There are a lot of tasks in the world that are impossible.
For instance, traveling at faster than the speed of light. By special relativity and the laws of nature, we must claim that this is impossible.
Po Shen Loh once mentioned in a math talk that there is a very fine line between things categorized as “extremely hard” or “impossible”. They are two separate, vastly distinct, realms.
However, most of us like to label things that are “extremely hard” as “impossible”, blurring the distinction between the two. We try once, twice, three times, or even ten times. But upon every failure, our surroundings like to tell us that it’s “impossible”. We’re told that “we can’t do it” or “it’s beyond your capabilities”. Our inner self accepts these facts, and instead of continuing to challenge ourselves, we give up.
Nature tends to act in the path of least resistance. The laws of physics tell us this postulate is true!
David Goggins is the ultimate proof that it is possible to defy the odds and surpass your limits.
Why does he even exist? It’s because he put himself in the “suck”, faced his hardest inner truths, sought the path of most resistance, and most importantly, mastered his mind. By staying hard and creating as much tension as he can in his own life, he succeeds even though all odds are against him. He doesn’t have any special gifts; he’s just a normal person. But he pushes onward.
It took me eight contests to be promoted to the Silver division of USACO. I was a single test case away from promotion in January 2023. Imagine where I would be if I foolishly declared that “it would be impossible to promote” and quit coding.
If you’re not there yet, you have two options: fail or continue suffering.
Keep pushing.
This blog post was inspired by this: