When the concept of an “Impossible Dream” was first introduced to me, it was my understanding that it be literally impossible. There’s no way to create 17 steps from here to there. It then becomes a place to come from, instead of a goal to get to. Who would I need to be, to be a person capable of this thing? And simply come from that place?
One of my favorite exercises when talking with people to really expand their thinking and possibilities is to ask them what their Impossible Dream is. Without exception (so far), I’ve always been able to reflect back to them that it sounded more like a “Probable Dream” than an impossible one, and they were actually quite well along their way to achieving it. My simple reflection of that truth then emboldens them to turn things up to a level they didn’t think they were capable of.
As part of the work I’ve been doing on myself lately to find my next and greatest chapter, it was asked of me “Who inspires you?” as opposed to “Who can I inspire?”.
It’s been a powerful question I’ve been sitting with. It also inspired me to return to my own impossible dream.
For a while, I had none I could articulate, other than simply trusting that something got me out of bed every day to do what I do. Then I brought it into the world of metaphor and used a “Star Trek future” as a dream of mine, but even that is too abstract. I’ve also become leery of utopian visions. What happens when your vision of a utopia and mine aren’t the same? I feel like I’m inundated with tons of visions of people wanting to tear down everything and rebuild it in their image. That’s not a road I want to go down or be part of.
And then inspiration hit me. A true “impossible dream”. One I cannot lay out a road map to create, but one that DOES inspire me, and I hope, connect me with more people that inspire me (and maybe for me to also inspire in return). Here it is:
I will be part of the team that wins the Nobel Peace Prize for solving climate change.
This was difficult to say at first. It was hard for me to share it. I felt silly saying it. It seems ridiculous in its audacity. And when I realized that, I knew I had something.
It then filled me with a truth that the only way the world is going to solve our greatest challenges is for audacious optimists to innovate our way to solutions that simply don’t exist yet.
I want to “play” at the highest of levels with people doing the same.
My role in this “impossible” future started to look more possible.
Who will now show up because I dare speak this?
Going forward, I’m going to invite myself to speak from this place. Let’s see what happens.
What does watching me play with my Impossible Dream invoke in you? Tell me.
