The Power of Thinking What if
what if i had been kinder to that person
would they have turned out the same what
if i chose this
instead where would i be now what if i
don’t get into this college
what if i ruin my chance these are all
examples of what i call the what-if
mindset
it’s a process of thinking we have where
we imagine outcomes of the future
or dwell on regrets of the past it just
takes one what if
and we think of them more often than we
let on thoughts like
what if i had done this differently or
what if this will happen
they can be as simple as wanting to
change a spoken word
or as big as wanting to change a life
decision
these thoughts are often negative but to
change this way of thinking
we first have to understand why we do it
i know that in my case i’m an indecisive
person
i want to make the right decision in the
moment so i’ll limit the regrets i’ll
have looking back
this sounds good but most of the time i
won’t choose anything by doing this
which in most cases can be worse than
making the wrong decision
i saw the indecisiveness and doubt in
myself but now that i see my flaws i’m
able to accept them
and be more decisive because of it to
break it down
wide of thinking can be sorted into
positives and negatives
negative what-ifs can be things we wish
we could have changed like a past
opportunity we think about what we could
have done
saying if i had just done this
everything would be so much better
when really it probably wouldn’t have
been
you may say what’s wrong with thinking
what if about the past
the thing is it’s so easy to do
and the more you do it the more you take
away from today
and tomorrow the solution is really
simple
you have to accept that the past is gone
so leave it where it is
if you made a bad decision there’s
nothing you can do now but learn from it
we forget that we should make mistakes
but remember that they’re a part of who
we are
if you worry if you get stressed it
won’t get you anywhere
if anything it prevents you from doing
well i know that for me
i’m a high jumper on my track team some
days i’ll jump higher than i ever have
but then the next meet i’ll fail to
clear even the lowest height
when i don’t get the easy heights it
messes with me
i mean i know more than anyone that i
can’t change my past jumps
but this is so hard to remember when i’m
standing there
staring at the bar knowing i only have
one attempt left because i know i messed
up the last two
after working at highjump for years i’ve
learned something really valuable
you have to have a strong mind that can
set aside your frustration
so you can just focus on the next jump
because really
that’s what must happen after you fail
you learn
you grow and then you just focus on the
next jump
what about the what-ifs of the future
things like
what if i don’t get this grade on my
test or what if this will happen
in my experience the thing that’s so
terrifying about the future
is that you have no idea what it holds
but even with this
there’s a blessing of the future that
the past can never have
and it’s that you can change it the past
is gone
but what you do in the future can and
will change your life
it’s really all up to you i mean you
don’t have to have everything figured
out
you think at 15 i do i mean no
really failing isn’t the worst outcome
if anything the worst thing is being
afraid to fail because once you do that
you can never change or get a different
outcome
while making this talk i’ve noticed that
we have the wrong idea about the what-if
mindset
see we think we think our what-ifs limit
us
but that’s just not true really we limit
ourselves
we choose to worry over our mistakes we
choose to worry about future risks that
might not even happen
but with all this about regrets and
fears it’s hard to remember
that what-ifs can be a good thing what
if i succeeded
what if i made a difference it’s a lot
easier to think about the negative
rather than the positive
it’s just in our nature to doubt and be
prepared
but though the negative what ifs limits
you the positive what ifs
can give you hope when you catch
yourself thinking the worst what ifs
try and flip them to the helpful side
turn
what if i miss that opportunity into
what if there’s a better one
turn the future fear of what if i get
rejected
into what if i get accepted
i’ve learned that if there’s no what if
there’s no risk
if you let the risks of the future limit
you they’re just going to become regrets
of the past you want to change
i mean there will be regrets of the past
but leave them there
though the future is unknown our fear
isn’t always bad
fear lets you know when the what-ifs are
near but it’s only your choice
whether to make them positive or not
thank you
you