A Thinking Framework for Achieving Real Breakthroughs

If I were to ask one hundred people—people from across the demographic spectrum—what one change would have the greatest favorable impact on their lives, I think I can predict the most popular response: more income. This is hardly surprising, because even though we like to say that you can’t solve problems by throwing money at them, the truth is that the ability to apply the right financial resources at the right time goes a long way to making life easier. In many cases, money does solve problems.

What is surprising to me is how limited in their thinking many people are when you ask how much of an increase it would take to make life better. A lot of people will look at their current situation, add 10 to 20 percent and envision relief from their stresses. But I can tell you from experience that if you check in a year later on the person who has succeeded at bumping up their income that much, what you will often find is someone suffering from the same financial stresses—just at a 10 to 20 percent higher level. The hamster wheel is just spinning faster now.

What it comes down to is the difference between incremental thinking and breakthrough “possibilities thinking”—and it does not just apply to monthly finances. Ask a dentist who is counting down the days to retirement if they would continue in practice if they could do only the cases they wanted, on only the patients they wanted, on only the days they wanted, and many would jump at the opportunity. It’s just that they never stopped to think in terms of having that opportunity.

Incremental thinking is about thinking in terms of dealing with existing issues. Possibilities thinking, on the other hand, is about envisioning a future where those issues don’t exist. So when you think about your possibilities, don’t be afraid to think big.