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A Tough Question

May 31, 2013 By 9 Comments

Greetings from Colombia!

I’m spending some time now in Bogota after spending the first part of the week with the Pencils of Promise team in Guatemala checking out the brand new dedicated Impossible school we built the first part of the year! I’ll have more updates (and a lot of photos) on that soon, but as I’ve been traveling the past week or so, Jeff Sarris of the ever-talented Spyr Media brought up a great question that’s been making me stop & think lately.

The more you do “it”, the better you get. The decision: Continue to produce the same “it” in less time or go bigger & better (spend more time)? - Jeff Sarris

I’ve been working out this question myself, but I’m interested in your thoughts so I asked Jeff if I could continue the discussion here on the site and he was all game.

So what do you think?

Do you focus on building “it” faster or re-adjusting your sights and aim even bigger?

Leave your comment below.

Filed Under: Life

The Domino Effect

April 2, 2013 By 23 Comments

Domino Day

Note: This is a more personal post than I typically write. Maybe it helps explain the reasoning behind what I do.

Every once in a while someone asks me to change the way I write.

“I really like your site, but if you could just change xyz then I think you’d really be more appealing.”

These comments are usually meant in good faith, but the message is still the same.

“If you weren’t so extreme, then you could bring in more people. You could expand your audience even larger. You could help more people!”

We’re in an interesting place. The site has about 10,000 subscribers and ~100,000 visitors/month these days. Considering when I started this thing 3 years ago, I was living in my parents basement & just wanted to run an indoor triathlon, I’m still in awe of what this has turned into.

Complete world takeover is on the horizon :)

But we’ll come back to that in a second…

The Domino Effect

If you’ve ever watched a domino world record – they’re pretty intense. You can get an idea of the scope of some of these events by watching this video

But you can also learn something about maximizing your impact from dominos. See dominos don’t try to knock over everything at once. In fact, if they do, they usually fall flat and don’t. They can max out at knocking over 2 or 3 other dominos. That’s about all one domino can really handle.

But that’s not why people find domino world records impressive. Nobody watches a domino setup to watch 1 domino knock over 1, 2 or even 3 other dominos. Honestly, that would suck, take only a fraction of a second and be boring as all get out.

People watch domino setups to see the effect that knocking over 1 domino has on another and then another and then another – a thousand times over. It’s the consecutive nature of one domino after the other that’s the real show. That’s what people come to watch.

I’m always trying to grow, expand and reach more people with the site and various projects we’re working on – but the end goal is not about how many people I reach on my own. There’s some out there that simply won’t get me, my style or my approach on life.

And that’s fine.

Because it’s not really about me. I’m just a domino. I’m doing the one thing I’m supposed to do.

I write about pushing your limits and doing the impossible. I’m not going to temper that to make you feel good about cheating yourself, or tell you that we should all sit in a circle and sing kum-bah-yah. If you have a problem with that – please do both of us a favor and unsubscribe. There’s people on the internet that do that – but that’s not me.

See, I’m not really interested in just having “readers.” They’re great, but what I enjoy even more are “doers.” People who take the things they read and implement them in their lives – try them out on their own, experiment & share it with their circle of people in their own way.

I can’t reach everyone – but if I can reach someone who can reach someone who can reach someone – that’s still something. And that’s how you really influence people.

Besides: who knows what the people around you need better than you?

So when people say: ”I really like your site, but if you could just change xyz then I think you’d really be more appealing.”

My response is: “that sounds great, why don’t you do it?”

Because, if that’s what you think the world needs – then that’s what you should go and create. Don’t wait for someone else to do it for you – don’t try to convince someone else to knock over the domino in front of you – that’s lazy – that’s your job.

Because I’m just a domino – I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do.

So sorry:

So sorry, but I’m not sorry. That’s not my role.

I’m going to talk about pushing your limits, doing stuff that’s hard and doing what’s never been done before. The impossible.

If you don’t like that – there’s lots of other places on the internet to hang out :) .

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Be A Domino

You have your own message. Your own job. Your own domino to knock over.

Be a domino.

Do the one thing you’re supposed to do.

Knock over the next domino.

The ones you do might have a different job and fall in a different way, but you can’t control what they do. All you can control is you.

Do the one thing you’re supposed to do.

Knock over the next domino.

Then stand back & watch the domino effect happen.

(If you enjoyed this post, be a domino & share this with someone in your circle of influence).

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photo credit: photography.andreas
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p.s. If you’re still interested in why I take such a strong stance, this is why I write.

Filed Under: Adventures, Life, Personal Development

Read This Post

March 25, 2013 By 12 Comments

Just read this post

We’ve got a lot of really intriguing announcements, meetups, races and job postings (yes jobs!) in this post. I could come up with a fancy title for all of this, but just read this post.

read

RSS –> Email

RSS is dead (mostly). If you’re reading this via email – relax and move on to the next item. If you’re reading this via rss on the blog – this is for you!

You might know that google recently killed google reader and if you’re reading this via GReader, as of July 1, you won’t be able to anymore – they’re shutting it down. Essentially, RSS is dead. If you really, really want to use RSS going forward, I recommend feedly.

However, the best way to stay up-to-date with everything is to join ~10,000 other really awesome people and subscribe via email right here. You also get a ton of really great stuff when you sign up (I like to bribe you). Not to mention, I’m doing a ton of new stuff with email in the next few months, so it’s going to be an even bigger deal than before. If you’re reading via RSS and want to keep up with everything we’re doing here at Impossible HQ after Google Reader goes to technology heaven, email is the way to go.

–> Subscribe here <— Get in on this.

Impossible HQ is Hiring An Editor

Big News –> I’m looking to hire an editor here at Impossible HQ. For the last 3 years, I’ve been running everything myself + a very tiny team of on/off contractors of mostly graphic designers.

As things continue to grow, I’m going to continue to expand (we have two big projects in the works as we speak). That stats with making sure everything on the site is high-quality, helping schedule & plan out content strategy as well as do some copy-editing to fend off the extra commas and missing words that sometimes creep into the site. Ideal candidates are great writers & highly organized but can deal with someone who is not (mainly me).

Note, this is a part-time position and you’re not going to make google money, but it is a paid position. You also get a first-hand look at what I’m coming up with next and other projects before I launch them publicly.

If you’d like to apply send an email to joel [at] impossiblehq [dot] com.

Please put “Editor Position” in the subject line and answer the following questions:

  • Name & Location (virtual position, but time zones are important)
  • What’s your relevant experience as a writer/editor? What should I know about you?
  • What type of time availability do you have on a weekly basis to dedicate to Impossible HQ?
  • How long have you been reading Impossible HQ? What’s your favorite article?
  • Why are you a good fit for this position?
  • Why do you want to do this?
  • What’s the one thing you’d like to influence about Impossible HQ?
  • What’s the next thing you’re crossing off your impossible list? When are you going to do it?
  • When was your last cold shower?
  • Is there anything else you want to brag about/I should know?

Applications need to be in by April 5th (10 days). Once I get them all, I’ll be reading through the apps, pick out the best to do an interview and a few test projects. If we find a good fit, we’ll run a 90 day contract (3 months) to see how it goes and hopefully move full steam ahead if things go smoothly. If you’re interested, I’d love for you to apply – just remember applications need to be in by April 5th.

Chicago Meetup

Chicago area people.  We’re having a small meetup next week on Wednesday at 7pm(ish). We’re still finalizing venue details, but if you’d like to come, simply RSVP and click here and fill out the form below.

Chicago Tough Mudder

In another case of “I’m doing X, who wants to come with me?“, I’m running the Chicago Tough Mudder on May 18th & 19th…who wants to come with me?

If you want to get in on it – put your details in here. I’ll be sending out an email asap, pick our date and get a team together. If you’re in Chicago and think you’re tough enough to give it a shot, lets go.

*note, you’re going to have to be in decent shape to pull this off. It’s a 10-12 mile obstacle race with 20+ obstacles, so if you’re still struggling doing a couple miles, we’ll be doing some other events down the road. You might want to start training now.

To RSVP to the Chicago area Tough Mudder, click here and fill out the form below.

Non-Chicago & International Readers

Don’t worry – we’re working on a few solid meetups outside the Chicago area. Later this year, we’ll be doing more & more meetups around the U.S. and hopefully interenationally as well :) .

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Random Fun Fact: Last weekend I gave a TEDx talk here in Chicago. It should be online in the next few days & I’ll be posting it as soon as it’s live. Stay tuned!

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Whew! I think that’s it….

I’m constantly working on new stuff around here and I’m pretty excited about what 2013 has in store. I’m always working to make things bigger & better and as I do, the simple limits of what I think is impossible keeps moving further away.

As always, thanks for being a part of this :) . Keep doing something impossible.

photo credit: the bbp

Filed Under: BIT Updates, Business, Life, Meetups

7 Habits of Highly Effective Quitters

March 7, 2013 By 14 Comments

We’re switching gears today.

Today I want to talk about those people that don’t get a lot of mentions here on the blog.

The unsung heroes.

The ones who are always right.

The ones that never get enough attention.

The realistic ones.

The quitters.

This ones for you.

And for all of you doers out there – maybe you can pick up a lesson or two from these 7 Habits of Highly Effective Quitters

7 Habits of Highly Effective Quitters

1. Don’t Even Start

The best quitters never even start. After all the best way to quit is to quit before you even start. That way you leave no question about things. If you don’t start anything, you’ll have so much more room for other activities!

activities

Seriously, the more time you waste on doing something or pursuing something you want, the less time you have for important activities like quitting projects, complaining and generally talking about how lame it is that nothing ever works out.

2. Get Really Good At Explaining Your Excuses

Now, if you’re really unfortunate, you might have some friends who want you to make yourself better.

STOOOPID.

Work on your quick draw. Have at least 5 really great excuses ready for why you didn’t start.

  • I’m tired.
  • It’s hard.
  • It’s complicated
  • It’d easy
  • You don’t understaaannnnnnnd (best one ever)

Remember, use the last one only in emergencies. Or every single time you’re questioned. Either way. Unstoppable. Win!

Another stellar option is any time someone does something they’re proud of quickly dismiss this with a flip “I could totally do that”, quickly followed up by a short list of totally legitimate reasons why it’s not worth your time because you’re better than them.

It simultaneously lets you be egotistical, diminish others accomplishments without making you actually have to do anything. 3 birds. 1 stone. Boom.

3. Believe Your Own Stories

It’s not enough to convince others about your excuses. You need to sell it to yourself.

COMMIT TO IT

You know how Christian Bale lost 60+ pounds to be in the Machinist? You need to do that. Become the person you need to be in order to sell yourself on your inability.

machinist

Forget all of your natural talents, abilities and potential if you actually applied yourself. Focus on the obstacles and convince yourself how hard you specifically have it.

Remember, the key to this is maintaining a vacuum. Here’s a few tips.

  1. Believe the world revolves around you and your happiness. If you do, life will make more sense and you can become more easily outraged at the fact that traffic doesn’t stop when you need it to and that the billions of people for some strange reason aren’t acting with your specific intersts in mind. For some reason they’re not considering YOUR NEEDS while going about their 7 billion other lives. WTF?
  2. Do your best to forget the fact that you have more opportunity and technology available to you than 90% of the world and pretty much all of human history.

Remember, your life is hard because

  • you don’t know what terms to google to figure out just about anything you could want to learn.
  • the gym is like, at least, ten minutes away from your house.
  • people might look at you weird if you try something different
  • flying around the world takes all of 12 hours. 
  • candy bars are really tempting.

Life. Is. Rough.

Stay away from news about wars, poverty and other basic things like water or education that other people struggle with on a day to day basis . Those might tempt you to think that your definition of “hard” might be slightly relative.

Lies.

Remember, this is about all about you. Whatever you do, remember that it doesn’t matter how thin the pretense for your excuse is. If you believe it to your core – it doesn’t matter if others believe you or not. You’ve already won.

4. Make Sure To Tell Others

It’s not good enough for you to quit. There’s strength in numbers so make sure to spread it around. Surround yourself with other quitters.

Hopefully, these are people who are well practiced in the art of giving up before they ever started.

If you’ve got friends who are actually trying to do something, be sure to tell them them to give up as soon as possible. Encourage them to quit quit and remind them of how hard it is. Focus on why they can’t do it and why the idea is dumb and the other countless reasons why action is pointless. Offer unsolicited advice about why it’s impossible.

If you can make them discouraged, you’ve got a good chance.

The louder you are, the better. If you have a whiney voice – practice it in the mirror. It will let people know that your reasons are really serious and emotional. Bonus points if you throw in: “I used to think that too but then I became [smarter/faster/older/wiser/better] than to believe such things. Condescending sneers are encouraged.

5. Spend Lots of Time Consuming

Every once in a while you might feel like doing something yourself.

Screw that (see item #1).

Never create anything yourself. This is a gateway drug. If you do this, you might create more things, find that they’re useful and get addicted to making things and impressing your will upon the world.

Stop. 

Fill any and all free time with mindless activities. Ideally these include Netflix, Reality TV, Celebrity Gossip, Video Games, YouTube videos and Cat GIFs.

Whatever you can do to numb your mind – do it.

If you feel the need to satisfy doing something, here’s a quick fix.

  1. Don’t do it (this is important).
  2. Google “person doing X activity”
  3. Find a website/youtube channel or other outlet of some person doing X activity.
  4. Read & Watch everything they’ve ever written. Once you’ve gone through all their content, go through it again.
  5. Breathe & Relax. You’ve successfully avoided the temptation to do something yourself. You’ll notice the dopamine start to fill your brain as you reassure yourself that, “I’m reading about people doing cool things – so I get partial credit for doing them myself.”

6. Never Try Anything New

Pick one language in one town and one thing and stick to it. Go on vacation one time a year – hopefully on a cruise so you can go to a lot of different coutnries but still experience all-you-can-eat-buffets, casinos and ‘MURICA! while never getting off the boat.

If you start to think about doing something new: immediately pre-disqualify yourself (use imaginary reasons if necessary). These new ideas are dangerous and if let them progress too far, they may lead to action. Don’t let this happen (again, see rule #1).

7. Be Really Defensive

No one has the right to challenge you. No one.

They don’t know what you’ve been through and they’re not you – so how dare they try and challenge you to change something and do it better?

It doesn’t matter if they have a good point, a different point of view or other experiences that might be beneficial to you in some way/shape/form and it especially doesn’t matter if they care about your or not.

Don’t try to listen. Instead defend your status quo to the death. It can’t get here fast enough!

Be as easily offended as possible. That way everyone will know you’re right by how outraged you get. Never even consider thinking about another point of view. That will make other people think that you think you’re wrong – which you never could be. No one can understand your unique position in life, but through sheer cunning and ingenuity, you understand everything perfectly and can dissect world problems with surgeon-like precision.

Remember: your rightness is directly correlated with how angry you can get.

If possible, avoid any actual discussion as much as possible. Better yet, if you’ve done your homework on step #4, you should be surrounded only by people who only approve of your current lack of activities – that way you never have to question yourself.

If you do this right, you’ll never even even have to interact with any of these “offensive” people, but you’ll always feel like you’re being actively persecuted by them (so you get the best of both worlds!).

Above All

Above all, remember that anytime you come to a crossroads, just quit. It’s the easiest thing in the world – and after all – life is about making things easy. I mean seriously, if it’s hard, that must mean it’s probably not worth doing.

And remember: the easy choice is always the right choice. Always.

—

Or…you could suck it up, decide that what you want is worthwhile, realize your excuses suck and that it’s not all about you, decide to do the hard stuff anyways, put your head down, persevere and go for it….but that sounds way too hard.

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Reminder: If you want to submit your New Years transformation entry, you can do so here.

Filed Under: Adventures, Fitness, Life, Writing Tagged With: , ,

Moderation Is Overrated

February 26, 2013 By 22 Comments

Everything In moderation – especially moderation

“Everything in moderation” is my least favorite phrase on the planet. Admittedly, I have a bit of an extreme personality. When it comes to doing something, I either do nothing, or I go all out. There’s very little middle ground.

I realize everyone is not like me, but I think it’s worth while noting that this concept of moderation has been so engrained in people’s minds that it’s the default “common sense” mindset – which in and of itself, means it should be questioned.

moderation

Why So Moderate?

Why be “moderate”?

If you’re going to do something – go balls out. Really go after it. If you’ve convinced yourself to be “moderate”, check yourself and make sure it’s not for these reasons:

Moderation is Easy

Moderation is easy. If you go to work out and decide instead of sprints or something intense, you’re going to take it easy and ”jog for 10 minutes”, you can go as slow as possible.

If someone questions you on the actual value of the workout you’re doing, you can simply respond, “Oh, I was jogging – it was moderate.”

Oh…Okay.

There’s no room for argument. Even if you suck, you still have  ”defensible” argument.

It’s an easy choice.

Moderation Happens When You Don’t Know What You Want

If you don’t know what you want, it’s pretty easy to take things easy. If there’s no urgency and no goal to orient your behaviors around. It’s easy to be wishy washy and take whatever comes your way because you’re letting life happen to you.

You haven’t decided that you want X out of life and that you’re going to do whatever it takes to get it – so instead you let things fall as they may and keep ambling along moderately.

Moderation Makes Room For Failure

“I wasn’t really trying – I was being moderate.”

Being “moderate” makes room for failure. If you were actually honest and went after something as hard as you could and still failed, it hurts a lot more. You might be *gasp* embarrassed.

Being moderate is a way of preparing for failure before you actually do, so the impact doesn’t hurt so much. Unfortunately  by preparing for failure, you’re practically guaranteeing it’s going to happen.

This is a huge reason: they’re scared of failure.

You’re scared if you actually tried and gave it your all, you’d still fail (and everyone would point and laugh and think you’re stupid).

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. – Teddy Roosevelt.

(What’s even scarier still – if you go all out – you might actually succeed.)

Moderation is a Cop Out

Call it what it is. Most choices of ‘moderation” are a cop-out. A way to avoid pain and difficulty. When in reality, pain and difficulty are the only things that spur growth.

Pain & difficulty are not optional – they’re essential. No good story ever develops without pain & difficulty involved. Don’t try to “cheat” by being moderate. You only cheat yourself.

Crash Diets, Extremism & Burnouts

About the biggest proponent of “moderation’ is the idea that you’ll burn out if you go too hard for too long. Not to mention that extremism is has terrible associations with politics, religion, wars etc.

That’s not an invalid criticism.

However, no one ever talks about the dangers of moderating yourself into a standstill.

The one good thing about extremism is that you know what drives them. You know where they stand. You know what they’re going after.

In our quest for moderation, that element is often lost. Moderation isn’t a bad thing in and of itself, but becoming so moderate that you don’t have any forward motion and you simply exist is. No action. No direction. No movement.

Sure, there’s dangers to going all out, but there are very real dangers to being moderate as well.

Guess What? If you’re in a bad place in your life, you’re not going to moderately change.

If you’re 400 pounds, you’re not going to “ease” down to half your body weight. Because if you’re 50, 100, 200 pounds overweight, something is wrong. Something needs to change – drastically.

And (honestly) eating, and exercise are the last things you need to worry about. You need to fix the mental game first.

Mindset –> Nutrition –> Exercise

Your steps might be small, but your mindset shift is huge. You might not start doing 3,000 burpees a day, but at the very least, you have to wage war on your mindset.

When people see people lose 15, 30, or 70 pounds on Impossible Abs in 3-6 months, they lash out with terms like “crash diet” insinutating that people are just going to rebound and gain all the weight back as soon as the course is over. I’m sure a small percentage of people do that, but Impossible Abs is less of a case of a crash diet, than it is a complete rewiring of how you think & interact with food & exercise.

The problem is most people only see the physical change. It’s not a crash diet – it’s an exercise on waging war on your mindset through an exercise and nutritional protocol.

People like Toyah, who’ve gone through Impossible Abs are different. Sure, they might be down 20-30-40 pounds, but mentally, they are not the same person they were.

That happens whenever you run a ultra, take cold showers or lose a bunch of weight. Your physical change is one small aspect of the mental & emotional changes you’ve undergone throughout the journey (this is why I talk so much about cold shower therapy and the benefits of it).

That’s what this whole site is about: understanding that who you are is not defined by where you are now. That you’re way more capable than you think you are – but you won’t get there by hoping to moderate yourself there. You have to really go after it.

In order to do that, there needs to be a realization that something needs to change. Drastically. An all-out war on this mindset that this current iteration of your choices is acceptable. If you need to completely change your life, you have to want it – bad.

Time For War

You probably have tried being “moderate” before. It might not have worked. If “moderation” is your code word for “nothing” then throw it out. Screw moderation. Screw conventional wisdom. Change your mindset.

In cold shower therapy, people ask “how cold is cold?” Can we just do “lukewarm” water to ease into it?

My answer: no you can not.

It’s cold shower therapy. Not “kinda-chilly-shower-therapy.” Cold shower therapy. As in freezing cold – as in “water-so-cold-they-shipped-it-directly-from-antarctica-because-it-was-too-cold-for-the-effing-penguins-to-take-cold.

But whyyyyyyyyyy can’t I take a warm shower? Not a hot one, but just something that’s lukewarm?

Do you want lukewarm water? Is that how you’re going to live your life? Luke warm? Not hot? Not cold? Just “meh?”

Afraid to jump in and go balls out? Not even for a measly 5 minutes of your day? A whole .3% of your day? Point 3 percent?

If so, you’ve got bigger problems than cold water.

“Wow, he’s so moderate”, - said no one ever.

Screw this lukewarm crap.

Screw moderation.

Pick a side. It’s time for war.

Moderation Is Overrated Video

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photo credit: Scott Ableman

Filed Under: Adventures, Kicking A**, Life, Physical Challenges

The #1 Productivity Hack In The World

February 12, 2013 By 17 Comments

productivity

Everyone wants to be more productive and get more stuff done. Productivity advice comes in droves and it seems everyone has their little piece to add. A popular video has been circulating the past year or so with Richard Branson on how he doubles his productivity.

Richard Branson’s Take on Productivity

[click to watch video]

Richard Branson is one of my favorite entrepreneurs in the world and I love that answer, but it’s not quite there. Obviously, I love fitness, and sure you might make even more happen if you’re already started and you add in exercise. However, if you’re like most people and struggling to get started, you’ll still be stuck at zero.

The #1 Productivity Hack In The World

The #1 reason why most people aren’t productive, isn’t that they’re not exercising – it’s that they don’t know what to do.

They don’t know what to do because they haven’t decided what they’re going to do.

They’re either waiting for a cue from someone or simply mulling over the pros and cons of the decisions over and over and over. You can only do that so many times until you start finding that you’re surfing the internet aimlessly, playing video games or generally being unproductive.

That’s why decision is so important.

Decision Leads To Action

Without decisions you just have potential options. You might have 2 or 3 or 10 potential options, but because you haven’t made a decision, you work a little here and a little there, but you never really make any progress because you’ve never actually made a decision.

Personal Note: I’ve been working on this the past 6 months and really focusing on where & how I spend my time. Being able to DECIDE means you’re able to eliminate things that aren’t important, focus and execute on the ones that are.

The reason why decision works so well, is that decision leads directly into action. If you decide you’re going to do something and commit to doing it, all that’s left is the doing. You already know what needs to be done, so you set aside the motivation, and become disciplined to do it.

The outcome has already been decided. You’re just waiting for reality to catch up.

Good Or Bad – It Matters Less Than You Think

The main reason people waver on decisions is that one is good and one is bad.

But, it’s often the case that most things aren’t . Some are good and some are better. There might even be a “best” decision at the time, but it can be hard to always know ahead of time with the information you have. Sometimes it’s impossible (unless you have time traveling capabilities).

So you can either sit still, suffer from paralysis by analysis and never do anything or you can can decide, take action, learn from the outcome and repeat and get closer to what you want to accomplish.

The Most Important Decision

No matter whether your decisions are good or bad, the most important decision you can make is to keep going.

Sometimes you’re going to make bad decisions. Keep going. Make better ones in the future. Sometimes you’ll make good decisions. Keep going. Make them better. Sometimes you have no idea if what you just decided to do was good or not.

Keep moving forward anyways.

You can do your homework, learn all you want, but at some point you just have to decide and take action. If (or better yet: WHEN), something goes wrong, decide to keep going and endure.

Decide. Act. Repeat and keep going.

Want to be more productive? Work on making decisions. Then execute.

The #1 Productivity Hack In The World Video

[click to watch video]

I’m doing 28 days of videos on YouTube. Catch up and ask your questions here.

photo credit: Paul Worthington
photo credit: Stuck in Customs

Filed Under: Adventures, Life, Strategies, The Impossible Tagged With: , ,

What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do

January 22, 2013 By 13 Comments

Every once in a while, you end up in territory you’ve never been before doing something you’ve never done before and you’re completely lost.

Completely.

You literally have no idea what to do…

It can be paralyzing.

You’re not quite sure what to do, because you simply don’t know what to do…

What do you do in that situation?

To phrase it another way: What do you do when you don’t know to do?

What do you do?

To be honest, I’m not quite sure, but here are a few ideas that might help…

Breathe…

Don’t freak out.

Take your time – if you need it – but don’t freak out.

Slow down. Breathe.

It’s okay.

Even if your insides want to scream and you don’t know how you’re going to breathe, wake up or keep moving…slow down.

Relax and try to breathe…

Just breathe…

Breathe…

*Exhale*

Be Grateful

Find something positive…

It can be anything…literally anything…

The fact that you’re able to read.

Anything…

Talk To People Smarter Than You

If they’re around, talk to people smarter than you, people who’ve been there before…

Ask them questions. Listen to them. Learn from them.

Look At What You’ve Learned So Far

Random notes, a journal or a blog work well for this.

It doesn’t really matter, but remind yourself of what you’ve learned so far…

You’re in a new place, a new situation, but you’re not starting from scratch.

Look back at what you’ve learned and put it to use.

Most lessons aren’t single-use-only.

Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

Yup.

This again.

Better get used to it.

Over and over and over again.

Get Disciplined

Sheer persistance & resiliency often trump tactics, knowledge and strategy – especially when you’re thrown into a new situation and all 3 of those get thrown out the window.

Be persistent and disciplined. Create a plan of habits and stick to it.

Have Faith

Not some fru-fru wishy/washy “secret” faith that some how convinces you that if you think or focus on something long enough, it will magically happen for you. It won’t.

just visualize it dude

But faith that some action is better than no action, that being uncomfortable is better than never being tested at all and that most things work together for good.

Real faith requires action…which requires you to be…

Be Brave

You’re probably scared.

That’s okay.

Most people are.

Being in uncharted territory is scary.

Be brave anyways. Fear is a weak emotion. Don’t let it control you.

It really all comes down to this.

Be courageous and take action and…

Take A Step Forward

Don’t be paralyzed.

Do whatever you need to do in order to take a step forward.

Take action.

It doesn’t really matter what, but take action.

Do something. Do anything and…

Keep Going

Don’t stop. Don’t quit. Don’t give up. Keep going.

If you can’t fly, then run.

If you can’t run, then walk.

If you can’t walk, then crawl.

But whatever you do, keep moving.

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Take a step and keeping going…

(Even if you’re not quite sure what to do).

—

Yesterday was a big day of celebration here in the states. If anyone knew something about doing the impossible and perseverance, it was MLK. Feel free to download the poster of his words below (right click and choose ‘save as’) and pass it along.

MLK Quote

Filed Under: Life

Stop Asking The Wrong Question

January 8, 2013 By 11 Comments

Stop Asking The Wrong Question

How much bread can I eat and still lose fat?

How warm can my showers be?

Can’t I just spend an hour on the elliptical instead of doing 10 minutes of sprints?

I get asked questions like this all the time.

My response: Stop asking the wrong questions.

Because if those are the questions you’re asking – you’re completely missing the point.

If you want to burn fat and keep asking about eating copious amounts of bread, you’re completely missing the point.

If you decide to do cold shower therapy and keep asking about what the definition of “cold” is, you’re completely missing the point.

If you even look at an elliptical machine and you’re not rehabbing an injury you’re missing the point.

Question

Stop Missing The Point

If you want to lose weight, you shouldn’t ask “how much bread can I still eat”, you should ask “what’s the most effective way for me to burn fat?”

If you’re taking on cold shower therapy, understand that it is all about teaching yourself to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. So, if you’re asking how you can make yourself more comfortable throughout the challenge, you’re asking yourself the wrong question.

If you keep wanting to work out for hours on an elliptical because “it’s easy” and you can watch TV at the same time, you’re more concerned with having an easy workout than you about getting results from your workout.

Stop asking the wrong question.

Stop missing the point.

Start changing your mindset.

Ask The Right Question

Instead of asking “how much can I get away with?” start asking “how much more can I do?”

Instead of asking “how can I make see results without having to change?” start asking “what changes do I need to make in order to see results?”

Instead of asking “how easy can I make this?” start asking “how can I make this more effective?”

Your Real Priorities

If you’re mostly concerned about eating a loaf a bread a week, you’re more concerned with your bread eating habits than you are burning fat.

If you’re mostly concerned with warming up after a cold shower, you’re more concerned with making yourself comfortable rather than really becoming okay with being uncomfortable.

If you’re mostly concerned with spending hours on an elliptical machine, you need to get your head checked.

The questions you ask reveal the priorities you hold.

Stop asking the wrong questions.

Start asking the right ones instead.

—

I’m awesome at twitter.

I’m working on getting awesome at YouTube. Check out my latest video on how to Upgrade your morning coffee here.

–
photo credit: Colin_K

Filed Under: Life

We’re Building A School In Guatemala ≠ Impossible

January 4, 2013 By 18 Comments

We did it.

We freaking did it.

Impossible School

I remember shooting this video in LA back in July and wondering “What the heck amI getting myself into?” Apparently the answer was: An Awesome Adventure.

The goal was $25,000. We smashed that a week early (on Christmas no less), and raised $26,406

Because of you guys, 1,000 kids in Guatemala are literally going to have the chance to do something they thought might be impossible – get an education. I really can’t accurately describe how that makes me feel. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Breakdown

A large quantity of consistent small actions can produce incredible things.

An interesting thing happened as our campaign developed.

Most campaigns are dominated by the 80/20 rule. They’ll have big, generous, flagship donors who contribute anywhere from 25% – 50% or even 75% of the goal. We didn’t have that.

That’s probably something I can work on doing as I learn more and get better at fundraising, but personally I think it’s pretty freaking awesome that we raised over $25,000 with mostly small donations.

Now small is relative, of course, we had some very generous donors, but I think the biggest overal donations were a touch over $1,000. The majority were made up of $100, $50, and $25 donations. That means a ton of people got involved and took action.

That’s pretty cool.

Things I Learned

Clarity 

Clarity is huge. Stating exactly what you want to achieve by an exact date is really important. It can be tempting to be vague when talking about doing something impossible because vagueness gives you safety. When you’re vague, you give yourself some cushion in the future in case you fail – you have a built in alibi.

Specificity makes it a hard landing. Interestingly enough, the bolder you are, the more precise your goals are, the easier it is to achieve them. Be clear. Be precise.

Deadlines

Goals without deadlines are nothing but dreams.

Always have a deadline. They have a way of creating an urgency and focused around.

Have a deadline. Make it shorter than you think you need. You might be surprised at how fast you can actually accomplish it (for more on this, see Parkinson’s Law).

The Origin of Service

Service (like most things) is more about mindset than capability.

It’s less about the amount of money than it is the idea of generosity. For some people, donating $5 takes way more than it does for other people to give $1,000. It’s not about the quantity as much as it is about the attitude of the person giving.

Anybody can donate $5. Few people will actually do it.

If you can see yourself doing something, you can do it. If you can’t see yourself doing it, usually you can’t achieve it. – David Goggins

Similarly, if you tink you can make an impact, you probably will.  If you don’t think you can, you probably won’t.

Interestingly enough, this is exactly what happens when you want to do something impossible.

If you always say “I’ll start being generous when I have X amount of dollars”, chances are you’ll never learn how to be generous in the first place – even if you have a million, billion, trillion dollars (or whatever the number is for you).

Similarly, if you always say “I’ll start doing something impossible when [insert your reason here] (ex. I know more / I’m less scared / I’m more prepared), chances are you’ll never learn how to do things that require you being ignorant, scared and unprepared and you’ll never do much of anything.

You’re probably not ready to do the things you need to be doing. Do them anyways.

Special Thank Yous

Special Thanks to the following people for stepping up big throughout the campaign.

All of them stepped up to raise more than $1500 towards the campaign.

Also, thank you to everyone else who donated or rallied their own friends & family to raise money for this.

For those of you who donated throughout the campaign, I’ve fulfilled my promise. I ran the race with a camera and shot videos throughout it giving shoutouts along the way. It’s a little on the long side (it was a long run), but if you make it through past mile 20, I start to get a little loopy and the shout outs get a little more convoluted/entertaining :) . You can click through to youtube you can skip directly to different parts. There’s a special thank you to EVERYONE (over 300 of you) who contributed in some way at the end of the video as well.

Ultramarathoning

(click on my face to watch the video in email)

What’s Next

I learned a ton from this project and it’s not done yet. We’re still finalizing all the details, but we’ll be heading to Guatemala later this year to check out the school and add some final touches.

To everyone who’s been involved with the campaign in any way: thank you. You made this happen.

This is just the beginning.

Thanks for being a part of it.

- Joel

(If you’d still like to give, you can do so here – these guys will appreciate it).

 

Impossible Ones School

 

Filed Under: Adventures, BIT Updates, Good Stories, Impossible Things, Kicking A**, Life, Story, The Impossible Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Best of Impossible HQ in 2012

December 31, 2012 By 4 Comments

2012 has been a crazy year. It’s been absolutely wild.

I think the picture of me skydiving in Wadi Rum sums it up pretty well.

impossible wadi rum

Thrown out of a comfortable, stable situation and hurtling out of control at ridiculous speeds towards an unknown landscape while trying to make sense of it all, enjoy the ride and land without dying. Yup, that sounds about right.

This year I quit my job, and took a shot at the solo entrepreneur lifestyle. This year, we had our first (2) million visitors visitors, added several thousand more subscribers and a ton of great stories happening. It seems that things go by so quickly, but at the same time, it’s been forever since January last year and there’s still a lot I have to do. I sometimes feel like I’m moving too slow! As much as there is to do, it’s good to look back and see what’s actually been accomplished every year.

Here’s a look at what happened around Impossible HQ in 2012.

Top 10 Posts By Traffic

  1. An Unexpected Ass Kicking (this thing was massive)
  2. How I Got Six Pack Abs
  3. How Bad Do You Want It?
  4. Get Disciplined, Not Motivated
  5. 7 Lessons I Learned From My Encounter With Russell Kirsch
  6. Cold Shower Therapy
  7. Six Pack Abs ≠ Impossible
  8. 17 Killer Strategies For Never Giving Up
  9. How To Stop Being So Freaking Lazy
  10. The Complete List Of Convincing, Unique, And Legitimate Excuses
  11. How To Do So Many Diverse & Awesome Things That People Will Want To Punch You In The Face

My Personal Favorite Posts

  1. A Brief Guide To Bravery
  2. How To Find Out Who You Really Are (thoughts on my interview with David Goggins).
  3. Do What You Hate
  4. Blackmail Yourself

My Favorite Quote

People with a soft mentality disgust me. They live and die the same person they were made. – David Goggins

Top 10 Accomplishments/Experiences

  1. I quit my job (technically this was late, late 2011, but I’m including it here anyways).
  2. I spoke at Target (yes, that Target).
  3. I spent 8 days in Jordan (the world isn’t that scary after all).
  4. I ran a couple back to back marathons and my first Ultramarathon
  5. I spent 2 months in the Dominican Republic.
  6. I got to 5.5% body fat and got six pack abs.
  7. I learned to kite surf (this might be my new favorite hobby).
  8. I was surprised & featured on Oprah.com
  9. I went on a two month road trip with my brother around the west coast & highway 1.
  10. I finished my first year as an entrepreneur all in one piece (mostly).
  11. Oh, and we raised over $25,000 and built a freaking school. More on this later this week.

Also, flying under the radar, our Kiva lending team has lent over $13,000 to entrepreneurs all over the globe. If you want to join, you can do so here. Somewhere in there we took 30 people bungee jumping as well.

Projects

  • I released my first project, Impossible TRI to help you run your first triathlon in 3 months.
  • I released Impossible Abs to help burn fat and lose weight. Hundreds of people have started to do just that and we have quite a few success stories already.
  • I created Cold Shower Therapy course to help you get unstuck and stop being so mentally weak.
  • I also made my debut on Amazon.com and released three mini-booklets (and was introduced to the ever-humbling Amazon review system).
  • I also released the No Excuse Workout last week and we’ve already had close to a thousand people download it.

The close of every year is always interesting. I never have quite as detailed a plan as I like, but it always ends up being enough to get started and make an adventure of it. Sometimes I feel like Michael Westen in Burn Notice.

Max: What’s going on here? Do we have a plan?
Michael Westen: A plan, no, I… got some tactical goals, and a rough approach?
Max: A rough approach, well, that’s terrific. Thank god we got that, because we don’t have backup, video feeds or working coms.
Michael: Welcome to my world.

Obviously, I’m not perfect and I’ve got a long, long ways to go and lots of things to do, but I’ve got some tactical goals and a rough approach. I’m working on a plan. This year is gonna be big.

Filed Under: Life
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