How to "Think Like a VISIONARY" About What’s Possible For You
Eben Pagan teaches how to expand your sense of possibility by examining it from multiple perspectives - past experiences, others' achievements, and pure creative vision. He explains why most people limit themselves by only looking backward and provides frameworks for developing visionary thinking.
Teachings 12
The etymology of 'possible' traces back to 'ability' and 'power', revealing that possibility is fundamentally about personal capacity and strength
Eben traces the word 'possible' to its etymological roots meaning 'to be able' and connects it to ability and power, showing the linguistic foundation of possibility thinking
Visionary thinkers approach possibility by asking 'what would I like to create if I could start from scratch' rather than being constrained by past experience
Eben distinguishes visionary people as those who 'don't go into their past and think about what they've experienced' but instead 'go into their mind and ask well what would I like to create if I could start from scratch'
Werner Erhard's principle reveals that 'we put our past in our future' - using historical experience to predict and limit future possibilities
Eben quotes Werner Erhard, creator of EST program and Landmark Forum, who says 'we put our past in our future' to explain how people use backward-looking thinking to construct their future
W. Edwards Deming's car analogy illustrates how most people navigate life by 'driving while looking in the rearview mirror'
Eben references W. Edwards Deming's metaphor about 'driving a car while looking in the rear view mirror' to demonstrate the dangers of backward-focused decision making
Jerry Ballinger's canvas metaphor shows most people paint their life by looking at what they've already painted instead of the blank canvas ahead
Eben's mentor Jerry Ballinger compared life to painting a canvas where 'most people are going along and they're painting the canvas of their life but they're looking back at what they've already painted to figure out what to paint next' instead of seeing the blank canvas ahead
Expanding possibility carries the risk of disappointment and requires managing the fear of getting hopes up only to experience failure
Eben admits 'sometimes when I start to get my hopes up about things I then start to feel a little fear like oh wow what if I get my hopes up and I believe in this thing and then it doesn't happen'
Cognitive biases like confirmation bias and ownership bias can lead to dangerous overinvestment in possibilities without rational assessment
Eben warns about 'cognitive biases and confirmation bias and ownership biases' that cause people to become 'totally convinced this is going to work' leading them to invest everything and 'threw away all our money' when it fails
Meta-possibility involves changing your fundamental definition of what 'possible' means at the root level
Eben introduces the concept of 'meta possible' asking 'what's possible when you change your definition of what possible even means itself if you go all the way down to the root level'
When examining past achievements for possibility, focus on peak experiences and moments when you proved you could transcend previous limitations
Eben instructs to 'look back and ask what were our Peak experiences here when did we reach something where it was really a new level for us and when did we prove to ourselves that we could go beyond'
When studying others' achievements, look at those who achieved success while maintaining a good life, not those who sacrificed everything for narrow wins
Eben advises to 'look at those that not just those that have achieved something but those that have achieved something and also have a good life' rather than 'people that sacrificed their whole life to get one little narrow win'
Pure creative visionary space involves imagining possibilities with no current evidence, expanding into pure imagination without constraints
Eben teaches to 'ask what would be possible in pure creative Visionary space what could I just imagine could be possible that there's no evidence right now that anything like this could happen but maybe it is possible'
Most people can achieve 10x or 100x better results by expanding their sense of what possibility means and how it works
Eben states his belief that 'most of us can 10x or 100x our results and I think that a lot of it comes down to just expanding our own sense of what possibility means and how it works'
Perspectives 1
Most people define possibility by looking at their past experiences and achievements, which severely limits their future potential
Eben describes how when asked 'what's possible,' most people 'look back at their life experience and think about the things I've done or things that I've seen' rather than expanding beyond past limitations
Quotable Moments 4
“we put our past in our future”
— Eben Pagan“what would I like to create if I could start from scratch”
— Eben Pagan“most of us can 10x or 100x our results”
— Eben Pagan“you can turn around and look the other direction and just see that there's a blank canvas there and you could paint anything that you want”
— Eben Pagan
How to Think Like a Visionary About Possibility
A three-perspective framework for expanding your sense of what's possible beyond past limitations
- 1
Examine Peak Past Experiences
Look back at your life and ask what were your peak experiences when you reached a new level and proved you could go beyond previous limitations
- 2
Study Balanced Achievers
Look at people who have achieved success while maintaining a good life, not those who sacrificed everything for narrow wins
- 3
Enter Pure Creative Visionary Space
Release all constraints and ask what would be possible with no evidence required - expand into pure imagination space
- 4
Practice Multiple Perspectives
Regularly practice looking at possibility from all three perspectives and experiment with expanded thinking
- 5
Manage Risk Rationally
Be aware of cognitive biases and avoid overinvestment while expanding your sense of possibility
Questions Answered
How do visionary thinkers approach possibility differently
“these people are a little bit more um let's say Visionary in their sense of possibility”
— Eben Pagan▶ 2:06
Visionary thinkers ask 'what would I like to create if I could start from scratch' instead of looking at past experiences to determine what's possible.
What does Werner Erhard mean by we put our past in our future
“we put our past in our future”
— Eben Pagan▶ 2:39
We use our past experiences to predict and limit what we think is possible in the future, essentially driving through life while looking in the rearview mirror.
What is meta-possibility
“what's possible when you change your definition of what possible even means itself if you go all the way down to the root level”
— Eben Pagan▶ 5:17
Meta-possibility involves changing your fundamental definition of what 'possible' means at the root level, going beyond conventional thinking about possibility itself.
Why don't people expand their sense of possibility
“if you expand your sense of what's possible and then you don't achieve it you might have to experience disappointment”
— Eben Pagan▶ 4:12
People avoid expanding their sense of possibility because of the risk of disappointment and cognitive biases that can lead to overinvestment in unrealistic goals.
How should you study successful people for possibility
“let's look at those that not just those that have achieved something but those that have achieved something and also have a good life”
— Eben Pagan▶ 6:53
Look at those who achieved success while maintaining a good life, not people who sacrificed everything for narrow wins.
What is pure creative visionary space
“what would be possible in pure creative Visionary space what could I just imagine could be possible that there's no evidence right now that anything like this could happen but maybe it is possible”
— Eben Pagan▶ 7:23
Pure creative visionary space involves imagining possibilities with no current evidence, expanding into pure imagination without constraints from past experience or proof.
How much can people improve their results by expanding possibility thinking
“I think that most of us can 10x or 100x our results and I think that a lot of it comes down to just expanding our own sense of what possibility means means and how it works”
— Eben Pagan▶ 7:43
Most people can achieve 10x or 100x better results by expanding their sense of what possibility means and how it works.
Summary
Understanding the True Nature of Possibility
Eben explores the etymology of 'possible' and reveals how most people limit themselves by defining possibility through past experiences. He introduces the concept that possibility is fundamentally about ability and power, not just past achievements.
Why People Avoid Expanding Their Possibilities
The risks of expanding possibility include disappointment, cognitive biases, and potential overinvestment in unrealistic goals. Eben shares insights from Werner Erhard, W. Edwards Deming, and his mentor Jerry Ballinger about how people drive through life looking backward.
The Three-Perspective Framework for Visionary Thinking
Eben provides a practical framework: examine peak past experiences, study balanced achievers who maintained good lives, and enter pure creative visionary space. He believes this approach can help most people achieve 10x or 100x better results.
Counterpoint
Claim: “Look at your past experiences to determine what's possible in the future”
Reframe: Visionary thinkers ask 'what would I like to create if I could start from scratch' rather than being limited by past experience
Eben distinguishes that visionary people 'don't go into their past and think about what they've experienced' but instead 'go into their mind and ask well what would I like to create if I could start from scratch'
Claim: “Study any successful person to understand what's possible”
Reframe: Only study those who achieved success while maintaining a good life, not those who sacrificed everything for narrow wins
Eben advises to look at 'those that have achieved something and also have a good life' rather than 'people that sacrificed their whole life to get one little narrow win'
Claim: “Possibility must be based on evidence and past proof”
Reframe: Pure creative visionary space involves imagining possibilities with no current evidence, expanding into pure imagination
Eben teaches to imagine 'what could I just imagine could be possible that there's no evidence right now that anything like this could happen but maybe it is possible'
Key Points 13
The etymology of 'possible' traces back to 'ability' and 'power', revealing that possibility is fundamentally about personal capacity and strength
▶ 1:01Most people define possibility by looking at their past experiences and achievements, which severely limits their future potential
▶ 1:34Visionary thinkers approach possibility by asking 'what would I like to create if I could start from scratch' rather than being constrained by past experience
▶ 2:14Werner Erhard's principle reveals that 'we put our past in our future' - using historical experience to predict and limit future possibilities
▶ 2:39W. Edwards Deming's car analogy illustrates how most people navigate life by 'driving while looking in the rearview mirror'
▶ 3:10Jerry Ballinger's canvas metaphor shows most people paint their life by looking at what they've already painted instead of the blank canvas ahead
▶ 3:42Expanding possibility carries the risk of disappointment and requires managing the fear of getting hopes up only to experience failure
▶ 4:12Cognitive biases like confirmation bias and ownership bias can lead to dangerous overinvestment in possibilities without rational assessment
▶ 4:32Meta-possibility involves changing your fundamental definition of what 'possible' means at the root level
▶ 5:17When examining past achievements for possibility, focus on peak experiences and moments when you proved you could transcend previous limitations
▶ 6:20When studying others' achievements, look at those who achieved success while maintaining a good life, not those who sacrificed everything for narrow wins
▶ 6:53Pure creative visionary space involves imagining possibilities with no current evidence, expanding into pure imagination without constraints
▶ 7:23Most people can achieve 10x or 100x better results by expanding their sense of what possibility means and how it works
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