Ep 18: Should We Be Grateful For What’s Possible?

ByGinny Townsend

Happy Thanksgiving!

I absolutely love this time of year… here in the United States, we’re celebrating Thanksgiving which tends to create moments for people to pause and consider what they’re grateful for. PLUS… I recently heard an incredible entrepreneur speak about innovations and new technologies that are almost a reality. 

And these innovations he discussed, they’re big ones. Think: illness will be optional and clean water will be as available as air.

Did that get your attention? If so, I think you’ll really enjoy today’s Thanksgiving episode as I unpack what this could look like, what it means for us as women entrepreneurs in a very disruptive business environment PLUS a challenge to not only be grateful for what we have but to be grateful for what’s possible.

Because, frankly, most things are truly possible. Enjoy!

Since this week is Thanksgiving here in the United States, I wanted to share something that has captured my attention this past week: it’s about an entirely different type of abundance than I think we’re used to considering that could allow us to see diamonds as a commodity and find clean water as prevalent as air… and for that, I’m so thankful.

I love living in Silicon Valley and being near all the amazing companies that shatter the limits of what we may think is normal or possible.

Let me give you an example.

I recently heard a brilliant entrepreneur and influencer speak named Naveen Jain.

To be honest I think of myself as someone who doesn’t think small. I try to always have something or someone challenging what’s included in my gift box of possibilities: what I view as being possible to give and receive. And viewing them as gifts, always reminds me to be thankful for them.  

We all have these gift boxes, right? And interestingly enough, what we hold as possible in this box defines our lives. But these gift boxes are subjective in size. And he really challenged me to include things in my personal realm of possibility I’d never considered before, to expand this gift box.

In his words, “There is never a shortage of opportunity, just a shortage of thinking.”

And I agree with this. It’s easy to hear the news and think, “wow, there is so much scarcity, there is so much lack, there is so much hopelessness.” But I lovingly challenge you to not accept those thoughts as the whole picture. I lovingly challenge you to see that there is always more. I’m not saying that ignoring the problem is the way to go. Quite the opposite. I wholeheartedly believe that knowing there is more is the first step to changing those situations of scarcity, lack and hopelessness. 

Back to Naveen. He is preparing to send rockets to the moon for mining and development. No big deal.

Here are some of his predictions to paint a clearer picture of what the possibilities on the moon look like…

  • Tickets to the moon being under 10K in the next decade (less that an international first class ticket)

  • The first baby will be born on the moon in the next 20 years

  • He even said that the moon could be our 8th continent (While this may sound crazy, think about how far Australia seemed a few hundred years ago to explorers and merchants. It probably felt as far as the moon feels now!)

  • Mining the moon, he estimates there are $16 quadrillion in mining resources near the surface (Here’s a reference point. I’m not trying to be political but I think this is the largest number we may have in our consciousness to pain a comparison, and that’s the US National Debt (at this writing it’s around $20 Trillion). It’s something that the news frequently calls “crippling.” How does the national debt stack up again these resources. 1/8 of 1%. 0.125%. It’s crazy to think that the national debt isn’t even a rounding error of the moon’s resources. That’s a lot of resources quickly becoming available to mankind!)

  • He predicts that moon rocks will make diamonds a commodity – things that used to be viewed as scarce. (This made me think of salt. A few hundred years ago people would guard their salt as their most valuable possession, but now we’re being told to consume less of it!! Limit. Shattered.)

Here’s another project he’s working on:

  • Illness will be optional 

  • That health care will be wildly disrupted by this technology such that consumers will be able to go straight to the science vs always needing a doctor

  • This is surprisingly near: the next decade or so

Let me ask a question of you, right now. What’s coming up for you as I share these shockingly current projects? Is it wide-eyed amazement? Excitement? Grateful to be alive right now? Fear? Overwhelm? Worried about being obsolete? Can you imagine growing your business (or starting a new business) in either exponential fields I just referenced? Space and health.

It’s compelling to note that a few skills become obsolete every year. But I hope that you don’t feel a sense of scarcity rise up as you hear this. 

What I want for you is the exact opposite. Limits are currently, very actively being pushed out farther than us. I hope you are looking at these new spaces that are opening up, new areas that previously had limits on them but are currently evaporating.

As markets continue to be disrupted, new opportunities will always arise. Businesses that don’t make sense right now will likely be some of the strongest in the future. 

What will people complain about then? What problems worthy of solving will then exist if resources like diamonds are commodities and clean water is like air? 

Like Alan Kay said, “The only way to predict the future is to invent it.”

Every time I hear someone talking about disruptive technologies affecting industries and practices we’ve never seriously been able to question in our lifetime, I keep thinking the biggest differentiator will continue to be our own mental game. How we think as we approach these shifts, in other words, how we interact with our own minds as we build businesses in a more limitless economy.

In an especially exciting time in technology, it’s more important than ever to be aware of our own Glass Walls – those barriers we’ve unintentionally set up in our own way. And if this term is new to you, it’s the phrase we use around here that envelopes the limiting thoughts and old habits that largely influence our day.

If you want to learn more about these Glass Walls, see the end of this post. I’ve gathered the links for some of my favorite episodes that paint a clearer picture of these Walls and how they can influence our lives.

It’s all about that gift box of possibilities we have subjectively framed for our lives. But I contend that we are made in the image of love, in the image of infinite, in the image of limitless so I hope you remain committed to fostering your biggest differentiator, or your mind.

I came across this thought about our minds by biologist Lyall Watson that I’ll paraphrase: “If the brain were simple enough to understand, we’d be so simple we couldn’t.” 

And as you’re planning on how you’re developing yourself, to build your dreams in a limitless world, how will you invest in yourself? 

If you’re looking for a roadmap to discover this Glass Walls in your life and shatter them so you can pursue these limitless dreams, I encourage you to join me as I launch my Masterclass series starting on Tuesday, December 5th. 

To claim your invitation, visit unsabotage.com/masterclass and I can’t wait for you to join me for this session.

Remember, there is always more. We need only look for it and be open to it.

And for that, we can be so grateful! So whether or not you’re currently in the States, I hope you take some time this week to be grateful not only for what you have, but for all that is possible. Sometimes life feels turbulent and scarce, but again my challenge to you is to commit yourselves to this notion: there is always more. 

Just because we don’t see everything right now, it doesn’t mean someone else isn’t working on something that will help you propel your business and life forward in the next couple of months.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! And I’ll see you next week for Episode 19!

P.S. Here are the other episodes I referenced in today’s show about Glass Walls:

Episode 1: What are Glass Walls?
Episode 12: The Best Lesson a Glass of Wine Ever Taught Me
Episode 13: Did You Know The Thought “Not Enough” Has A Sinister Sibling?
Episode 14: Changing This ONE HOLD HABIT Forever Altered My Business
Episode 15: Have You Met The Super Scary “Always Monster” and “Never Monster?”