One way to expand your impossible

Most of us underestimate what’s possible for ourselves.

Not because we’re lazy or lack ambition.

But because we’re stuck inside a narrow “possibility space”.

Let me show you what I mean…

Complexity science has this great term called “possibility space”

It means increasing the set of states, strategies and trajectories a system can realistically access next.

Not just what exists now, but the "other possibilities" it can reach through new capabilities and connections.

It's the idea that:

Our belief of what is possible is determined by our environment, our upbringing, the people we spend our time with and what we consume.

But you can expand what you believe to be possible through action, elimination, reflection and change.

Here’s the problem: if your map is too small, your goals shrink with it. You keep choosing safe, obvious paths. And when you do, momentum dies.

The antidote is becoming goal-directed and widening the range of outcomes you see as viable (your possibility space).

How to expand your possibility space (and turn it into action)

1. Pick a problem, not a perfect purpose. Don’t wait for certainty. Choose a meaningful problem you’d like to see solved and let clarity emerge through action.

2. Set a High-Hard Goal (1–5 years). Ambitious enough to stretch you, concrete enough to reverse-engineer.

3. Separate planning from doing. Plan your dominoes at day’s end; execute them, distraction-free, next morning.

4. Flood your field with belief. Curate peers, inputs, and environments that normalize bigger outcomes (belief is contagious.)

8 prompts to expand what’s possible for you (and align action)

1. Belief Contagion: Who do you spend time with that expands your sense of what’s possible? Who quietly shrinks it? What’s one change you’ll make this month?

2. Brute-Force Big Thinking: If you knew you couldn’t fail, what’s the 10x/100x version of your current goal? Write it down even if it feels audacious.

3. Self-Efficacy Check: Recall one result that once felt impossible. What did it prove you can now attempt?

4. Intrinsic Spark Test: Which parts of your goal light you up (curiosity, creativity, purpose)? Which parts are just validation-chasing, and how can you reframe or drop them?

5. Environment Scan: What single tweak (workspace, routines, relationships, inputs) would widen your possibility space this week?

6. Inherited Beliefs Audit: What belief about success/work you inherited (family/school/culture) is capping you? What becomes possible if you release it?

7. Future-Self Conversation: Ten years from now, what would “you” thank you for starting today? What bold decision shouldn’t be delayed?

8. The Regret Test: At life’s end, what would you regret not attempting? What small step can you take in the next 72 hours?

Make it real (today)

Choose your problem → write one sentence.

Define one High-Hard Goal (1–5 yrs).

Separate planning from doing.

End today with a 10-minute power-down ritual: review the actions, pick tomorrow’s 1–3 dominoes, write micro-steps for the first domino, set it out so “future you” can just start.

Your possibility space isn’t fixed.

It expands every time you align goals with meaning, question old limits, and take one more goal-directed step. The wider the beam, the bolder (and more sustainable) your progress.

Much Love,

Cory Firth
Creator of One Minute Weekend

Let’s work together!