How the universe of possibility is entered through action, not intention

When I started this podcast, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. (This is an understatement!!)

No experience in audio production. No coaching audience. And no roadmap. I basically had no proof that it would work, that anyone would listen, that I had anything worth saying that hadn’t already been said by someone with a bigger platform and a better microphone.

And the voice that shows up in moments like that is very convincing. It says: wait until you’re more prepared, more established, more certain it will work. Wait until you’re ready.

But underneath all of that waiting, there was a vision. A belief that this was the right next step.

So I made a decision. I stopped waiting. And I moved anyway.

You’re reading this because of that decision!

Episode 7 of the Empowered Vision season is built around one of my favorite books, The Art of Possibility, by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander. And it’s the episode the whole season has been building toward. This is not because the inner work is all completely done, but because the inner work has to become outer movement.

So, what are you waiting for?

The Nursing Home Story

Ben Zander tells a story in The Art of Possibility of being asked to speak at a nursing home. He didn’t want to go. He couldn’t imagine what he would have to offer a room full of elderly people. What spark, what music, what possibility could he possibly bring?

He went anyway.

He describes the experience as transcendent. There was one woman in particular, frail, seemingly unreachable, who began to sit up straighter as he spoke. Something in the music reached her before any logical justification for hope could.

He left that nursing home transformed. Not because the conditions were perfect. He realized he had moved before he had proof, and that made all the difference.

The inspiration arrived inside the action. It almost always does.

This is the whole idea of moving anyway. There’s an opportunity over there. Maybe it’s something that doesn’t quite make logical sense yet, something you can’t fully see the value of in advance. And you go anyway. You’re surprised. And so are the people in the room with you.

✦  Season Connection: Episode 1 — Before the Vision Board:  The self-image work from Episode 1 is the foundation of this. The limiting story of who told you that you needed to be more ready? That was invented. And if it was invented, you can invent a better one.

It’s All Invented — So Invent Something Better (And Move Forward!)

The foundational premise of The Art of Possibility is radical and liberating: every story we tell about our lives, our limitations, and what’s possible – we invented it.

The inner roommate, you know that negative, convincing voice, told me when I started this podcast: this is ridiculous, you have no concept of what you’re doing, you have no audience, what are you going to say?

That story was invented. I know that now. And yes, there was some truth in it. I didn’t have an audience, and I truly didn’t have a clue. But the limitations weren’t necessary. It was just my mind trying to limit me from something new that I wasn’t familiar with.

So I changed the story. I invented a different one: I have something worth sharing. There are women out there who need to hear this. I don’t have to know everything before I begin. I just have to begin.

And here’s the thing about inventing a better story: it’s not delusion. It’s choosing which reality to build from.

I love this quote from the book: “When you bring your mind to it’s all invented, you remember that it’s all a story you tell — not just some of it, but all of it.”  — Benjamin Zander, The Art of Possibility

Two Worlds — Which One Are You Building From?

The Zanders describe two worlds we can choose to inhabit.

The world of measurement is defined by comparison, scarcity, and evaluation. Am I enough? Am I ahead or behind? What will people think? This is where most of us live most of the time without even knowing it. It’s a world that cannot hold a vision. It can only hold a score sheet.

And the universe of possibility – infinite, generative, abundant. In this world, the questions are different: what can I contribute? What wants to emerge? What is possible here?

Waiting for clarity is often the world of measurement in disguise. It’s asking for proof before you move. It’s staying inside the box until the box is guaranteed to be the right size.

But the universe of possibility doesn’t ask if you’re ready. It asks if you’re willing.

I want to make this personal. In Episode 6, I talked about the eight months before I met my husband. Prior to this, I’d been living in this dreadful space when it came to dating. The world of measurement was saying: you’re 44, you should be dating, you should be online, what are you doing, you’re wasting your time.

But during those eight months, I wasn’t operating from the world of measurement. I was operating from the universe of possibility — from a conviction that what I was holding was already on its way. My job wasn’t to make it happen. It was to become available for it.

Eight months later, I met my husband.

✦  Season Connection: Episode 3 — The Art of Seeing It First:  Outcome visualization is a practice that only makes sense from the universe of possibility. Every time you held a vision before the evidence arrived, you were already there.

You Are Not a Piece on the Board — You Are the Board

We hear a lot about vision boards. But the Zanders offer a reframe I love:

It’s not about what’s pinned on the board. You are the board.

The board is the context, the field on which everything plays out. And you are the context in which your life occurs to you. You are the creator of the conditions, not just a piece being moved around by circumstance.

So the question becomes: what kind of board are you right now?

Are you open? Trusting? Welcoming the vision in? Or are you doubtful, resistant, pushing it away before it can land?

** You don’t have to control all the pieces. You just have to tend the energy of the board.

“I am the context in which my life occurs to me. I am the creator of the conditions.”  — Benjamin Zander, The Art of Possibility

Three Things I Moved Toward Before I Had Proof

Before we close, I want to name three things from my own life where I moved before I had clarity or certainty, and every single one of them came to fruition.

This podcast. I had no audience, no experience, no roadmap. I just had a vision and a decision to move. You are reading this because of that decision.

Eight months before I met my husband. The world of measurement told me I was wasting my time. I committed to the vision and the daily practice anyway. Nine years later – here we are.

My Boston practice. I could see and feel it before it existed. I moved toward it,  open, willing, one step at a time. And it came to fruition exactly as I had envisioned.

In all three of these, the absence of proof meant I had to operate from something deeper. From the vision. And from the universe of possibility.

The path forward is made by walking and discovering along the way.

Three Things to Do This Week to Move Forward

1. Name the Vision You’ve Been Waiting On

What have you been saying you’ll do when you’re ready – when you have more time, more money, more certainty? Write it down today. Not tomorrow. This vision is ready for you right now.

The vision doesn’t have to wait for you to be ready. It’s been waiting long enough.

2. Choose Your Framework

How would the version of you who has already moved see this situation? Write it as a single sentence: In this situation, I choose to see… That sentence is your new board. That is the context you are creating.

You don’t have to feel it fully yet. Just write it. The feeling follows the framework.

3. Take One Step Today

Not the plan. One concrete action in the direction of the vision. Today. The universe of possibility is entered through action, not just intention.

The momentum of moving will allow the vision to become more clear. One step is enough.

The Clarity Was Waiting on the Other Side

When I started Her New Lens, I had a voice in my head telling me to wait.

I didn’t wait.

And what I discovered, what the Zanders confirm in The Art of Possibility, is that the clarity I was waiting for was waiting for me on the other side of getting started.

It is always on the other side of movement.

Step out of the world of measurement and step into the universe of possibility. Where the question is: what is possible here? What do I have to give? What kind of board do I choose to be?

The vision you’re carrying is not a fantasy. It is pointing you in a direction. And the direction becomes more clear by moving.

Stop waiting. And move anyway.

This post is based on Episode 7 of the Empowered Vision season: Stop Waiting for Clarity, Move Anyway. Listen to the full episode here:

If this resonated, share it with a woman in your life who is waiting.