I stumbled upon another blog yesterday with something that I thought was awesome: an ‘impossible list’.
Wait, what’s an impossible list?
An impossible list is a list of things that you consider ‘impossible’ for yourself to accomplish. Then you go out and do those things.
Think of it like a bucket list except you actively work towards reaching these goals every day, instead of having them sit as some random list of things you’ll do ‘one day’.
When you see something you wish you could do, you add it to the impossible list and you find a way to get it done.
What does this have to do with snowboarding?
This concept really clicked with me because even though this is a snowboard blog, I had to take a lot of risks and do a lot of things people told me were impossible to enjoy the snowboard life that I currently have.
This isn’t to brag, but rather to say that a lot of things people think are impossible for themselves to accomplish are actually very possible.
I always found it interesting that people look at awesome things other people do and think, “Well, they’re the exception, it’d be impossible for me to do that because <insert random excuse here>.”
I call bullshit. People like to use impossible as an excuse because they don’t have the balls to try. Most things are possible, so don’t let impossible stop you.
It’s like one of my favourite quotes:
“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford
So here’s my impossible list so far:
Snowboarding
Do a snowboard season(done – December 2006, Whistler)Snowboard back to back winter seasons(done – 2008, Canada & New Zealand)Land a 1080(done – March 2009, backside 1080)Land a corked spin(done – January 2009, misty 540)- Land a double cork spin
- Land a double backflip/frontflip
Podium at a snowboard contest(done – April 2010, Telus festival)- Land 1080s in all 4 spin directions
Start a snowboard training company(done – officially incorporated 2010)- Grow snowboard company to 6 figure revenue
- Grow snowboard company to 7 figure revenue
- Grow snowboard company to 8 figure revenue
Life
Find the answer to ‘What do you want to do when you grow up?’(done – June 2006, Snowboarding)Earn money doing what I love(done – August 2011)- Get paid to play video games
Visit Japan(done – November 2010)Go skydiving(done – August 2010)- Buy my dream house in Whistler
- Fly around the world first class
- Cruise on the world’s largest cruise ship
- Visit New York and see ‘The Late Show’ in person
- Get an Aston Martin
- Learn another language
- Get an honorary doctorate so I can force people to call me Doctor
- Go into space
- Get knighted
- Hold the world record in something
So what’s on your list? I’ve found life only gets better when you stop worrying about following everyone else and just go out and do exactly what you want to do, even if it seems impossible.
Want to snowboard all year round? Want to travel and do something epic? Want to hold the world record for cupcake making? It’s not impossible. Write it down and go do it.
- Jed
ps – the original blog I got this idea from is here
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Love this kind of blogs. Inspiring.
Here’s one on my list : snowboard sometime with you
Snowboard related:
- Do a whole season from the first snow that falls untill the last snow that melts.
- Get an engineering job that has something to do with snowboarding and mountains.
- Follow off-piste training.
- Hike up a lonely mountain and come down snowboarding.
- Ride switch for a whole day, including taking the lifts.
- Clean 180′s and 360′s in all directions (regular and switch).
- Learn backboards on both boxes and rails (regular and switch).
- Learn frontboards on both boxes and rails (regular and switch).
- Land a backflip (and not during a bad landing).
- Land a frontflip (and not during a bad landing).
- Snowboard at least once in all continents.
- Do an epic powder slash at high speed.
Not snowboard related:
- Learn German better than in school (it’s necessary if you want to live in Austria).
- Find a place to live in the mountains (first or second residence).
- Quit my boring 8 to 5 job.