Pick an impossible

You may not launch a rocket to Mars, but there's some gravity you need to defy

Last week Elon Musk’s SpaceX team launched a rocket, the largest and heaviest object ever made, and plucked it out of the air.

The flying object left earth’s atmosphere and returned to earth and the launch site, where robotic arms caught the Super Heavy rocket booster and re-stacked it on the catch tower.

We’ve entered a new era of reusable rockets, controlled space flights, and, as the video seen by billions around the world indicates, a universe where the serious intent to travel to Mars and beyond looks plausible.

I had to laugh when I saw this post that went viral on X (shared with me by my brother Matt):

Catching a rocket ship last week was, however, just one of the things on the to do list.

The eccentric billionaire also shared his new line of personal service Optimus robots, and announced Tesla’s plans for the expansion of self-driving electric vehicles to include an art-deco inspired robotic taxi service, something the CEO of Uber took so seriously, he announced hopes to get in on it (a transparent, “we can’t beat ‘em so we’ll join ‘em” moment).

What did you accomplish last week?

It’s an unfair comparison, perhaps, but not an unfair question. In a world where we lurk online, scroll feeds that serve up content of others doing interesting and great feats, it’s important to look up from screens, perhaps to the sky, and to dare ourselves to dream.

Set your vision toward an impossible

Aiming our sights to something much bigger than ourselves and out of reach is a critical first step toward progress.

No matter what you set out to do, there will always be a pinnacle example of someone else doing more, doing it better, and doing it before you (unless you’re the standout on the top of the heap of human achievement in your area—in that case: good for you).

There can only be one person in first place. And that means the rest of us are following the lead, racing to catch up, or watching from the crowd as others ascend the podium or stage to get the medal, the laurels, the award, and make the speech (and, in exchange, especially today, take the heat of cynicism and criticism).

Case in point: In 1903, the New York Times published a scathing editorial in which it criticized the efforts of flight in an article Flying Machines Which Do Not Fly. Here’s part of the opening argument of Rear-Admiral George W. Melville, Engineer-In-Chief of the US Navy who was also chief aviation skeptic:

Outside the proven impossible, there probably can be found no better example of the speculative tendency carrying man to the verge of the chimerical than in his attempts to imitate the birds, or no field where so much inventive seed has been sown with so little return as in the attempts of man to fly successfully through the air.

(Source: Big Think)

Imagine if the Wright brothers listened! Imagine if you listen to the voice telling you what your “can’t do its” are.

Look what’s happened in the 120 years since their first fight in December of 1903.

As humans we constantly come up against limitations. Bodies, schedules, deadlines, energy, expectations, ability, ideas. There aren't enough hours in a day, people to help, funds to pay for it, faith to believe it.

Fill in the blank.

Even billionaires need budgets. Rocket ships run out of fuel. Gravity pulls all of us down back to earth. Youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble an fall.

The story of humanity starts with the stark reality of our limitations. Our lives are a series of exercises and events oto transcend them.

It’s easy to disqualify yourself before you start by looking at the size of the impossible before you, whether it’s a literal or figurative mountain. Many of us don’t even need a Rear-Admiral in a seat of authority to shut down our aims or efforts to attempt something we haven’t done before, because the inner voice is like a mean foreman that shuts everything down before we even start.

The story you want to write. The race you want to run. The skill you want to learn. The product you want to develop. The certification you want to seek. The change you know you need to make.

You, reading this, have such capacity for greatness.

So pick an impossible. Point your feet toward it. How much more can we rise up on wings, like eagles or rocket ships, if we wait upon the Lord?

There is some gravity you must defy.

There is some atmosphere you need to escape.

There are arms you need to move so you can catch and hold some super, heavy dreams.

Some people can’t imagine sharing a post that encourages them with a friend, but I defy their cynicism. Others think it’s impossible to like a an article such as this one, but I don’t believe them. Like, share, leave a comment.