The ‘Anti-Impossible’ Directive

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly… you are doing the impossible.”     -Saint Francis of Assisi

The act of doing something “impossible” by definition can not be done, but 99 percent of these “impossibilities” are actually possible. So (almost) nothing is impossible.

Ergo, impossible is nothing.

Think of it as a long math equation. When laid out on a board it seems like a complex mess of impossibilities. But if you focus on a single part of the equation at a time, it becomes not only possible but relatively easy.

5 x 8 – 32 + 5.2 ÷ 9 x 21 + .6 ÷ 89 x .74 = impossible

That equation is impossible to solve (to most minds) when viewed as a single problem – looking at it once and trying to figure out the answer instantly. But breaking it down to its base parts makes it literally as easy as 1 + 1.

“It’s how well we can (literally) see a problem or a puzzle then (literally) visualize the solution. Less mathematical equation, more jigsaw puzzle.”     -Det V Cader

It’s natural to visualize an impossible task as one giant problem, like climbing an insurmountable mountain. Now forget the peak of the mountain and focus on that first hill. Once you’re there, you’ve accomplished a small part of something impossible, easy. Keep on doing these small things and eventually it adds up or leads to an accomplishment of the impossible.

“Nothing is impossible to him who will try.”     -Alexander the Great

Most people conclude something is impossible by rating the difficulty of achieving it, not if it’s quantifiably beyond the bounds of possible. This is an error in logic.

Even if no one has figured out the steps to achieve something that seems impossible doesn’t mean it is. It just means the problem or equation hasn’t been solved yet. Impossible is just a theory waiting to be disproven.

Whatever the goal, start from the beginning by breaking it down to smaller, more manageable pieces and simply begin. Basically small steps that eventually lead to the completion of that impossible task.

“Most of the things worth doing in the history of the world had been declared impossible before they were done.”     -Louis Brandeis

Each step is like adding a piece to a jigsaw puzzle.

With reasoning “the impossible” can be scaled down to “the improbable” and with action it can become “the possible“.

“Impossible” is just another word for “puzzle” and all puzzles can be solved, because they’re meant to be.