A famous quantum physicist, Richard Feynman, once described the path you would take between your living room and your kitchen as the most probable path, but not the only one. You could get to the kitchen via Jupiter, for example, or by tunneling through the Earth. He said that all paths to the kitchen are available to us, just more or less likely to be taken.

Each day, we are engaged in walking probable paths. These paths are well worn. We brush our teeth the same way, we put on our clothes or makeup in the same order, we think many of the same thoughts, over and over. If you've ever tried to break out of one of these well-worn paths, you know how hard it can be to do so. Have you ever watched your body go through the motions of a bad habit and thought, "Gosh, I'm an expert at this!" Not the most comforting thought if you want to stop, but find that you can't.

Just like the path to the kitchen via Jupiter, alternatives to our regular behavior can seem pretty much impossible. Yet those alternative paths have a certain amount of probability attached to them, too, no matter how infinitesimal. How can we increase the probability of taking another path, when the path we're on is no longer working for us?

For that, quantum physics offers us an answer. In experiments with subatomic particles, we have learned that when we observe, we modify the outcome of the experiment. Observation is a powerful tool, and the way in which we do it can give us one outcome or another. We can observe our own behavior in a way that will help us create a new path.

First, we must become aware of the behavior as it is happening. Often we become immersed in our journey down the path-seeing a twig, the stones beneath our feet, a bird flying overhead. By observing ourselves in the moment, walking down the path, we have made the first step in separating ourselves from it. We can be both the observer and the observed.

Once we can catch ourselves at the behavior, then we can take small actions that will make this path seem less attractive, and another more so. For example, we can, at the moment of observation, laugh at ourselves. (You again! Silly goose.) We can remind ourselves of our ultimate goals, our ultimate vision for ourselves, and take a moment to remember why that vision draws us. We can even lie down for a minute, or turn the music on loud and dance, or drop to our knees and pray. It almost doesn't matter what we do, as long as it is something out of the ordinary, something that makes one foot leave the path.

The most rewarding action that can be taken at one of these moments is the one that supports the creation of the future you've dreamed of for yourself, what I call your Possibility Future. A small step taken on that path will have the most impact. Is there a quick e-mail you can send, a task you can add to your To Do list, a marketing idea you can write down, a phone call you've been putting off?

As the evidence mounts that you are indeed changing your path, the probability of you ending up at your desired destination increases. The more actions you take toward your future vision, the more momentum you will create, until you are virtually and effortlessly tumbling into your dream. And it doesn't matter how big these actions are. Eventually you will find yourself in a place where big choices must be made, but because both feet are firmly on your new path, they will no longer seem frightening or huge, but natural, right and inevitable.

John Gribbins said in his book In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, Quantum Physics and Reality: "All things are possible, and by our actions we choose our own paths through the many worlds of the quantum." Choose your path, live it, and you can create whatever future you desire.