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The word impossible has many connotations. But I find nothing more powerful than Muhammad Ali’s words – Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men. It not only attacks the word impossible, but also the mindset of people using that as an excuse. There’s no excuse we can give to ourselves for justifying inaction. It is still a big word and embodies a small personality when we use it. Impossible is great as a challenge but lousy as an excuse. This quote is a call for us to review what we think is impossible and just ask the question – what if this was possible?

Such a powerful quote by Muhammad Ali that talks about the power of challenge – defying common beliefs and standing true to our dreams and desires. I love most of his quotes because they challenge the status quo. Impossible in some ways is a status quo that needs a strong challenge. We have seen so many records being broken. They were all once thought impossible but someone went beyond these beliefs to defy them. As we take inspiration from Muhammad Ali, in this article, we try to reflect on the meaning of this quote.

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men

We always have reasons and justifications for things we haven’t done. This is akin to the story where the fox calls the grapes sour just because it can’t get to them. In some cases, this is the narrative of impossible for many people around us. They tell us something is impossible either because they don’t have proof of it working out, or they haven’t seen it themselves. But, it doesn’t matter. Impossible is sometimes a state of mind. Muhammad Ali is getting this message across to us in his powerful quote – impossible is just a big word thrown around by small people.

The word impossible still has a negative connotation here because impossible is nothing. We can always find a list of all the things we think are impossible. But within this list, we will also find people working towards making it possible. Now, it is a choice about what type of people we want to be. Don’t fall into the trap of believing everything you hear. Sometimes, we have to be smart enough to separate the small-minded approach of a few people to find out what’s out there for us.

It’s an opinion, not a declaration, it’s a dare – Impossible is temporary

Impossible is a lot of things. But it is one of the best challenges you can get in your life. How amazing is it to go beyond this impossible and take the challenge to disprove it? It isn’t going to be easy, but it will be a worthy challenge to face and prove others wrong.

It is an opinion

Many people will continue telling us what’s impossible. But nothing is until we believe in it completely. It is a state of mind that tells whether we should put our efforts into something. If we believe that it is impossible, we will not work at it. But if there’s a sense of possibility, our minds can be extremely capable. They can find ways to break this impossible into multiple possible tasks. And this very sense of what’s not achievable can be a fun exercise to treat as a challenge.

It is a dare

Such a great way of looking at it. Impossible is daunting, scary and makes us question ourselves. But the question can be – what if? What if I’m able to beat this impossible and go beyond that. Isn’t it a fantastic challenge to face and push ourselves forward. There are two responses right? One can be afraid and give up. The other can push beyond what you know and get you to what you truly love and desire. (The value of impossible challenges)

It is temporary

It is only because there’s no history of someone going beyond it. This applies to all the achievements which were once thought impossible. I’m sure you can name plenty of those.

Impossible is nothing

Sometimes, we have to reduce the scope of the challenge to nothing to win over it. This doesn’t mean that we are negating the challenge. But we are telling the thing that appears impossible that we are bigger than that. Following that, we have an opening to find a way to make it possible. If the word impossible makes it overwhelming – then we’ve accepted defeat even before starting. Sure, that’s one approach. But in this approach, we don’t have an opportunity for victory. (You have to believe it will work out)

If we are able to believe that impossible is nothing – we can engage our brain in thinking about possibilities. It can start becoming creative about solutions and find answers instead of questions that debilitate us. I’m sure each of our situations are unique. But that’s also the beauty of it. We have to find solutions that are unique for each of these individual situations. No one else can do it for us. Afterall, this quote is engaging us to think – impossible is nothing!