“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.” —Muhammad Ali
I recently read an article that started with: “Everything was impossible until someone decided not to listen.” I would say until someone did it. Put a man on the moon, run a four-minute mile, heart surgery… The list is endless.
Impossible does not mean what the world thinks is impossible. It’s usually something you feel is personally impossible or that people tell you can’t be done. Usually the people who tell you this are the ones who never made an attempt to push their limits.
My life would be very different if I had listened to all the people who told me what I couldn’t or shouldn’t do. So many awesome experiences in my life would be missing. I would have never gotten in a cage with a tiger or paddle boarded or snorkeled (I still don’t know how to swim). People still say I am crazy. I would say I am doing things I did not ever think possible.
The limits of possibility are where all the growth happens (personally and professionally)—be it in the world or in your own mind. Just because it hasn’t been done, does not mean it can’t or that it shouldn’t.
Go out and try something the world believes is impossible. Who knows, you might just get it.
Impossibility is truly a mindset. Have a great weekend.
—Vijay
About Friday Food for Thought (FFfT)
I frequently attend conferences and retreats on entrepreneurship and leadership and while I am away, the J2 team picks up the slack, allowing me to learn to be better at what I do. I wanted to share what I was learning with my team, so I created the weekly FFfT emails in November of 2015 and have been writing them ever since.
Before long, the J2 staff began sharing the FFfT emails with their friends and family and now other leaders have asked to be included, which led to the creation of this newsletter. I hope you enjoy!