People like impossible

People like impossible. Impossible means you know where the boundaries are. Impossible means you don’t have to risk failing.

But a lot of impossible things aren’t impossible. They just look that way. Boxes are neat and predictable, after all.

I've been lucky enough to see some impossible things become possible.

It’s not impossible to go to college without any debt. (I did it three times. And I’m not special.)

It’s not impossible to change careers into a high-paying job with no experience. (I’ve done that two times just in the last 3 years. Still just a regular guy.)

Real quick: I always try to remember that survivorship bias is behind most “inspirational” posts out there. (SB is basically focusing only on the few who survived/achieved, and ignoring those who didn’t, making it appear that something is much more possible than it actually is.)

A.k.a. a lot of inspirational content is lucky people who don’t realize they’re lucky and selling the message that what was possible for some is possible for everyone.

But this ain’t that. I am being precise with my words here.

Impossible is, in actuality, often possible.

But it still has a price. And it's often substantial.

College and two graduate degrees without debt? Yeah, I didn’t pay them in gobs of money but I sure as hell paid with extremely hard work, a dash of “work the system,” a hellacious amount of networking, and patience (like moving to a new state to work for two years until I qualified for in-state tuition which made scholarship packages go 3x as far).

Change careers into a high-paying field with no experience? Sure, I didn’t have professional experience, but I had to trade 100+ hours of my time to earn the relevant licenses or certificate that proved competence. Weekdays from 4am-6am and Saturdays from 6am-2pm until the certs were earned. Topped with months of networking.

Worth it? Hell yes. Easy? Hell no.

I’ve only just started teaching students how I earned three free college degrees and two new high-paying careers without experience. What I tell them, and what I want to share with you, is that it wasn’t pretty for me and it won’t be for you, when you bite off a tough goal.

I've learned some rules for impossible

• Motivation follows action. Not the other way around.
• The 10,000 Hours to Mastery rule is pop psych and non-descriptive of the way we acquire skills
• My mental and physical health are the ultimate meta investment: every investment in these has multiplied my other investments. My time and focus and outcomes are exponentially better, when I first invest in my health.
• You are your own teacher. Everyone else is a guide. Sometimes an incredibly powerful guide, but still: only a guide.
• Creativity follows process.

I will be sharing on this blog and in my courses everything I have learned and my whole bumpy roadmap for how I made the career changes and earned the free degrees.

The first course in a series is already published, and you can take it for free on Skillshare with the 1-month-free promo: 7 Simple Habits: Unlock Your Brain's Learning Potential. It is also free on Udemy for the next month.

I’m so excited to be sharing these ideas with you, because all of them I acquired by completely failing, wasting time, doing things that don't work, but eventually figuring it out.

And one of my favorite things about teaching is that I can save someone else oodles of time and energy to achieve similar goals.

Ask Me Anything

If you have topics or questions you want me to cover on the blog, shoot me a message here or on Discord. I read and respond to every message I get.

Get out there and get growing!

P.S. When was the last time an inspirational post changed your life? The answer for me is: never. Because feelings don’t change your life. You do.