Anything…But Not Everything

Many of us think that anything is possible. That no matter what we put our minds to or set our sights on, it will happen.

Where it gets tricky is when we think that anything and everything is possible. The reality is that there isn’t enough time, desire, or energy available to any of us to do anything and everything. We have to choose. This act of choosing automatically necessitates small choices along the way, where we refocus and get clear that the anything we pursue is worth the sacrifice of having everything available to us.

I’ve recently come to see how this kind of “anything and everything” thinking has been an obstacle to achieving audacious goals in my life. Sure, I’ve had goals of all sizes over the years: daily, weekly, annual, performance goals at work, and sometimes fairly decent-sized goals that made me stretch…a safe amount. But how could I possibly pursue something ludicrous if my focus was split or I held back in some way so I could stay open to everything?

This mode of thinking, that anything and everything was possible at the same time, made everything that came my way something I had to fully consider. Instead of knowing it wasn’t a part of my anything and able to say, “thanks, but no thanks,” I tried staying open to everything, which sounded more like, “Oh, well, thanks…yeah, that sounds good…let me think about it and get back to you…”cue lame fade away, indecision, and inaction.

I think this anything and everything approach taps into the fear of missing out so many of us feel pressured by, and see validated by the culture that surrounds us. You only live once, right? If I make a definitive choice for my anything, doesn’t that mean I’m saying “no” to everything else? What if I say “no” to the wrong thing? What do I do then?

What then…we get one step closer to achieving our anything. We get a clearer line of sight to those audacious goals we want to achieve and ideas on how to make it happen. We gain greater focus and clarity in making those small choices that get us closer to our anything. The tension and anxiety also drop because we don’t feel the pressure to consider or say “yes” to everything; we say “thanks, but no thanks” with conviction and confidence, ready to advance another step forward on the road to our anything.

And so: anything is possible. Everything is not. Choose it, embrace it, and live your anything fully, as audacious as you wanna be.