November 14, 2025 • 21 mins
Every big change, project, or dream starts the same way: with a glimmer of possibility.
A spark. A flicker. A tiny inner knowing that says, Maybe this could be real.
But the second that glimmer appears, our automatic brain jumps in to challenge it. It points out everything that could go wrong. It shows us all the gaps between where we are and where we want to be. It offers scarcity thinking, worst-case scenarios, and doubt — not because we’re broken or unmotivated, but because our brains are wired to protect us from emotional risk.
So how do we stay committed to the idea?
How do we hold that glimmer long enough to make it real?
In this episode, we explore Intentional Evidence Collection — a simple yet powerful tool for strengthening belief, sustaining commitment, and keeping your idea alive through the messy middle.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- Why belief and sustained effort (not talent) are the greatest predictors of success
- How your brain naturally collects evidence against your ideas — and how to reverse it
- The science-backed role of visualization and future-self identity in making change happen
- How to anticipate obstacles and rehearse overcoming them before they arise
- The link between thought cycles, emotional states, behavior, and results (RT Model)
How to use evidence collection to fuel aligned action instead of shutting yourself down
Your Invitation This Week
Choose a glimmer of possibility you want to nurture.
Write down every piece of evidence you can find for why it's possible.
Keep adding to the list.
Read it again and again.
Sustained belief + sustained aligned action = your idea becomes real. Every time.
And if you want support building the structure to do this work: jump into one of these
Start the Make Ideas Real Course — for bringing a meaningful goal to life
Apply for the The Moxie Mastermind — for women making world-shifting projects real in a sisterhood of the most amazing women you could ever choose to have by your side.
Mentioned in this episode:
- Anne Lamott: Bird by Bird
- Regenerative Thought Cycles
- Believe in the After
- Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
How to connect with Marie:
- On the Web | The Local Bloom
- Instagram: @the.bloom.coach
- All Things Marie on LinkTree
JOIN THE BLOOM ROOM!
We'll take all these ideas and apply them to our lives. Follow me on Instagram at @the.bloom.coach to learn more and snag a spot in my group coaching program!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:08):
Welcome to the Bloom Your Mind Podcast, where we take
all of your ideas for what youwant and we turn them into real
things.
I'm your host, certified coachMarie McDonald.
Let's get into it.
Well, hello everybody, andwelcome to episode number 152 of
(00:34):
the Bloom Your Mind podcast.
I'm so happy you're here.
How is it going?
My husband and I have beentalking about how wildly full
the fall has been.
Have I talked about this yet?
About how I just I feel like thefall is supposed to be really
like inward and calm and quiet.
And it's the opposite.
It's like the wackiest timeever, full of everything.
(00:57):
And I'm hearing everybody aroundus say the same thing.
And we've just talked about whenwe get past Thanksgiving break,
like the fall break for ourkids.
We have a couple big thingshappening.
We're renewing our vows.
We're having a bunch of peoplethere and we're celebrating 10
years married and 15 yearstogether and really renewing our
commitment to being being eachother's person and being who we
(01:20):
want to be in this lifetogether.
And we're doing that with allthe people that we love around
us.
We had this idea we wanted tomake real rather than going and
traveling somewhere, the two ofus to celebrate.
We wanted to kind of infuse ourcommunity that lifts us up and
carries us through this lifewith love and kind of invoke
love for everybody and create anatmosphere where we're all
(01:44):
together at this time when a lotof things pull us apart.
So pretty wild, got pretty big.
There's like 80 people coming.
Um, and we're doing that in acouple weeks from now.
And once we get past that, wehave made some grand visions for
what we want the next month anda half to be like.
And they include making soup andeating soup and lighting candles
(02:10):
and going on walks and sittingand reading by ourselves and
reading together and going on somany drives or walks to see
lights twinkling.
So I don't know about you, butwe are super in the mode of
(02:30):
creating time and spaciousnessto just be humans in bodies
together in the twinkly lightedperiod of time that we are about
to enter into.
So no matter what time of yearyou're listening to this, what
are the little things you'relooking forward to that can
create some spaciousness?
(02:51):
Some little moments of justappreciating life and beauty.
We were in the bloom roomearlier today, and I was
starting our, I always start uswith a little grounding
meditation.
And there were some beautifulflowers in the background of my
video and a beautiful plant andflowers in other people's
videos, and we all just startedby checking them out.
(03:12):
Checking out something beautifulthat our eyes were landing on
before we closed our eyes for aquick grounding meditation and
just noticing what it felt likein our bodies to just look at
something beautiful.
Something kind of normal andbeautiful.
So you can do that too.
Any time.
And when we create these littlegoals for spaciousness and for
(03:35):
just the little parts of theseason that we want to
experience, it helps slow usdown and notice those little
beautiful things.
The soup cooking and steaming,the twinkling lights, the light
on our loved ones as they'rereading.
All that just feels so good.
All right.
Today we are talking aboutintentional evidence collection.
(03:57):
Because our brains see a glimmerof possibility when we're
birthing a new idea, when we'relike, ooh, I have an idea for
how my life could be better.
We see a glimmer of possibility.
Maybe that's in how we'recommunicating or our career, or
maybe it's in a habit we want tochange, our physical health
habit, or just who we want tobe.
We see this glimmer ofpossibility of something new and
(04:17):
different that's more what wewant.
Sometimes it's a big thing.
I see this glimmer ofpossibility for this business I
could start, for this book, forthis community event, whatever
it is.
And once we have that glimmer ofpossibility, our job is one
thing and one thing only.
When we decide that possibilityis something we actually want to
(04:39):
turn into a reality, an idea wewant to make real.
It moves from a glimmer ofpossibility to an idea that we
are making real.
Then we can go through our wholeprocess that I teach over and
over again for how to make anidea real.
But what's so important is thatit's our job to hold on to that
glimmer.
And it's hard to do once we getinto the process of iteration
(05:02):
and ups and downs as we'retrying to make an idea real, as
we're trying to change a habit,as we're trying to learn
something new, start somethingnew.
In Angela Duckman's book, Grit,she presents a whole bunch of
beautiful evidence thatcommitment to the idea or the
goal combined with sustainedaction are much more determinant
(05:25):
of our success than any naturaltalent or proclivity towards
being good at something, right?
If something comes easy to usand we're naturally really
talented at it, our human brainsoveremphasize that as being
predictive of our futuresuccess.
And what the evidence thatAngela presents shows us over
(05:46):
and over in multiple contexts isthat when we believe in our idea
and take sustained action, thatis way more indicative of our
success than any natural talentor something coming easy to us.
So we know we need to staycommitted to the idea.
Once it's a glimmer ofpossibility and now it's an idea
(06:06):
we want to make real.
We know we got to stay committedto it, but how do we?
Well, there are multiple thingsthat I teach, and I'm gonna
build on them today.
We can believe in the afteruntil it's real.
I have a whole podcast episodeon that.
What I mean by that is that whenwe have an idea for how our
lives, our communities, or theworld could be better, that idea
isn't real yet, right?
(06:28):
So we have a glimmer ofpossibility for this idea.
We want to make it real, but ourbrains are gonna immediately
offer us all the reasons thatthings could go wrong.
How the world doesn't match theworld that we're envisioning.
And of course it doesn't matchbecause our idea isn't in the
world yet.
So the world right now does notmatch that world.
(06:49):
Our brains are gonna go to workcollecting all the evidence why
our idea doesn't fit in thisworld.
And of course it doesn't,because we haven't changed the
world to make our idea real yet,right?
Like our idea, once it is real,once we've taken the sustained
action, then the world willmatch it.
So our brain is really designedto keep us safe and point out
(07:13):
danger and risk.
And so it's gonna be like, yeah,this isn't possible.
See, the world isn't like youridea yet.
And our job, like allinnovators, is to say, of course
it's not.
It doesn't exist yet.
And we got to hold the clearvision for the world after our
idea is in it, clear as day.
Hold that vision so that webalance out that brain's
negativity bias.
(07:34):
We got to believe in the afteruntil it's real.
And we can do that throughwriting our idea stated as a
goal, making it time-bound,stated as done, and reading it
over and over every day.
We can do that throughvisualizing our future self,
having accomplished the thingthat we, the idea that we're
trying to make real in vividdetail, because our brains can't
tell the difference betweenvividly imagined experiences and
(07:58):
reality.
So we can practice visualizingourselves having accomplished
the thing.
In neurobiology, there's thisfamous quote: we can practice a
feeling state till it becomes aneural trait.
And when we do that, when wepractice visualizing and we pull
the feeling into our body ofwhat it will be like when that
(08:18):
thing is real, when that idea isreal, we kick in our
subconscious bias, ouropportunity bias, and we line up
our conscious mind that's tryingto keep that glimmer of
possibility really solidly inour mind and our subconscious
mind so that they work togethertoward the same things.
So we practice visualizing andthat primes our subconscious
(08:40):
mind to start to look for waysthat our idea can be real.
We can also anticipate obstaclesand come up with strategies to
overcome them and then visualizeourselves actually overcoming
those obstacles.
That also primes oursubconscious mind to deal with
them in the way we want to dealwith them when they actually
arise.
And all of this stuff, myfriends, all of these skills,
(09:02):
they are in multiple of mypodcast episodes prior to this,
and also they are all outlinedin great detail in a rhythm of
10 classes in the Make IdeasReal course.
So just reach out if you want totake that course.
And we can also self-coach ourbrains, looking at our automatic
responses to things and choosingbridge thoughts and better
feeling thoughts, choosingregenerative thought cycles that
(09:26):
actually support what we want tocreate.
We can do all those things andstill, let's say we're doing all
of those, and still sometimesit's hard to stay committed and
remember the feeling, stayanchored in that glimmer of
possibility.
So today I'm gonna teach you anew tool called intentional
evidence collection.
So let's go back to that ideathat some part of you thought
(09:48):
the glimmer of possibility waspossible.
Some part of you knew it waspossible.
The idea you had for how yourlife or a community that you're
in or the world could be abetter place, some idea for
something you want to change,make better, make different,
create.
Some part of you saw a glimmerof possibility and created a
(10:08):
vision, an idea for what youwanted to make real.
And then your automatic brainkicked in and challenges the
glimmer.
Just like every great innovator,everyone that made something new
real, your job is to hold on tothat glimmer and make the
glimmer stronger.
Your job is to magnify theglimmer of possibility, to
(10:29):
balance out your brain'snegativity bias.
Our brain will naturallychallenge that glimmer with
thoughts that point out thenegative, with scarcity
thinking.
And we know that if we keepthinking those thoughts, those
scarcity thoughts, they'll cycleinto the results that we have.
We see that through theregenerative thought model.
(10:51):
We have a thought about thecircumstance in our life, that
thought creates a feeling, thatfuels our behavior and creates a
result that proves the thought.
And then our brain says, see, Iknew it would happen.
I knew that was true.
So if we start to think inscarcity thinking, it's going to
(11:12):
create scarcity results in ourlife.
That evidence collection isgoing to make the thought
stronger as a neural pathway andit's going to keep cycling on
its own.
So we got to interrupt it.
We can use that same cycle tosupport our glimmer of
possibility by intentionallyfinding thoughts based on the
evidence of why our possibilityis something we believe in.
(11:38):
So we will intentionally findthe evidence for why that
possibility is so strong, andthen practice thinking those
thoughts.
That new evidence that youintentionally create will start
new thought cycles that you canpractice thinking, which
generate much more helpfulfeelings in your body, fuel
actions that are aligned withthe possibility you see that
you're trying to create, andthen your idea becomes real
(12:01):
through that belief you'recreating in it and sustained
action.
So here's how to do it.
Think of the possibility thatyou created, that glimmer of
possibility for an idea you wantto make real, an idea for a
change you want to make inyourself, in your life, in the
world, something you want tocreate.
You got that glimmer?
Is it twinkling at you?
(12:21):
Okay, now list every piece ofevidence for why it's possible.
Mine, dig deep for every pieceof evidence and be as detailed
as possible.
So when I say evidence, I liketo use that loosely in this
exercise.
They don't have to be factual.
You're gonna list everything youknow, all the evidence.
(12:42):
So let me give you someexamples.
Let's take an idea for why it'spossible that I could write a
book in the next two months.
When I have that idea, I havelike this idea for this book, I
really want to make real on apretty quick timeline.
But I've got all kinds of otherstuff.
My brain is gonna kick in andstart to say, okay, well, the
(13:03):
holidays are coming up.
I already have these coursesthat I'm, you know, editing now
that are all recorded that abunch of people are starting to
take.
And I that I have thefoundations course that is a
course that teachesself-coaching, that's the
foundations of everything Iteach, the uh the self-coaching,
the self-hypnosis, the emotionalmastery, and then a deep dive
(13:26):
into existing belief patterns,values, and desire finding.
And then that ends by doing anassessment to help my folks find
an idea they want to make realto improve their own life, their
community, or the world.
I have that.
I have that course already, thefoundations course.
And I also have the make ideasreal course.
And that course teaches thesemind-blowing tools and the
(13:49):
process that innovators use tomake ideas real and what your
brain will do at every stage ofthe process.
So I have these courses, andthen my brain says, I already am
running those courses.
I can't do another thing.
I already have those to focuson.
It's gonna be the holiday.
My brain is gonna kick in allthe reasons why I can't.
(14:10):
So I'm gonna mine for why it'spossible that I can write this
book in the next two months.
Here's all the evidence I canthink of.
Well, I have most of it writtenalready.
I have pages and pages, hundredsof pages already written.
And then I can hire help to putall those pieces that I already
wrote together.
I already know the flow.
(14:31):
I wrote it all.
I could just hire someone tolike copy and paste it in
together, and then I can writethe new stuff to fill in the
gaps.
Here's another piece ofevidence.
It doesn't have to be perfect.
Anne Lamont, in her book Bird byBird, recommends that writers
have shitty first drafts, right?
B minus work, shitty firstdrafts is what Anne Lamont calls
it.
So I can do a shitty firstdraft.
(14:52):
I could, I could definitely dosomething shitty.
This stuff is absolute goldcontent.
That's another piece ofevidence.
And this is what I'm I'm sayingwhen I'm like, okay, it doesn't
have to be factual.
This is just something I believethat this stuff is gonna help
people so much.
I've developed and tested thecontent over the last five
years, and I've seen it rocketpeople's ideas into real things.
(15:14):
So this elaboration on thecontent, this is the easy part.
Another piece of evidence, I'lljust say, I'll find an amazing
editor.
Amazing editors are out there.
Another piece is the focus on ofthis work of the book is on
helping ideas be made real.
So the work I'm doing with womenin the Moxie Mastermind is gonna
feed the book with examples.
I'm already doing stuff that'sgonna make this easier.
(15:36):
Another piece of evidence is Ilove writing.
Every time I get some progresson writing, I get super
energized and I want to writeall day.
Another piece of evidence is theworld needs this now.
Another piece of evidence iswomen need this now, and the
world needs women's ideas.
So now I have this big list ofevidence for my glimmer of
(15:58):
possibility and why it'spossible.
Okay, let's look at anotherexample.
What about an idea for a changeyou want to make in a
relationship?
Let's say that you have a changefor how you and your primary
partner or a friend or a lovedone, how your relationship and
your communication could bebetter.
And this idea isn't real yet.
And so maybe your brain isseeing all the evidence that
(16:20):
it's not real.
You're still having the samefight, you're still having the
same challenge, you're stillhaving the same problem, and
your negativity bias is going tokick in to tell you, see, this
is never gonna work, all thethings.
So let's mine for evidence.
Let's use the intentionalevidence collection tool.
First piece of evidence.
It takes time to change.
People say getting through hardstuff takes effort.
(16:43):
I know we're both willing towork on it.
We've had our whole lives tobuild these bad habits and like
however many years to build thespecific habit between us, of
course, it's gonna take a longtime to unlearn those habits.
We have to iterate just likeanything else.
The first few attempts are notgonna work.
We have to evaluate what workedand didn't and try again.
That is totally 100% necessary.
(17:06):
So even though my brain issaying it's not working, I can
tell my brain, of course youthink it's not working, because
that's what brains do.
But iteration is 100% necessaryin any process.
We're just iterating.
Another piece of evidence.
I hear people all around me saythat this is hard for them too.
I'm not alone, I'm not broken,we can do this.
Because I also hear stories ofsuccess when couples stick with
(17:28):
it and they finally overcome thechallenge, and then they say
that their relationship is somuch stronger.
Couples or friends or familymembers.
This person is important enoughto me to do hard work.
Those are all pieces ofevidence, and they feel so much
better and will fuel the endresult that you want in a
relationship so much more thanyour brain's natural tendency to
(17:51):
point out the negative.
All right, one more example, andthen it's your turn.
Let's take an example with abusiness you want to start.
And maybe it's just in the hardpart.
You're kind of in the like rightover the initial big burst of
motivation, and you're like, ohGod, this is feeling hard, but
I'm still at the beginning andit's hard already, and I have so
much ahead of me, and I'm doingthis market research, and I'm
(18:13):
seeing all the steps it's gonnatake, and okay, all your brain's
negativity.
So then let's mine for evidence.
Let's do intentional evidencecollection.
This is something the worldneeds.
And what I can give the world,what I can create, is different
than what anybody else can.
I just need to keep going andgoing because the world needs me
(18:35):
and needs this.
I'm at the beginning of marketresearch.
So of course it feels like a lotin front of me.
That's okay.
It's just one step and then thenext.
One foot in front of the next,one hour at a time, one task at
a time.
All I have to do is the nextright thing.
I can find successful people tointerview and learn from their
(18:56):
mistakes.
I can get all the steps thatwork for them.
The world really needs thissolution, and I care enough to
get past the hard part.
I'm really passionate aboutthis, and I know I'll be good at
it, and that I'll stay committedto it for a long time if I can
just make sure to get throughthe hard stuff.
I am in the hard part that Iknew was gonna be hard.
So it makes sense self-doubt iscoming up.
(19:17):
Nothing has gone wrong here.
It's all good.
I can just feel the self-doubtand keep going.
My family and friends are supersupportive.
I can lean into that support andhelp them remind me that I can
believe in myself.
I can make time for this.
I've done that before.
I can make time for what's mostimportant to me.
I actually have the tools that Ineed for this part already.
(19:38):
I have a business plan.
So now we have all kinds ofintentional evidence to support
us at keeping clear on thatglimmer of possibility.
You get it.
All right, now it's your turn.
What's a goal that you have thatyou want to make real?
An idea for how your life, yourcommunity, or the world can be a
better place.
An idea that you're making real.
(19:59):
What's the glimmer ofpossibility?
Zoom in, double-click on thatglimmer.
Make it brighter, focus in.
And now collect every piece ofevidence for that glimmer of
possibility, list them out everysingle one, and then read them
again and again.
Because sustained belief in youridea, commitment to your why and
(20:24):
to your idea combined withsustained aligned action will
make your idea real time andtime again.
If you need support, come to theMake Ideas Real course.
If you have a big idea to makereal, come to the Moxie
Mastermind.
I got you.
Reach out.
And that's what I've got for youthis week.
(20:45):
And I will see you next week.
If you like what you're hearingon the podcast, you gotta come
and join us in the Bloom Room.
This is a year-round membershipwhere we take all of these
(21:05):
concepts and we apply them toreal life in a community where
we have each other's backs andwe bring out the best in each
other.
We're all there to make ourideas real.
One idea at a time.
We'll see you in the bloom room.
Welcome to the Bloom Your Mind Podcast, where we take
all of your ideas for what youwant and we turn them into real
things.
I'm your host, certified coachMarie McDonald.
Let's get into it.
Well, hello everybody, andwelcome to episode number 152 of
(00:34):
the Bloom Your Mind podcast.
I'm so happy you're here.
How is it going?
My husband and I have beentalking about how wildly full
the fall has been.
Have I talked about this yet?
About how I just I feel like thefall is supposed to be really
like inward and calm and quiet.
And it's the opposite.
It's like the wackiest timeever, full of everything.
(00:57):
And I'm hearing everybody aroundus say the same thing.
And we've just talked about whenwe get past Thanksgiving break,
like the fall break for ourkids.
We have a couple big thingshappening.
We're renewing our vows.
We're having a bunch of peoplethere and we're celebrating 10
years married and 15 yearstogether and really renewing our
commitment to being being eachother's person and being who we
(01:20):
want to be in this lifetogether.
And we're doing that with allthe people that we love around
us.
We had this idea we wanted tomake real rather than going and
traveling somewhere, the two ofus to celebrate.
We wanted to kind of infuse ourcommunity that lifts us up and
carries us through this lifewith love and kind of invoke
love for everybody and create anatmosphere where we're all
(01:44):
together at this time when a lotof things pull us apart.
So pretty wild, got pretty big.
There's like 80 people coming.
Um, and we're doing that in acouple weeks from now.
And once we get past that, wehave made some grand visions for
what we want the next month anda half to be like.
And they include making soup andeating soup and lighting candles
(02:10):
and going on walks and sittingand reading by ourselves and
reading together and going on somany drives or walks to see
lights twinkling.
So I don't know about you, butwe are super in the mode of
(02:30):
creating time and spaciousnessto just be humans in bodies
together in the twinkly lightedperiod of time that we are about
to enter into.
So no matter what time of yearyou're listening to this, what
are the little things you'relooking forward to that can
create some spaciousness?
(02:51):
Some little moments of justappreciating life and beauty.
We were in the bloom roomearlier today, and I was
starting our, I always start uswith a little grounding
meditation.
And there were some beautifulflowers in the background of my
video and a beautiful plant andflowers in other people's
videos, and we all just startedby checking them out.
(03:12):
Checking out something beautifulthat our eyes were landing on
before we closed our eyes for aquick grounding meditation and
just noticing what it felt likein our bodies to just look at
something beautiful.
Something kind of normal andbeautiful.
So you can do that too.
Any time.
And when we create these littlegoals for spaciousness and for
(03:35):
just the little parts of theseason that we want to
experience, it helps slow usdown and notice those little
beautiful things.
The soup cooking and steaming,the twinkling lights, the light
on our loved ones as they'rereading.
All that just feels so good.
All right.
Today we are talking aboutintentional evidence collection.
(03:57):
Because our brains see a glimmerof possibility when we're
birthing a new idea, when we'relike, ooh, I have an idea for
how my life could be better.
We see a glimmer of possibility.
Maybe that's in how we'recommunicating or our career, or
maybe it's in a habit we want tochange, our physical health
habit, or just who we want tobe.
We see this glimmer ofpossibility of something new and
(04:17):
different that's more what wewant.
Sometimes it's a big thing.
I see this glimmer ofpossibility for this business I
could start, for this book, forthis community event, whatever
it is.
And once we have that glimmer ofpossibility, our job is one
thing and one thing only.
When we decide that possibilityis something we actually want to
(04:39):
turn into a reality, an idea wewant to make real.
It moves from a glimmer ofpossibility to an idea that we
are making real.
Then we can go through our wholeprocess that I teach over and
over again for how to make anidea real.
But what's so important is thatit's our job to hold on to that
glimmer.
And it's hard to do once we getinto the process of iteration
(05:02):
and ups and downs as we'retrying to make an idea real, as
we're trying to change a habit,as we're trying to learn
something new, start somethingnew.
In Angela Duckman's book, Grit,she presents a whole bunch of
beautiful evidence thatcommitment to the idea or the
goal combined with sustainedaction are much more determinant
(05:25):
of our success than any naturaltalent or proclivity towards
being good at something, right?
If something comes easy to usand we're naturally really
talented at it, our human brainsoveremphasize that as being
predictive of our futuresuccess.
And what the evidence thatAngela presents shows us over
(05:46):
and over in multiple contexts isthat when we believe in our idea
and take sustained action, thatis way more indicative of our
success than any natural talentor something coming easy to us.
So we know we need to staycommitted to the idea.
Once it's a glimmer ofpossibility and now it's an idea
(06:06):
we want to make real.
We know we got to stay committedto it, but how do we?
Well, there are multiple thingsthat I teach, and I'm gonna
build on them today.
We can believe in the afteruntil it's real.
I have a whole podcast episodeon that.
What I mean by that is that whenwe have an idea for how our
lives, our communities, or theworld could be better, that idea
isn't real yet, right?
(06:28):
So we have a glimmer ofpossibility for this idea.
We want to make it real, but ourbrains are gonna immediately
offer us all the reasons thatthings could go wrong.
How the world doesn't match theworld that we're envisioning.
And of course it doesn't matchbecause our idea isn't in the
world yet.
So the world right now does notmatch that world.
(06:49):
Our brains are gonna go to workcollecting all the evidence why
our idea doesn't fit in thisworld.
And of course it doesn't,because we haven't changed the
world to make our idea real yet,right?
Like our idea, once it is real,once we've taken the sustained
action, then the world willmatch it.
So our brain is really designedto keep us safe and point out
(07:13):
danger and risk.
And so it's gonna be like, yeah,this isn't possible.
See, the world isn't like youridea yet.
And our job, like allinnovators, is to say, of course
it's not.
It doesn't exist yet.
And we got to hold the clearvision for the world after our
idea is in it, clear as day.
Hold that vision so that webalance out that brain's
negativity bias.
(07:34):
We got to believe in the afteruntil it's real.
And we can do that throughwriting our idea stated as a
goal, making it time-bound,stated as done, and reading it
over and over every day.
We can do that throughvisualizing our future self,
having accomplished the thingthat we, the idea that we're
trying to make real in vividdetail, because our brains can't
tell the difference betweenvividly imagined experiences and
(07:58):
reality.
So we can practice visualizingourselves having accomplished
the thing.
In neurobiology, there's thisfamous quote: we can practice a
feeling state till it becomes aneural trait.
And when we do that, when wepractice visualizing and we pull
the feeling into our body ofwhat it will be like when that
(08:18):
thing is real, when that idea isreal, we kick in our
subconscious bias, ouropportunity bias, and we line up
our conscious mind that's tryingto keep that glimmer of
possibility really solidly inour mind and our subconscious
mind so that they work togethertoward the same things.
So we practice visualizing andthat primes our subconscious
(08:40):
mind to start to look for waysthat our idea can be real.
We can also anticipate obstaclesand come up with strategies to
overcome them and then visualizeourselves actually overcoming
those obstacles.
That also primes oursubconscious mind to deal with
them in the way we want to dealwith them when they actually
arise.
And all of this stuff, myfriends, all of these skills,
(09:02):
they are in multiple of mypodcast episodes prior to this,
and also they are all outlinedin great detail in a rhythm of
10 classes in the Make IdeasReal course.
So just reach out if you want totake that course.
And we can also self-coach ourbrains, looking at our automatic
responses to things and choosingbridge thoughts and better
feeling thoughts, choosingregenerative thought cycles that
(09:26):
actually support what we want tocreate.
We can do all those things andstill, let's say we're doing all
of those, and still sometimesit's hard to stay committed and
remember the feeling, stayanchored in that glimmer of
possibility.
So today I'm gonna teach you anew tool called intentional
evidence collection.
So let's go back to that ideathat some part of you thought
(09:48):
the glimmer of possibility waspossible.
Some part of you knew it waspossible.
The idea you had for how yourlife or a community that you're
in or the world could be abetter place, some idea for
something you want to change,make better, make different,
create.
Some part of you saw a glimmerof possibility and created a
(10:08):
vision, an idea for what youwanted to make real.
And then your automatic brainkicked in and challenges the
glimmer.
Just like every great innovator,everyone that made something new
real, your job is to hold on tothat glimmer and make the
glimmer stronger.
Your job is to magnify theglimmer of possibility, to
(10:29):
balance out your brain'snegativity bias.
Our brain will naturallychallenge that glimmer with
thoughts that point out thenegative, with scarcity
thinking.
And we know that if we keepthinking those thoughts, those
scarcity thoughts, they'll cycleinto the results that we have.
We see that through theregenerative thought model.
(10:51):
We have a thought about thecircumstance in our life, that
thought creates a feeling, thatfuels our behavior and creates a
result that proves the thought.
And then our brain says, see, Iknew it would happen.
I knew that was true.
So if we start to think inscarcity thinking, it's going to
(11:12):
create scarcity results in ourlife.
That evidence collection isgoing to make the thought
stronger as a neural pathway andit's going to keep cycling on
its own.
So we got to interrupt it.
We can use that same cycle tosupport our glimmer of
possibility by intentionallyfinding thoughts based on the
evidence of why our possibilityis something we believe in.
(11:38):
So we will intentionally findthe evidence for why that
possibility is so strong, andthen practice thinking those
thoughts.
That new evidence that youintentionally create will start
new thought cycles that you canpractice thinking, which
generate much more helpfulfeelings in your body, fuel
actions that are aligned withthe possibility you see that
you're trying to create, andthen your idea becomes real
(12:01):
through that belief you'recreating in it and sustained
action.
So here's how to do it.
Think of the possibility thatyou created, that glimmer of
possibility for an idea you wantto make real, an idea for a
change you want to make inyourself, in your life, in the
world, something you want tocreate.
You got that glimmer?
Is it twinkling at you?
(12:21):
Okay, now list every piece ofevidence for why it's possible.
Mine, dig deep for every pieceof evidence and be as detailed
as possible.
So when I say evidence, I liketo use that loosely in this
exercise.
They don't have to be factual.
You're gonna list everything youknow, all the evidence.
(12:42):
So let me give you someexamples.
Let's take an idea for why it'spossible that I could write a
book in the next two months.
When I have that idea, I havelike this idea for this book, I
really want to make real on apretty quick timeline.
But I've got all kinds of otherstuff.
My brain is gonna kick in andstart to say, okay, well, the
(13:03):
holidays are coming up.
I already have these coursesthat I'm, you know, editing now
that are all recorded that abunch of people are starting to
take.
And I that I have thefoundations course that is a
course that teachesself-coaching, that's the
foundations of everything Iteach, the uh the self-coaching,
the self-hypnosis, the emotionalmastery, and then a deep dive
(13:26):
into existing belief patterns,values, and desire finding.
And then that ends by doing anassessment to help my folks find
an idea they want to make realto improve their own life, their
community, or the world.
I have that.
I have that course already, thefoundations course.
And I also have the make ideasreal course.
And that course teaches thesemind-blowing tools and the
(13:49):
process that innovators use tomake ideas real and what your
brain will do at every stage ofthe process.
So I have these courses, andthen my brain says, I already am
running those courses.
I can't do another thing.
I already have those to focuson.
It's gonna be the holiday.
My brain is gonna kick in allthe reasons why I can't.
(14:10):
So I'm gonna mine for why it'spossible that I can write this
book in the next two months.
Here's all the evidence I canthink of.
Well, I have most of it writtenalready.
I have pages and pages, hundredsof pages already written.
And then I can hire help to putall those pieces that I already
wrote together.
I already know the flow.
(14:31):
I wrote it all.
I could just hire someone tolike copy and paste it in
together, and then I can writethe new stuff to fill in the
gaps.
Here's another piece ofevidence.
It doesn't have to be perfect.
Anne Lamont, in her book Bird byBird, recommends that writers
have shitty first drafts, right?
B minus work, shitty firstdrafts is what Anne Lamont calls
it.
So I can do a shitty firstdraft.
(14:52):
I could, I could definitely dosomething shitty.
This stuff is absolute goldcontent.
That's another piece ofevidence.
And this is what I'm I'm sayingwhen I'm like, okay, it doesn't
have to be factual.
This is just something I believethat this stuff is gonna help
people so much.
I've developed and tested thecontent over the last five
years, and I've seen it rocketpeople's ideas into real things.
(15:14):
So this elaboration on thecontent, this is the easy part.
Another piece of evidence, I'lljust say, I'll find an amazing
editor.
Amazing editors are out there.
Another piece is the focus on ofthis work of the book is on
helping ideas be made real.
So the work I'm doing with womenin the Moxie Mastermind is gonna
feed the book with examples.
I'm already doing stuff that'sgonna make this easier.
(15:36):
Another piece of evidence is Ilove writing.
Every time I get some progresson writing, I get super
energized and I want to writeall day.
Another piece of evidence is theworld needs this now.
Another piece of evidence iswomen need this now, and the
world needs women's ideas.
So now I have this big list ofevidence for my glimmer of
(15:58):
possibility and why it'spossible.
Okay, let's look at anotherexample.
What about an idea for a changeyou want to make in a
relationship?
Let's say that you have a changefor how you and your primary
partner or a friend or a lovedone, how your relationship and
your communication could bebetter.
And this idea isn't real yet.
And so maybe your brain isseeing all the evidence that
(16:20):
it's not real.
You're still having the samefight, you're still having the
same challenge, you're stillhaving the same problem, and
your negativity bias is going tokick in to tell you, see, this
is never gonna work, all thethings.
So let's mine for evidence.
Let's use the intentionalevidence collection tool.
First piece of evidence.
It takes time to change.
People say getting through hardstuff takes effort.
(16:43):
I know we're both willing towork on it.
We've had our whole lives tobuild these bad habits and like
however many years to build thespecific habit between us, of
course, it's gonna take a longtime to unlearn those habits.
We have to iterate just likeanything else.
The first few attempts are notgonna work.
We have to evaluate what workedand didn't and try again.
That is totally 100% necessary.
(17:06):
So even though my brain issaying it's not working, I can
tell my brain, of course youthink it's not working, because
that's what brains do.
But iteration is 100% necessaryin any process.
We're just iterating.
Another piece of evidence.
I hear people all around me saythat this is hard for them too.
I'm not alone, I'm not broken,we can do this.
Because I also hear stories ofsuccess when couples stick with
(17:28):
it and they finally overcome thechallenge, and then they say
that their relationship is somuch stronger.
Couples or friends or familymembers.
This person is important enoughto me to do hard work.
Those are all pieces ofevidence, and they feel so much
better and will fuel the endresult that you want in a
relationship so much more thanyour brain's natural tendency to
(17:51):
point out the negative.
All right, one more example, andthen it's your turn.
Let's take an example with abusiness you want to start.
And maybe it's just in the hardpart.
You're kind of in the like rightover the initial big burst of
motivation, and you're like, ohGod, this is feeling hard, but
I'm still at the beginning andit's hard already, and I have so
much ahead of me, and I'm doingthis market research, and I'm
(18:13):
seeing all the steps it's gonnatake, and okay, all your brain's
negativity.
So then let's mine for evidence.
Let's do intentional evidencecollection.
This is something the worldneeds.
And what I can give the world,what I can create, is different
than what anybody else can.
I just need to keep going andgoing because the world needs me
(18:35):
and needs this.
I'm at the beginning of marketresearch.
So of course it feels like a lotin front of me.
That's okay.
It's just one step and then thenext.
One foot in front of the next,one hour at a time, one task at
a time.
All I have to do is the nextright thing.
I can find successful people tointerview and learn from their
(18:56):
mistakes.
I can get all the steps thatwork for them.
The world really needs thissolution, and I care enough to
get past the hard part.
I'm really passionate aboutthis, and I know I'll be good at
it, and that I'll stay committedto it for a long time if I can
just make sure to get throughthe hard stuff.
I am in the hard part that Iknew was gonna be hard.
So it makes sense self-doubt iscoming up.
(19:17):
Nothing has gone wrong here.
It's all good.
I can just feel the self-doubtand keep going.
My family and friends are supersupportive.
I can lean into that support andhelp them remind me that I can
believe in myself.
I can make time for this.
I've done that before.
I can make time for what's mostimportant to me.
I actually have the tools that Ineed for this part already.
(19:38):
I have a business plan.
So now we have all kinds ofintentional evidence to support
us at keeping clear on thatglimmer of possibility.
You get it.
All right, now it's your turn.
What's a goal that you have thatyou want to make real?
An idea for how your life, yourcommunity, or the world can be a
better place.
An idea that you're making real.
(19:59):
What's the glimmer ofpossibility?
Zoom in, double-click on thatglimmer.
Make it brighter, focus in.
And now collect every piece ofevidence for that glimmer of
possibility, list them out everysingle one, and then read them
again and again.
Because sustained belief in youridea, commitment to your why and
(20:24):
to your idea combined withsustained aligned action will
make your idea real time andtime again.
If you need support, come to theMake Ideas Real course.
If you have a big idea to makereal, come to the Moxie
Mastermind.
I got you.
Reach out.
And that's what I've got for youthis week.
(20:45):
And I will see you next week.
If you like what you're hearingon the podcast, you gotta come
and join us in the Bloom Room.
This is a year-round membershipwhere we take all of these
(21:05):
concepts and we apply them toreal life in a community where
we have each other's backs andwe bring out the best in each
other.
We're all there to make ourideas real.
One idea at a time.
We'll see you in the bloom room.
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