Before you read this post I invite you to consider the question in the title. Do so in the solitude of your thoughts, or--this would be ideal--get a pencil and paper to write it down. Think about it and come back to finish reading only once you have. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . So did you do what I'd suggested? You are your only arbiter here, so be judicious with yourself.

Ok - so what was the point, you ask? Most assuredly, you'll only keep reading if you want to find out, and if you made it this far, then I'll assume you care to read what this post has to say.

Arnold Schwartznegger did an interview on Rick Rubin's Tetragrammaton podcast recently and told a very compelling story about the power of the mind. I've been basically telling the story to everyone I have seen since I heard it, so I might as well leave it here too.

There was a point in human history, he said, when it was commonly believed to have been impossible for anyone to clean and jerk over 500lbs. The record stood at 496, when an ambitious power lifter said he could beat it. He racked up 498lbs. Pulled, and ... presto! The judges were agape. They proceeded by having the the bar rolled onto the scale, as was the procedure when a world record is broken, to double check the weight (as it can often happen that the plates can be a few pounds off.) To their astonishment, it read 502lbs.

Something is only impossible until someone does it, he added. The power lifter did what was thought to have been impossible and he did it without the preconceived notion that it was! This is the power of our thoughts.

It makes me think of the concept of 'beginner's luck,' which is from my experience, a real phenomenon. Perhaps we are 'lucky' when we first attempt something because our minds are not clouded by what is possible (or plausible in some cases) for a novice. Maybe beginner's luck comes from the fact that the first time you try something, you simply do it, and do not think about doing it.

In my job, folks love to overthink solutions (or they hate it, but they do it anyway, for such is the fiat grind) and in doing so they get stuck in the cloud of what is possible. I am guilty of it too. But, and I wonder, is it a coincidence that the only clear-minded individual I work with is an one who fled the clutches of a military regime in Africa, leaving some of his family behind for several years including his own children, to build a life for them in a better country? He has also happened to climb higher and faster on the corporate latter than anyone else to have walked through those doors to work there.

This is not an argument for some idealistic notion of the American Dream, but instead a reflection on the fact that if you look at this particular coworker of mine, let's call him Bob, and Arnold, both of them broke free from oppressive regimes to build a new life. And I'd be willing to wager, in both cases, that they had to build their own expectations for what would be 'possible.' I'm here to tell you, that I believe the extraordinary to be possible, but only if you allow yourself to be freed from your mental bondage. If everyone was like Bob and Arnold and, I mean, if everyone actively constructed their own expectations for themselves, carefully curated their social circles, and carefully defined, in their own vision, what will be possible in their life - then we would have many more Bobs and Arnolds. We would have many more Satoshis.

I'll leave you with one more example, and this time, looking from another perspective. I have a family member--you may find him familiar--whose case the rest of the family is constantly on. He is seen by most in the family as not X enough (insert any trait here deemed to be 'acceptable' or 'well adjusted' in society writ large, and I'm sure it has been said.) Their lamenting refrain is that they become sick and tired of helping someone who won't help himself, the obvious fallacy here being that he won't accept their helping him do whatever they have deemed to be possible. They are constantly building a house of cards around him, one that suits them, and then get frustrated with him every time he stands up and barges out, knocking their meticulously-constructed card house over.

The message here is this: I think people seldom want you to define for them what they can or should do, or how they should do it. Even less seldom do they want for you to tell them they are not capable of doing something. But aren't these just banal platitudes, you'll say? You knew that. Don't give unsolicited advice, and build up your friends, don't take them down. But, nevertheless, seriously reflect on how you apply these standards to yourself.

Are you building a similar house of cards around yourself?

Around somebody else?

Are you allowing yourself to explore your potential, or have you accepted conventional notions of what is possible? Are you exploring your inner depths, listening to your heart, going on contemplative walks? Do you have a vision for your life?

I believe owning Bitcoin is a kind of a 'cheat code' in realizing the potential of the mind. Satoshi did something extraordinary, probably never dreamed of by anyone else, and unlocked this way for us, whereby we don't have to let ourselves be constrained by conventional financial 'wisdom' (if something as diabolical as the fiat systems of old can be referred to thusly). You can be sure as shit he didn't do it by colouring in the lines.