The Universe offers us unlimited possibilities for our lives, the organizations we are part of and our world. So what limits us from expressing that potential? Thomas Troward, an English author whose work influenced the New Thought Movement, wrote that the “belief in limitation is the one and only thing that causes limitation.” It’s a challenge to expand our belief when we’ve lived most of our lives in a paradigm that reinforces limitation. After a while, it is easier to remain unconscious in order to go along with what has always been.
Yesterday I ran across a process used by Airbnb to help expand our thinking and fulfill more of the infinite possibilities that the Universe, The Force or God has in store for us. Because many businesses today are rated for quality by various online sites, such as Yelp, usually by using a five-star rating system, the leadership at Airbnb asked the question, “How do we build something that is such a mind-blowing experience, everyone would want to shout it out to the world?”
The leadership determined that if a lodger knocked on the door and no one was there to answer, the experience would warrant a one-star rating. No one shows up and you are so dissatisfied you ask for your money back. Perhaps a three-star experience would be when the boarder knocks on the door and it takes 15 minutes before anyone shows up. Maybe a five-star experience would look like someone answering the door immediately and everything pretty much meets your expectations, though nothing earthshattering occurs.
Then they posed this question: “What would provide a ten-star experience on a five-star scale?” In the exercise they let their imagination take over in order to go beyond the limits of their previous thinking. They imagined a ten-star experience would be what a world-renowned pop star like Beyoncé (or The Beatles if you want to go back in time) would experience if they landed in a country they had never been to before, where the residents would be beside themselves if they knew that a popular artist or group was going to perform in their backyard.
With that background in mind, the team created a scenario worthy of ten stars: Imagine you are the lodger, you get off the plane and 5,000 people are cheering your name as if you were that world-renowned pop star. There is a caravan of cars welcoming you to the country and you are greeted by a press conference as soon as you arrive at the house. On top of that, your assistant knocks on the door for you and your favorite artist or actor opens up the door and says, “Welcome to my home.” You are beside yourself!
In essence, you would be raising yourself to seek the highest and best vision for your life. Another way to start is by bringing this question to silent meditation time: “What is the universe’s highest and best expression for my life?” Once you get a picture of what that is, perhaps it starts out at a 5 or 6 on the five-point rating system. Then you stretch your imagination of what is possible until you reach the ten- or eleven-point range.
Because you are a spiritual being, there is no lack or limitation in you. There is no ceiling or anything in you that can prevent you from living the life God ordained you to live. You just have to stretch the boundaries of your beliefs. As you do, you begin to fulfill your potential of living a limitless life.
Peace and Blessings,
James