Collective Change: Becoming a Possibilitarian in 2025

As we continue this conversation about what is possible, I’m reflecting on what it means to take a stand for possibility. The stories we tell ourselves—and the actions they inspire—shape the future.

I want to offer another aspect of our collective transformation that Chris Anderson calls Exponential Generosity.  It has to do with impacting the algorithms of communications.  It’s really about being Possibilitarians…

See, here is the thing.  If we are overwhelmed with a narrative in our heads…in our beliefs… and in our hearts…that we are living in hellish times, that our demise is evident and that we’re going to end up like the dinosaurs, we’re not helping matters.

There is a famous quote that I’ve seen attributed to various individuals such as Lao Tzu as well as Hindu Upanishads… Perhaps you’ve heard it:

“Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”

What if we applied this to our collective efforts? What if we collectively chose to amplify hope, progress, and possibility in every interaction? What if we chose to intentionally steer our thoughts, our words, our actions, our habits, and our character towards possibility?

I invite you to take on being part of the collective effort for mobilizing your friends and peers. What if we use our daily interactions…those in person when you’re sitting with friends and someone starts talking about their fears, their angst, and the demise of the world or our country… and those interactions online, such as with social media.  What if we were to infiltrate the logarithms for good? Each time we see some drama unfolding, we find that nugget of what has worked before, what lessons we’ve gained, and what stories we’ve heard about what is working (hints on how to find that information, below).

Let’s look at social media for a moment. Let’s channel Chris Anderson, the CEO of TED. He notes that ‘so much of the Internet virality is driven by fear and outrage. But, wonderfully, any strong emotion will spread! Why not open the door to amazement, excitement, wonder, compassion or inspiration?’ 

What if we took on being ‘detectives’ – finding stories about what is working – and we started posting them on social media and asking our friends to pass them along? Yes, there are serious problems, but we could be the champions of the positive breakthroughs we see in just about every challenging and/or disheartening topic.

Do you feel like you are lacking access to these stories, since much of the media is driven by drama and what sells? Here’s a simple thing you can do. Use Chat GPT or another AI tool. Ask this question:

“What are three inspiring current stories about breakthroughs in _____(your cause) in ____ (a location). Keep this to one paragraph per story and site where I can learn more about them.”

When you get these stories, dig into the resources that are offered and share the breakthroughs! Help to replace doom scrolling with collective possibility. Another wonderful source of inspiring stories is Reasons to Be Cheerful, a website and not-for-profit organization founded by David Byrne of Talking Heads. I promise you, the stories are extraordinary! I suggest you subscribe to their newsletters and share the articles you read. Or, via social media platforms like Instagram, follow accounts that share positive news stories each day (such as @wattle_media, a page that posts daily good news about our planet).

This year, I’m committing to being a possibilitarian. I will gather and pass along stories of things that are working. I hope you’ll do the same. Please share what you learn with me by writing to me, here! Together, we can choose abundance and help create a world full of possibility.