Do you have childhood memories of sitting underneath a tree and trying to grasp the stars? If you didn't, your childhood was a bit on the lame side. Sorry, friend. But if you did, then you know the bittersweet nature of reaching for something beautiful but failing to catch it. We treat our own dreams in a similar way. We reach out for it with the longing of a child, but the distance makes it feel like it is out of our reach. We stop. We reel our hands in. And then we look away. These three steps repeat every time we kill a dream. But here is some food for thought. Not all dreams are equally impossible. Certain impossibilities are actually doable if you just shift your perceptions. Learn how to calculate infinity and catch the stars you have been missing out on.
Introducing the Degrees of Impossible
Can you buy the moon? No. Can you build a rocket to the moon? Unless you possess a seemingly endless set of funds, time, resources, and energy like Elon Musk, I don’t suppose you could. But notice how the former was a practical impossibility, while the latter is a logistical and resource-based impossibility. If money and resources are the constraints holding you back, your task is not practically impossible; it just needs a good amount of effort to pull off. And here is the cool thing about effort that only 1% of businessmen know—are you ready? It only costs time. But before you can set out to achieve the impossible, you need to identify just how impossible a task really is.
The fun, stairway-looking diagram above shows you the different degrees of impossible, and only one of them is unachievable.
1) Visually Impossible: These tasks only look impossible on the surface. The things that hold you back from doing these tasks are all internal factors, such as a lack of motivation, the perceived difficulty of the task, and the absence of knowledge surrounding the task. The best thing for you is that each one of these deficiencies can be remedied. The only thing holding you back here is yourself, so start moving.
2) Fairly Impossible: These tasks are difficult. These tasks may prove impossible to achieve even if you have all the motivation and know how to pull them off. Why? These tasks require resources, specifically money and time, and not everyone has them. That doesn't make it impossible to work up to, however. Money can be earned, and time can be made. The only question you need to ask yourself here is: Is your dream worth it?
3) Truly impossible: This is not doable for a human. I am sorry, because unless you are an alien or the leader of a sovereign nation, you cannot do these things. I am obviously talking about things such as blowing up planets, buying Twitter, enslaving the human race, and finding Amy Schumer funny. These things cannot be done by mere mortals. Everything else can be done, though. That’s the cool part. So leave your interplanetary dreams aside and focus on what you can achieve, which is quite a lot.
Now that you know that 99% of the tasks on the planet are possible if you put in the effort, here is some advice on how you can achieve them.
1. Work like your life depends on it
This seems like a stupidly obvious point, but you never want to fall back by underestimating how much effort the loftier goals in life require. This is why this is the first point. How you frame your mind in the beginning can have ripple effects on how well you persevere later on. As the wise Master Yoda once said to a naïve Luke Skywalker, "Do or do not; there is no try."
2. Erase your Distractions
People underestimate the simple things that stand in the way of them achieving their goals. Your home life can be an absolute burden on your time if you are inefficient about it. It’s not only laundry that piles up over time; self-doubt has the same effect. The key to erasing your distractions at home is not to eliminate them, as the title might suggest. Rather, it is to segment them and give them their own time, unless you are a parent, in which case God bless you and your efforts.
3. Create SMART goals for your DUMB brain
Just so you know, I am not talking down to you by calling you dumb, but there is a limit to what your brain can possibly do. So, plan around it! If you are chasing down the dream that you’ve been yearning for, you cannot afford mistakes. This is why planning is important. You need to identify the ups and downs, the lefts and rights, so that you are prepared every step of the way. SMART goals are one of those evergreen productivity hacks that get better the more you plan them out, which is why I mention them.
4. Take Cold Showers
Psych! I was testing if you were reading. Yeah, don’t do that crap; it’s not for everyone. In fact, the lesson here is that you need to grow your ability to discern. Acquiring knowledge is a process that takes time. Learn to trust in that process. Don’t just listen to one person and run off like it’s the gospel. Look at other sources, talk to other people, and make the best judgement from there. You don’t want to play around with your dreams based on the whims of another person.
5. Stop making Excuses
Excuses are dream killers, and I don’t mean that as an understatement. They undervalue your strengths and overvalue your weaknesses. They will shotgun blast your dreams into oblivion. Words have power, and the words you speak over yourself can end up crippling you in the long run. Speak the truth over yourself and toss your excuses back into the trash where it belongs.
6. Get comfortable with sacrifices
Good things don’t come easy, and they might require a good number of sacrifices. Maybe you need to sell some of your stuff for money. Maybe you need to sacrifice some time with loved ones. It's part of the journey, and dreams come at a cost, but don't sacrifice the things that truly matter to you. A key mistake people make when going after their dreams is to abandon everything they love. Don't be that person. You should sacrifice only when necessary. After all, what good is a dream life if there is no one to share it with and you are barely sane throughout it all?
7. Struggling together > Struggling alone
You can do a lot by yourself, but as an individual, you will be limited in certain areas. You cannot possess all the knowledge and skills in the world, and time is a resource that only Marty McFly can get back. So what do you do? You work with those who can fill in the gaps in your repertoire and work together to inch towards greatness. Companionship also brings much-needed gifts along with it. It's a worthwhile and underrated investment.
Achieving the impossible is not for the faint of heart. You may cry. You may find yourself punching away at walls. You may contemplate giving up. But don’t give up, friend. Unless it is "truly impossible," you still have a chance of getting it done. Believe in yourself and ascend to the stars.
Congratulations, you have now learned how to calculate infinity.
P.S. Calculating Infinity is the debut studio album by one of my favourite bands of all time. If you know them, you have great taste.