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I learned a new concept today: Moonshot Thinking.

It was a new one but “moonshot” gave me a pretty good idea.

Les Brown says “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” I’ve liked that philosophy since I first heard it.

Today I was listening to Peter Diamandis, a brilliant futurist and the founder of Singularity University – I’ve been receiving his newsletter for a few years now and he always makes me think, even if his concepts are sometimes beyond my wildest dreams – as he talked about “moonshot thinking” and what it could mean for the future of our planet.

Here’s the definition of “moonshot thinking” from x.company: “Instead of a mere 10% gain, a moonshot aims for a 10x improvement over what currently exists. The combination of a huge problem, a radical solution to that problem, and the breakthrough technology that just might make that solution possible, is the essence of a moonshot.”

That sounds pretty space age, I know, but I want to bring it in a little closer to home like Peter did in his talk today. Matter of fact, I’m going to bring it in super close.

Say you’re making $20/hr. You’re going to go talk to your boss about a 10% raise. Fairly easy math – you want to earn $22/hr. With “moonshot thinking” you’re actually going to go and ask for 10x your current wage – you’re going to ask for $200/hr.

When you’ve stopped laughing I’ll explain…

Let’s expand this concept out to a business application. Maybe sales for a certain company are steady but the CEO decides he wants a bigger piece of the pie and he wants his sales force to increase sales by 10% – if each person is selling 100 widgets, he wants them to sell 110 in the same time frame. He does, however, have a real hotshot thinker who brings him an idea with the promise that sales could go up by 10x the current volume – that’s an increase of 1000%!!!!

This CEO has two choices: he can laugh at the hotshot and kick him out of the office or he can sit down, throw his disbelief out the window, and listen.

Before you decide which the logical choice is, you may want to Google Steve Sasson, a company engineer for Kodak back in the 70s. Strange, but true.

We are living in an age of unprecedented advancement and out-of-the-box thinking. No longer is it just the Leonardo Da Vinci’s or the Wright Brothers who are pursuing dreams bigger than common logic can handle – there’s a whole breed of critical and futuristic thinkers who are going gang-busters with their ideas, and with technology and communication and gaming becoming so mainstream, they are able to grow their ideas even more!

Ok, I’ll stop there with the expansionist thinking.

Let’s bring it back closer to home again. Which is the whole reason I was listening to the presentation in the first place.

What is just one of the dreams you have for your future? Jot down a few details and make them tangible. If it’s income, write down a number; if it’s creating something, write down its potential; if it’s helping people, state how many.

Now 10x that number.

Why not?

Now, I’m not saying you have to bust your butt to do more, or bigger, things. But just looking at that 10x number. Can you imagine it?

When you can imagine it, I think you reaching for your original goal is aiming too low.

And don’t snort at me. The stories of people lifting vehicles or fighting wild animals when a loved one is at stake are not uncommon. Once you slay a dragon, what can’t you slay?

Remember Les Brown? “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

That’d be cool!