How Extraordinary Goals Create Surprising Possibilities For Everyday People & Turn Life Into a Grand Adventure

The thing is never the thing.

Rather, it’s the thing beyond the thing.

Let me explain.

When we set a goal, such as writing a book, we don’t ONLY want to achieve that goal.

We think we want it. But we are gravely mistaken.

Thus, we stress ourselves out and create existential crises in our stubborn pursuit.

In fact, most of the time we don’t even want that goal at all.

But, there is magic in this process.

Through the success or failure in reaching a given goal, we activate a latent web of possibilities.

Those new possibilities are the things beyond the original thing.

And those new possibilities are the things we really want.

Peak performance coach and best-selling author Steven Kotler calls this the “adjacent possible.”

When you activate the potential of a dream (meaning you take action on it), you simultaneously activate the potential of infinite adjacent dreams.

View the image below, which describes the adjacent possibilities for my goal of writing a book. I think I want to write a book, but I really want the web beyond it.

See, it's terribly difficult to imagine exactly what we want.

So, a goal’s primary function is to lead you into a greater realm of unimaginable possibilities

Living with this perspective makes life feel like a grand adventure.

It also makes it less complicated to choose the "perfect" life path. Because choosing one path always opens up an abundance of other paths.

As Alan Watts says, “The universe is a system that surprises itself.”

Let yourself be surprised at the ways you grow, passions you discover, people you meet friends, projects you decide to launch, places you go, and infinite other surprises.

Take a moment to reflect...

What is your biggest goal in life right now?

By all means, accomplish that goal.

But stay open. Remember, that goal is not the thing you are after. 

Stay awake, stay aware for the things beyond that thing.

What else is waiting for you in the infinite web of adjacent possibilities?

Love, Connor

P.S. Thank you for your time and attention. It means the world to me.

Questions, comments, feedback, need help? Reach out. I read every reply (so far, I have 0 replies; please, be the first and make my day!). It'd be a privilege to connect with you.

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