Flying in the face of impossible

I hate the idea of something being labeled as impossible, the whole concept is both negative and self-defeating.

It’s this basic idea of accepting boundaries of what is and isn’t possible that we, in effect, create a reason to lead quiet, boring, and unaccomplished lives.

After all, what reason is there for anyone to strive for something great if we already know our dreams are impossible?

I believe it’s only through crazy and seemingly impossible pursuits that we can discover true greatness in both ourselves and our achievements and I for one, refuse to be bound by the concept of impossible any longer.

Amazing people do impossible things

The most inspiring people who have ever lived spat in the face of impossible.

They were told by everyone that their dreams would never come true and that they would most certainly end in failure. They were told over and over again and still they pushed forward unfazed by the world’s definition of possible.

Through this unwavering belief in their vision, they were able to do things all others could not. They worked harder, pushed further and lasted longer than anyone before because they truly believed that no matter what people said, they could define impossibility.

This blind optimism saw the Wright Brother to first take flight in 1903, it saw Yuri Gagarin become the first person in space in 1961 and last year it saw Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg make the first solar-powered flight around the entire globe.

We have seen incredible accomplishments like these defy the bounds of what we thought was possible and yet in spite of all our accomplishments we still treat the impossible as something to fear and avoid.

Impossibly bad advice

Many times in my life I was told that my ideas were impossible, crazy or unrealistic. This pessimism stifled my ambitions and led me to suffer through self-doubt and indecision, as I was too afraid to attempt any sort of risk on my own.

Now having undergone what was easily the most successful and transformative year of my life I am once again facing these same voices of negativity.

As I look forward to build on what I have accomplished I am once again being told that my goals are too ambitious and that I am sure to fail.

Although these warnings are coming from friends and colleges that I’m sure have my best interests at heart, I believe they are the root cause of the fears that would keep me from reaching greater heights.

It’s for this reason that I decided to commit myself to striving for an impossible life.

My impossible plan

My goal is to pursue a life that isn’t normal and that would by most account scare the hell out of most people. I believe it’s only here that I will be able to find the achievements I am looking for.

In curating my new commitment to impossibility I came across the concept of an “impossible list,” which was developed Joel Runyon from impossiblehq.com and expanded on by this inspiring and motivating guy named Thomas Frank of collegeinfogeek.com.

The concept is much like a bucket list but instead of a list of things to hopefully do one day before you die, the impossible list is a vision that you build to take action in your life right now.

By listing off all the things you’ve always wanted to do or always hoped you could do you can easily cherry pick what goals you’ll want to attack now and slowly bring your impossible goals down to the realm of possibility.

I’ve listed my very long and (some would say) very crazy goals here and I would encourage you to check it out and borrow this same strategy for your life.

Muhammad Ali once said:

“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

So I dare you to seize your potential, to build your impossible list, and live an impossible life.