Nothing is Impossible

“silhouette photo of a mountain during the nighttime” by Benjaminrobyn Jespersen on Unsplash

Okay, okay, before you start getting all “well we can’t travel at the speed of light so that’s impossible” as your response to the title, think a little closer to home. Slightly more realistically for the next three minutes. Instead, your challenge is to think about the accuracy of the words that you use every day around your work and your home. It is highly suspect that the word impossible comes up in your normal discussions a few times a day, potentially multiple times each week. Is the effort or the solution to the problem that you were trying to describe really impossible?

Let me get back to the cosmic principle like the speed of light remark above. In terms of impossible, think about the human race. Think about our existence on this planet. Think about the fact that our planet is in the perfect location away from the sun. Those are all impossibilities but yet, these random things happened. There are impossible things that we as a human race accomplish every day. The combustion engine, powered flight, international flight, orbital launches and landings, and even walking on the moon. Do not forget landings on Mars, comets, and asteroids. Even sending our trash out of our solar system. Those were all impossible — at one point.

Impossible should not be a word that you use in any of your descriptions of work or problem-solving today. You should not allow it to be used in your presence either. It should not be a word that you use in any descriptions of work — ever. By exclaiming the impossibility of a particular action or function, you immediately limit yourself. You immediately limit your thinking and prematurely stunt any potential ideas that you have, thereby making you one of the masses — the common folk.

Try this exercise. Every time you use or hear the word impossible, stop what you are doing immediately. Stop your activities. Stop trying to find a solution. Stop putting in the effort. Take a passive-aggressive position, include those around you and say “well, since (we, I, you) determined it is impossible, (we, I, you) will stop trying and go do something else.” See how long that mindset lasts. Hell, see how long you last in the role you are occupying. If we were to stop every time we say the word impossible, would we have concrete sidewalks? Would we have indoor plumbing? What about the microwave you use to reheat your coffee? Do you think the Hoover Dam would be in place?

Stop saying things are impossible.

My children and I have a deal that anytime they say the word can’t or impossible they have to put a dollar into a jar. These are both swear words in our household. Guess what — there is a surprisingly low amount of money in the jar. If you do not measure it, you will not change the behavior. Start measuring yourself.

One would be silly to disagree that certain discoveries, certain experiments, certain activities are extremely difficult to accomplish today. Maybe these opportunities are not able to be accomplished immediately, but there will eventually be a solution. In my experience, having had the opportunity to work with some of those exclusive individuals that are the 1% of the 1%, it was quickly discovered is that there is no such thing as impossible. You can throw enough time, money, and bodies at most any problem out there and hack your way to a solution that will enable you to continue to move forward. 

It may not be the most elegant solution, but it is a solution. Yet it is still hard work. Mind-numbing calculations, brain-wracking conceptualizations, time-consuming experiments, near incomprehensible designs, lots trial-and-error, and failure. Many, many failures.

However, we will find a way.

We always do.

We have opposable thumbs.

Go forth and be brilliant.