Organizing Yourself Around Your Aim

January 10, 2022

You want something impossible.

It tugs at your heart and speaks loudly to your soul, but you have no idea where to even begin making it happen.

I’ve talked before about becoming the clearing for your impossible visions.

Making the impossible happen hinges on our way of being in the world. Whether we’re operating from the person we are now who feels like what we want is impossible, or we’re showing up and taking actions as the future self who already has what we want. It’s a challenging mindset shift, but oh so necessary.

But it’s not as simple as just being that version of yourself.

You have to organize yourself around your aim.

When I decided I was done with high school and was ready to begin my adult life, I immediately organized myself around it. I learned what it would take to graduate early, convinced my parents despite their resistance (and some annoyance), and with my mom’s help, managed to convince the administration to let me do it despite their firm rule of “we only provide this option to Juniors.” I was a sophomore, but I did it. I took summer school and correspondence and graduated a year early, moving to Colorado shortly after to start design school.

When I decided that I wanted my brain back from the debilitating PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), I immediately organized myself around it. I took a full-court press to my healing and asked for help from anyone I could. I took supplements, read and re-read books (because remembering was impossible at the time), and pushed myself and my brain in ways that made my head literally hurt. But I did it. I healed my brain and got my memory back.

When I decided to move to the mountains and live the life I’d been craving, I immediately organized myself around it. I negotiated my way out of a lease mid-term, found the perfect 4Runner with a flexible payment plan, and rented a fantastic apartment sight unseen right where I wanted to be. It happened far more quickly than I believed it could, despite being impossible by many accounts.

To do the impossible, I organize myself around my aim—internally and externally.

First, I get clear on what exactly I want.

To graduate early… get my brain back… move to the mountains despite my lease… whatever it is, I get clear on what I want. This doesn’t mean that my vision can’t or won’t change as I move toward it, but I give myself a clear aim.

Second, I decide that it’s happening.

All of these things, along with other accomplishments, have felt overwhelmingly impossible. The goals I’m actively working toward right now feel overwhelmingly impossible. Sometimes, by all accounts, in the moment that I decide they’re happening, they are impossible. But I make the decision that they’re happening anyway. This isn’t some light “I hope it will, I hope it might” deciding. It’s a total mind, body, soul decision that this thing I want will happen, no matter what. It’s a commitment. Nothing happens without this level of decision.

Third, I organize myself around it.

This has both internal and external aspects. The internal is about shifting into the way of being—the consciousness, energy, and way of engaging with the world—of the me who already has this thing I want. It’s full embodiment, not just “fake it til’ you make it” vibes. I tune into that consciousness, usually through deeper process work, and pull that version of myself into the now. The external is that I literally organize myself around what I want. I start doing everything that needs to be done for the thing to happen, or having conversations to figure out what’s missing that’s making it feel impossible. My lease isn’t up until months from now, but I want to move? I’m selling everything, packing what I don’t need, apartment shopping, and negotiating with my landlord. I’m in motion on what I want, as if it’s inevitable.

Fourth, I unpack my winning strategies and subconscious programming.

Anything that feels impossible shows us where our subconscious beliefs and frameworks are getting in the way. We can’t fully embody the future version of ourselves or take consistent action in the direction of what we’ve decided is happening if we’re not looking at our subconscious wiring and winning strategies. If we don’t, we’re going to self-sabotage or fall into old patterns and ways of stopping ourselves. We won’t be able to weather the “terror barrier,” that point where all the fear, triggers, and sabotaging behaviors kick in as our subconscious goes into overdrive trying to keep us from making any changes. This often requires personalized support because it’s so hard for us to see on our own.