What if it all works out?
Feb 27, 2026
What if it all works out?
Written By Bart Berkey | Most People Don't
A client recently asked to schedule time to recap my sales training session.
I had poured everything into it. Energy. Stories. Frameworks. Experience. Heart.
Then he said something that instantly shifted my state.
“I’d like to review the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
My stomach tightened. The good, the bad, and the ugly? Immediately, my mind started racing. And that’s when the story I told myself almost took over...
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What did I miss?
Did something fall flat?
Was I too long in one section?
Too intense?
Not practical enough?
Isn’t it amazing how quickly our thoughts run toward the worst-case scenario? (60,000 thoughts a day and most of them are repetitive and negative.)
I replayed moments in my head.
I edited myself in retrospect.
I questioned their satisfaction.
I questioned my own skill.
We finally sat down. And to my joyful surprise…
There was no bad.
There was no ugly.
Only good.
They were thrilled. Beyond expectations. A perfect 5/5 from every single attendee. They said I overdelivered.
Whew.
All that anxiety.
All that narrative.
All that stress.
For nothing.
And it made me think of something else.
This week, Terri and I are visiting our daughter in Hawaii.
Three years ago, she called and said she wanted to accept a job offer there.
Hawaii.
Ten hours away.
No family nearby.
Shipping a car across the ocean.
New culture. New people. New everything.
And of course, the “what ifs” started.
But what if you don’t know anyone?
What if it doesn’t work out?
What if you get lonely?
What if you hate it?
But she wanted the experience. She wanted the challenge.
What if it all works out?
And it did. She has OVERDELIVERED!
She embraced the culture.
She loves what she does.
She learned to surf.
She adopted a puppy.
She met a nice boy.
Instead of letting “what if” end in fear, she let it end in possibility.
What if she loves Hawaii?
What if this becomes the best decision she’s ever made? What if we all move to Hawaii to be closer to her?
How often do we let “what if” automatically conclude in negative outcomes?
What if they don’t like my presentation?
What if the client says no?
What if I fail?
What if we rewrote the ending?
What if they appreciate it?
What if they only have good things to say?
What if the risk pays off?
What if it all works out?
Changing our thinking doesn’t mean blind optimism.
It doesn’t mean pretending everything will be perfect.
Maybe it’s not “of course it will work out.”
Maybe it’s this:
Whether it works out or not… it will still be great.
Because we’ll learn.
We’ll grow.
We’ll adapt.
We’ll bend without breaking.
We can’t control outcomes.
But we can control the story we tell ourselves before the outcome arrives.
So the next time your mind starts filling in the blanks with fear…
Pause.
Breathe.
And finish the sentence differently.
What if it all works out?
And even if it doesn’t exactly the way you planned…What if it still becomes something beautiful?
