Jobs’ secret was a mindset, a way of thinking that very few people in the world have.  This mindset enables you to see opportunities that others miss.  It enables you to make choices that others wouldn't dare to make.  It enables you to create breakthroughs where others see nothing but obstacles.

Jobs’ mindset allowed him to reduce Apple's products from 350 to 10, an unpopular decision that helped Apple focus on its core business and survive.

Jobs’ mindset allowed him to get his competitor Microsoft to invest $150 million in Apple when few were willing to loan money to the struggling tech firm.

Jobs mindset allowed him to take a little-known device called an mp3 player and build it into a media-publishing empire, even though music industry profits had been declining for years. The iPod became one of the most widely sold electronic devices in history and at one point was making more money than all the rest of Apple's other products combined.

At the time of its release some consumer experts doubted the iPod would do well.  Technology Business Research Analyst Tim Deal said the price was "a little too high" and

Boy was he wrong.

Jobs’ mindset, which enabled him to see possibilities that no one else could see and then do what everyone else said could not be done, led to some of the greatest businesses successes in history.

Back in 2006 Steve Jobs had a dilemma.  The iPhone was still in development and he didn't like the feel of the plastic screen on his prototypes.  He wanted something that was strong, durable, and virtually scratchproof—like glass.

His problem?  Nothing like the material he wanted was currently being produced anywhere in the world.

So Jobs approached Corning Glass to find out if they could produce what he wanted.

Here's the story as described in the book, Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson.

“Jobs described [to Corning Glass’ CEO, Wendell Weeks] the type of glass Apple wanted for the iPhone, and Weeks told him that Corning had developed a chemical exchange process in the 1960s that led to what they dubbed ‘gorilla glass.’  It was incredibly strong, but it had never found a market, so Corning quit making it. … [Jobs] said he wanted as much gorilla glass as Corning could make within six months.  ‘We don’t have the capacity,’ Weeks replied.  ‘None of our plants make the glass now.’

“‘Don’t be afraid,’ Jobs replied. This stunned Weeks, who was good-humored and confident but not used to Jobs’ reality distortion field.  He tried to explain that a false sense of confidence would not overcome engineering challenges, but that was a premise Jobs had repeatedly shown he didn’t accept.  He stared at Weeks unblinkingly.  ‘Yes, you can do it’, he said. ‘Get your mind around it.  You can do it.’”

Imagine that someone who was an expert in making a product you needed told you that he doesn't have a factory that makes what you want, so he can't possibly meet your six-month deadline.

How many people would say with confidence, "You can do it," and believe it enough to get the other person to take action like Jobs did?

Here's the rest of the story:

“As Weeks retold this story, he shook his head in astonishment.  ‘We did it in under six months,’ he said.  ‘We produced a glass that had never been made.'”

It’s clear that Steve never accepted it when someone said: “This is the way things are.”  He never accepted it when someone said: “This can’t be done."

Jobs had a mindset that few people have.  In his mind nothing was impossible.  If you told him it could not be done, he’d get you to figure out a way to do it.  He never doubted there was a way to accomplish what he wanted … and to get better results than anyone thought possible.

I call this Possibilities Thinking and it’s one of three things anyone can learn to gain the kinds of results that Jobs got.

Here’s how I helped one person do it:

At a workshop one CEO presented me with the following problem that seemed to be unsolvable to him.

Here's how he described it:

We rebuild motors and sell them to businesses at roughly 50% the price of new ones. The price of new motors has been going down and as a result, we've been lowering our prices.  Our costs remain the same so we've been making less and less money for the same amount of time and effort.

When I asked him to identify a limiting belief about reality that might prevent him from solving the problem, he said he didn't see any.  His problems were REALITY to him.  He couldn't see a belief.  He was like a fish that didn’t know it's wet.

After I questioned him, asking him what assumption he was making that might be stopping him from finding a solution to his problem, he was finally able to acknowledge an idea.  He didn't call it a belief or assumption because it seemed like reality—a cold, hard fact to him—a problem that could not be solved.

His “description of reality" was

"You can only sell a rebuilt motor for 50% of the cost of a new motor."

He came to this conclusion because everyone in his industry sold their rebuilt motors for 50% the cost of a new one.  Anyone who ever buys a used “anything” expects to buy it at a substantial reduction from the price of a new one.

Before I tell you more, I'd like to ask you how would you feel in that situation?

Would you be full of hope that somehow you can turn the situation around?

Or, would you, like most people, be thinking, "I need to get out of this business."

Or, would you think, "There isn't much we can do about this situation."

If so, you are not alone.  That's exactly how he was feeling.

We’re often stumped like this, not because there is no solution but because our limiting assumptions about reality don't seem like assumptions; they seem like reality. So we are totally closed in, trapped by the walls of a box we can't see.

Using a principle I call, "Find the hidden 'I can't,’” I helped him identify and unlearn the belief "We can't charge more than 50% of the price of a new motor."  Once he realized that it wasn’t necessarily the truth that he couldn’t charge more than 50% of the price of a new motor, we brainstormed some ideas.

Offer a longer warranty than those given for new motors. This will increase value for the customer but not increase costs by much since rebuilt motors actually last longer than new motors.

Businesses hate downtime even more than they hate paying higher prices, because it causes them to lose a ton of money, so offer to have motors available when needed under an annual maintenance contract and then guarantee to deliver overnight.  This eliminates the fear of lengthy downtime for businesses.  Also, because rebuilt motors perform so well, this offer will not add much to current costs.  You can even charge a lot more for this service since it saves the client a lot of money.

Finally, because new motors are frequently different sizes than the ones being replaced, there is an additional cost to install a new motor, which buying a rebuilt motor of the same model would eliminate.

As a result of getting rid of his assumption, he stopped seeing rebuilt motors the way we see used cars—as something that has lower value and should be priced accordingly—and he was able to see possibilities and opportunities he had not been able to see before. Seeing new possibilities allowed him to create a higher valued offer that made it possible for him to not just maintain prices but increase prices and profits.

This new offer allowed him to not just sell a replacement motor, but instead to sell a package of “value” that no one else in the industry was offering.  He essentially created a new industry in which he didn’t have any competition.

The key here is that he would NEVER have even found this assumption on his own.  He needed to be shown how to identify it.  And even then he didn't take it seriously at first.

And this is true of most people.  Our assumptions about reality seem to be absolute facts.  They don't seem like assumptions or beliefs or opinions.

For us, they are REALITY.

But once you learn how to identify and unlearn the innumerable assumptions you have about reality, almost anything is possible.

This business owner's story is just one example of how getting rid of subtle and hidden beliefs can transform your results.

In my new program called the Unstoppable Mindset, you’ll learn Possibilities Thinking, so you can see past the reality most people see. You’ll live in a world of possibilities and opportunities undreamed of by most people.

This Possibilities Habit obliterates limitations most people see "out there" in the world and creates possibility after possibility--even in situations that at first appeared hopeless.

And you can have this as a lifelong ability if you join the Unstoppable Mindset Program.

However, even when you can see reality without limits, you'll still need to take action to pursue the opportunities you create.

That's why the next step is ...

The next step to having the kind of success Steve Jobs had is to get rid of the major habits blocking your path to success.

Jobs created breakthrough ideas because he could see possibilities that others missed because they only saw limitations … but he also needed to take action to make his ideas a reality.

Most people have habits that block their path to success.  For example, many people come up with brilliant ideas but then fail to follow through on them.

Why?

Because of beliefs that direct them away from doing what it takes, the way a marionette is dragged around by its strings.

In the Unstoppable Mindset Program, we help you discover the behaviors that hold you back, and then we help you find and unlearn the beliefs that cause them.

In effect, you cut the strings that stop you from taking action, allowing you to blaze a trail to the success you’ve always wanted.

The tricky thing with the belief-unlearning process though isn't eliminating the beliefs.  The tricky part is finding the beliefs.

We only notice the symptoms, namely, the lack of action, bad habits and damaging emotions like fear.

And while many people can find some of their beliefs on their own, such as I'm not good enough and I'm not deserving, most people are not able to find the more subtle beliefs that can keep you from doing everything it takes to reach your goals.

The answer: the Lefkoe Belief Discovery Process.

Here's an example:

Randy was a singer and actor.  He got work frequently and sometimes earned a lot of money at one time.  But he still needed to supplement his income with other jobs.  He'd gotten rid of a lot of negative self-beliefs and other beliefs and, as a result, experienced a lot of changes in his life.

He felt better about himself.

He was taking better care of himself.

He was doing more of the things that were important to him.

But one thing still had not changed.

He seemed to lack money all the time.

Why?

Here was his answer:

I have just enough to pay the bills and when I make a great deal of money, my inclination is to pay bills and then reward myself, not to save.

Discovering the beliefs that caused this pattern was tricky.  In his mind rewarding himself by spending the money left over after paying his bills just felt natural and he couldn't see what was driving him.

So it took an hour of applying every belief-discovery technique up my sleeve to discover all the beliefs causing this behavior.

We found the following beliefs he had about wealthy people:

Wealthy people are shallow.

Wealthy people are uncaring, unloving and unfeeling.

Wealthy people are non-spiritual.

Wealthy people are selfish.

And these "positive" beliefs about poverty:

Poverty builds character.

Poverty makes you strong.

Poverty makes you a visionary.

Poverty makes you human.

Poverty fosters creativity.

Poverty fosters love between people.

As the beliefs were discovered, he was surprised.  He never knew that he believed anything like them.  And yet these beliefs were preventing him from taking the action he needed to reach his money goals.

This is very common.

Our beliefs are often hidden away from us and we don't even notice they are there.  It takes special training and special care to coax them to the surface.

Once Randy got rid of these beliefs he was able to finally begin to save money and build a more stable life for himself.