The Impossible Turned Possible

How to Turn Your Dreams into Reality

Carolyn Hardy

• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781631952593
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Personal Success

In The Impossible Turned Possible, Carolyn Chism Hardy provides a roadmap to plan one's journey to the life they deserve with a simple 5 step process.

The Impossible Turned Possible is a step-by-step guide acting as a virtual assistant to help every step of the way. The real-life experiences discussed within challenge and inspire readers to achieve their personal goals. The inspirational stories act as the 'kick in the pants' many need in order to get started. The real-life stories within The Impossible Turned Possible were selected as examples of goals that most Americans desire to achieve such as education, wealth, and health. The 5 step SMART goals process follows the KISS theory, which 'keeps it simple' to allow others to understand, internalize then execute. The Impossible Turned Possible ends with a workbook designed to help readers get started on their journey.

CHAPTER 1

When I was eight years old, our home burned down.

My mother and seven of her fifteen children (two died in early childhood) were sitting in the living room watching TV while two babies slept in the bedroom.

To this day, I don’t remember what motivated me to walk into the kitchen. As I opened the door, flames burst through the doorway. The entire rear of the house was engulfed in fire and smoke. I screamed, causing my mother to spring into action. She instructed her kids, ages four to ten, to exit the house as she retrieved her babies from the crib. My siblings and I were standing outside in absolute fear. The lady who made our life possible was running back into the blaze.

Within minutes, she re-appeared amidst the smoke, saving my brother and sister. She fell to the ground with singed hair and eyebrows. One baby suffered moderate burns and the other remained unscathed. The house was reduced to ashes by the time fire trucks arrived. Those embers glow as vivid in my mind today as the day I first witnessed my mother turn the impossible to possible.

When I think about the challenges I face, both past and present, the achievements and victories that appeared out of my grasp, I remember the bravery my mom displayed that night and realize my challenges hardly compare. Through any challenges I face, I strive to bring the same energy my mother mustered for her children. Mom had to think quickly and logically in a time of crisis; her babies would not have survived without her quick action and determination. Many lives depended on her leadership during the fire, and she turned the impossible to possible.

Despite the fire department’s insistence on avoiding a burning building, Mom believed saving her babies was possible. She had no one telling her she would not be successful. The key to her success was her blind determination to save her children’s lives. At no point did she believe her goal to be impossible.

In life, everything is not of equal importance; prioritization is key. She never said, “We lost everything.” She accomplished the impossible by saving what was important. This was my first encounter with the impossible turned possible. I still become emotional every time I think about it. The incident is imprinted in my mind and heart forever.

PLANNING THE JOURNEY

According to research from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, only 3 percent of adult citizens in the United States take the time and put in the effort to plan for the future, but this 3 percent accomplishes five to ten times more in their lifetimes than the other 97 percent. Most people spend more time planning their vacations than planning their financial investments because vacation is seen as a short-term escape from the day-to-day reality while financial investments represent more meaningful change in your life—long-term escape, which can change your family’s quality of life. Individuals who take the time to determine what they want to achieve and develop a plan are much more likely to accomplish their goals than those who leave their lives to chance. There is magic and power in planning.

Larry Winget, author and speaker, said, “Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke, fat, lazy, or stupid. Those things are what happen when you don’t have a plan.”

Many people dream of winning the lottery. They dream about how they will spend the money to reach the goals they have not accomplished, things like purchasing a home, career aspirations, entrepreneurship, or other life-changing goals. But the conversation ends with excuses about why they are not able to achieve those goals without a chance win like the lottery. They believe success is reserved for extraordinary people. They believe success is out of reach. The goal of this book is to demonstrate how planning is key to achieving your goals and the life you deserve—without winning the lottery.

GOAL SETTING: SET SMART GOALS

The benefit of setting a goal and a subsequent plan is it becomes the roadmap for your journey. It keeps you on course even when life offers you new opportunities or challenges. By setting a goal and developing your plan to reach it, you focus on your choices. This gives you the mindset of having control over your life so you can continue to make choices on the way.

For example, a vacation plan makes your journey more pleasurable. You need to know where you are going and how you will get there. Detailed preparation decreases the risk of things going wrong with your journey. It’s the same with goal setting and planning—planning increases the possibility that your life will go in the right direction, the direction you want it to go.

Now that you know why goal setting and planning are critical for your outcome, let’s go over where to start. I follow a five-step approach best summarized by Andrew Farrelly in a 2017 article entitled “Get Real SMART: Setting Goals—Well”:

1. Make Sure Your Goals are SMART: specific, measureable, attainable, relevant, and time specific. I also live my life by the KISS theory: keep it simple stupid. SMART is a simple guideline for setting goals anyone can follow.

Specific: Your goal is clearly defined. For example, “I want to lose weight” is vague. Instead, “I want to lose thirty pounds” is specific or “I want to graduate by 2019.”

Measurable: Quantify your goal so you know when it’s achieved. Start by being specific as we discussed above. Losing weight is good but stating your specific goal will be more motivational. The thirty-pound weight loss or the year 2019 is measurable.

Attainable: Set a stretch goal that challenges you while making it realistic based upon your capabilities within your control. An unattainable goal may frustrate you and set you up for failure.

Relevant: Your goals help you achieve the life you deserve or achieve plans for your life. Therefore, it is important not only understand what your goals are but why they are important to you and your family. This will be your motivation to follow your plan.

Time Specific: Set a deadline (date) by which your goal will be achieved. A goal of losing thirty pounds without a date does not create a sense of urgency. Losing thirty pounds in eighteen months with interim weight loss at key milestones helps you monitor and measure your progress.

2. Set Milestones

The due date for a goal is typically far away. Many people put off starting until the first milestone approaches. Therefore, look at the project and set milestones based upon the accomplishment of anything significant. For example, losing weight may require a monthly weight loss goal since new habits are needed to stay on target. In the case of savings, if you want to save $100,000 and plan to save $2,000 per...