How To Create Your Own Impossible List


“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible” – Walt Disney

Since Impossible has started, the impossible list has been one of the centerpieces of it.  From the get-go, I said that I started this blog in order to be an impetus to live a story and do something with my life.

The Impossible List

Today I’m going to walk you through how to make your own. Here we go…

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How To Start Your Impossible List

Every list starts with a few items. Don’t worry about making a comprehensive list to start. Unlike a bucket list, an impossible list will grow with time. In a year, you’ll be putting things onto this puppy that you never dreamed of! So don’t fret too much about getting it perfect from the start – the real key is to just start.

So what should you put down on your list. Well, it can be whatever you want it to be.  Here are a few suggestions:

• Things you want to do with your life.
• Things you want to do, but have told yourself is “impossible”
• Things you want to do, but someone else told you was impossible.

A lot of people freak out about this step because a blank paper can feel quite intimidating and writing something in INK feels like a BIG COMMITMENT! There’s a couple of ways to make this less stressful. Remember:

1. It’s okay to put things down on the list and not do them (if you really decided that you didn’t’ want to do them). However, backing out of things because you’re scared that you might fail is another issue…

2. Don’t worry about “finding your passion” or making this big, massive commitment. More than anything, the impossible list is a practice in learning, growing and pushing your limits to find what you’re capable of. You don’t have to start out by finding your passion, you just have to start out by finding a few things that you’re curious about.

A great hack to trying new things is to simply try things you think are interesting or things you’re curious about. Don’t worry about any major commitments, just try something new and experiment with it. Oh, and have fun!

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While everyone’s impossible list will look somewhat different based on their interests, goals and attitude, here’s a few good categories to come up with some ideas:

• World Changing Goals (take these one at a time – world changing is tough!).
• Fitness Goals (races, triathlon, performance, weights, body composition).
• Adventure / Adrenaline (skydiving, bungee, base jumping).
• Skill Goals (handstands, muscle-ups, scuba diving, etc)
• Business Goals
• Personal Challenges (minimizing possessions, language acquisition).
• Various Fun Goals (events / mini-challenges)

Be sure to adventure off into the less probable:

• Party with Richard on Necker Island
• Get your own impossible island.
• Get to space.

Remember, you can make the list whatever you want. If you need more ideas, feel free to take a look at my impossible list and steal any ideas you like.

It’s paramount that you remember that this is YOUR list, there are no rules for it. You can do whatever you want. That said, here are a few guidelines I’ve found helpful you might want to keep in mind.

• Put things on the list that you want to do. It sounds simple, but don’t try to “beat” anyone else’s list. How can you live a better life than someone else? You can’t. You can only live your life.
• In the same vein, don’t approach this from an “I’ll show them” attitude. While having a chip on your shoulder is actually a good motivator, people whose sole purpose is to “show them” are incredibly draining people to be around. Even when they win, they lose because they’re spending so much time & energy focused on someone to whom they really shouldn’t be granting either (these are limited quantities, remember?). You can do this, but I’ve found that this type of person usually spends their time, measuring their accomplishments to see if they’ve “proved themselves” enough, rather than enjoying their accomplishments.
• Create a variety. If you’re like me, you have a lot of different interests. Having a list like this is a nice excuse to go try out all of those interests and figure out what you really enjoy.
• Name it something. You can call it a bucket list, an impossible list, or whatever the heck you want, but it’s a lot more fun when you name it something your own.
• Put a lot of things on your list, but vary them up and do them either for you or for a cause greater than yourself. Don’t do them because you want to compete or finish them as some sort of final revenge. That only takes away from your accomplishments and diminishes the joy you get from completing them.

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Where To Put Your Impossible List

So where should you put your ell, you have a few options.

1. I’m a fan of blogs. You can start a blog for less than $100.
2. Use Evernote. It’s one of my top resources and contains the contents of my brain.
3. An old-fashion journal does the trick as well.

Wherever you put it, you want to make sure that you’ll be able to go back, update it and keep it top of mind so you’re constantly challenged to go out and keep pushing your limits and challenging yourself.

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The Key Aspect of Your Impossible List

The only real rule of the impossible list is that it’s never done. Remember, don’t freak out about finalizing it, because if you do it right – your impossible list is never done – you’re always acting on it. As you grow and knock more and more things off your list, you’ll replace them with new, tougher, more impossible things. That means that instead of your list getting smaller over time, it gets bigger as you

Go work on your list today. You don’t have to finalize it (mine is always being upgraded), but just get started.

This is the fun part. Dream big and enjoy putting together your impossible list. When you’re done with it, feel free to share it with us by doing 3 things below:

• Leave the link to it below.
• Write the #1 thing you’re going to start on.
• The first step you’re going to take to achieve it.

Because dreaming is the fun part, but the thing about doing the impossible is that it takes work. So while you’re enjoying writing down your list, start thinking to yourself.

What are you willing to give up?

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That’s it! You’ve made your impossible list. But before you feel too accomplished, you should know that that’s the easy part! Lots of people make lists – the hard part is doing – so don’t wait, get out there and start pushing your limits. You might be surprised at what Impossible things you might be able to do.