep one's mind open and on track?
Jim, Great post. Ever since I can remember, I've used the term “the world is your oyster”. In the past year, my life has taken a very sharp turn (for the good). One of the tools I use to help remind me how good things are is my “daily success log”. Someday over coffee I'll tell you about one of my biggest victories that occurred the day we shut down our family business.
Steve, all the podcasts I listen to our premium stuff. I have one I get on a CD each month that rocks and others I grab from inside the Third Tribe. I know Tim Ferriss' blog has some good video stuff. The Random Episodes always end up motivating me in some way. (credit for finding those goes to @AJBombers)
I just had to turn myself around today. Time for me to make some big changes that must be made. Can't get to the next level doing things the same way. Again, at the end of the day I write them for me and I just thrilled others get takeaway. 🙂 Coffee anytime Sue!
I take great pride in ignoring road blocks on the way to achieving my goals. My wide-eyed optimism and unrealistic outlook on what is possible has allowed me to accomplish great things in a relatively short amount of time as a professional.
A couple examples: In High School I was called into the counselors office because in Creative Writing class I was being too creative and they didn't think I took school seriously. I likened it to a game of chess where the outcome didn't matter as long as you positioned the game pieces properly. I later went on to work in the film industry as writer and developed feature films.
I applied for college but instead of taking all of my classes I asked, during registration, if I could see the course guides. Turns out I taught myself 80% of the curriculum already. I asked to test out of the entire program and obtain my degree without wasting 2-4 years of my life. They wanted my money. So I dropped out and started my own company.
I strongly believe anything in life is possible. Everything is obtainable. Just because everyone else has a set process for their success does not, in any way, mean you have to follow their mindset. Be a child again and forget about the rules. If there is something out there you want to do what is stopping you? Excuses.
Those who stand out and do great things are the ones who find their own path. Who make the trail that others will later follow.
Really like “make trails that others will later follow” – There's been a lot of times in the last six months that I feel like I'm on point with out a lot of backup. 🙂