Mission Impossible is Easier than You Think
Have you heard about the guy that sold his life on E-bay? Ian Usher from Australia decided that he needed a change and so about a year and a half ago he decided to sell his life, job, home and belongings on E-bay and set off to experience all of the things he's always wanted to do.
He called it achieving 100 Goals in 100 Weeks.
The goals have taken him all around the world, climbing mountains, swimming with sharks, running with the bulls, making new friends and forcing himself outside his comfort zone to experience life as most of us only dream.
I have been following his blog and even shared emails back and forth when he was in my ultimate destination, Easter Island.
Ian has set out to achieve the impossible and is well on his way to success. With just 19 weeks to go he has already achieved 79 goals. He is planning a big celebration July 4th when he hits 100 weeks to be held in NYC at the Statue of Liberty.
I'm reminded of a chapter in the popular business book The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss, entitled System Reset – Being Unreasonable and Unambigous. He talks about an assignment he gave his students to contact someone famous. The winner would receive a plane ticket anywhere in the world.
Before the students even began, they gave up – assuming the task to be impossible.
He was disgusted by their lack of adventure and ambition. The next year he told this class about the first year's failure and challenged them to be successful by keeping one thought in mind:
Doing the unrealistic is easier than doing the realistic.
Why? Because no one else is doing it. It is the old adage that the pretty girl sits home dateless because everyone assumes she has a date.
So what unrealistic goal to do you have for your business that you've assumed is impossible? What prospect do you feel is unapproachable? What new service or product would love to launch but fear the task is beyond your abilities?
In Timothy's book he ends the chapter by saying:
The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits. There is just less competition for bigger goals.
So what big goal will you tackle?