“What’s the chance?” Lewis howes.  The question that changes everything. Brings up that if you don’t ask you’re not going to get it. On 9/5/2024 I wrote about taking the chance to ask for what we need.  I needed to work from home, it made sense to work from home, so I asked for it under a circumstance where I normally would have made an excuse that my staff was in the building and I should be there with them.  But a different question struck me: how much use can I really be to them when I am this burdened with these things and I know I can better serve from here?  When we ask for what we need in a way that supports not only ourselves but others, we open the doorway.  Howes was talking about opening doorways with this question in situations like “What’s the chance I can get an upgrade?  What’s the chance I can get 10% off?  What’s the chance you want to collaborate?  What’s the chance you want to go later?”  All of those things, that phrasing opens possibilities.  So we need to remember to take the chance on our own lives and see what magic it can bring by simply asking “What’s the chance I can do this?” “What’s the chance that this works out infinitely better than I thought?”

This question ties in with the presence we spoke about yesterday.  People are more willing to do things than we think and I believe that we are all kind of tired of working in a world that we feel is functionally NOT working anymore.  We are learning to work together so we can change how things work overall.  That requires presence and awareness of who we are and a willingness to take a chance.  Go with what we feel because the worst that can happen is a no—and that no may lead us to something better anyway.  Presence is different than impulse, I’m not talking about reckless action, I’m talking about aligned action that feels right and creates connection rather than self-serving purpose.  If we are going to learn who we are and fully embrace ourselves, then we need to learn to take the chance and find ways to enjoy the now—to be in the now at all times. 

We’ve all faced a “no” in our lives and we’ve all had to decide what to do after we’ve been denied.  Do we give in and do nothing?  Or do we find a way to compromise and find an alternative?  Or do we say screw it and do it anyway?  We never know what will happen unless we take chances.  I’m not saying we need to jump the Grand Canyon or quit our jobs all at once or anything like that—but I am saying we need to see that there are more opportunities open to us than we think.  Sometimes all we have to do is ask the question to open the conversation.  All we have to do is be willing to open that door ourselves and not wait until the time seems right.  Sometimes people are waiting for us to create that opportunity so they can jump in on it as well.  We don’t need to overcomplicate things or continue to follow some perceived hierarchy.  Sometimes we need to slow down, learn to connect, have the conversation, and simply ask the damn questions.  Just learn to take the chance, be in the now.  Stop spending time dreaming of what it could be and take the first step to making it a reality.