By Henrylito D. Tacio

“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.”—Christopher Reeve, Hollywood actor

During my high school years, I encountered a poster in the library that conveyed a message regarding impossibility. It addressed the concepts we often take for granted and the assumptions we consider obvious, highlighting how these notions were once deemed impossible.

“Success is determined by those who prove the impossible, possible,” James W. Pence once said. Or as another author pointed out, “Every great achievement was once considered impossible.”

Frequently, we find ourselves apprehensive about undertaking actions that we believe may lead to failure. However, life itself is a gamble. From the moment we entered this world, the element of chance became an integral part of our existence. We can never be certain if we will see the next day.

Do not hesitate to pursue the endeavors that truly inspire you. Listen to the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson.  He recalled, “It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, ‘Always do what you are afraid to do.’”

And that was what Charles Kettering was also thinking when he said, “I don’t want men of experience working for me. The experienced man is always telling me why something can’t be done. The fellow who has not had any experience is so dumb he doesn’t know a thing can’t be done – and he goes ahead and does it.”

“If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” Even that old saying has been disputed.  After all, for every rule, there is always an exception. There are men and women who defy that saying. They made it to the top because they fixed it before it broke.

One of them was British playwright George Bernard Shaw. Most people see things and ask, “Why?”  Shaw had another idea: “I dream things that never were and I say, ‘Why not?’” Sounds like good advice, indeed.

Robert Millikan was a Nobel Prize winner in physics in 1923.  He was quoted as saying, “There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.” An associate of David Sarnoff wrote these words in response to his urges for investment in the radio in the 1920s: “The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value.  Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?”

What do these two men have in common?  Both were completely dead wrong!

History is filled with accounts of individuals who have regretted their own statements. Had they foreseen that their words would come back to haunt them in the future, they would have refrained from uttering them. Consider the example of Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM, who in 1943 remarked: “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”

There are additional missteps to note. Ken Olson, the president, chairman, and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, stated in 1977: “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Bill Gates, in 1981, asserted: “640K ought to be enough for anybody.”

“In the future, computers may weigh no more than 1.5 tons,” stated Popular Mechanics in 1949. “However, what… is it good for?” inquired an engineer from the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, reflecting on the microchip. This remark was made in 1968.

Even in the field of medicine, what was once considered fiction has transformed into reality. Pierre Pachet, a physiology professor at Toulouse University in France, made this rather forgettable statement in 1872: “Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs is absurd fiction.”

British surgeon John Eric Ericksen once asserted, “The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will always be inaccessible to the intervention of the wise and compassionate surgeon.” Prior to expressing this sentiment in 1873, he had been appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria.

Successful individuals possess their own strategies for achieving success. If their children were to seek advice, one principle might be: “Never claim that it cannot be accomplished.” I recall the words of Harry Emerson Fosdick. He said, “The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.”

Bestselling author and self-made millionaire Harvey Mackay shares this advice to parents: “Tell your kids to take chances. The greatest advantage young people have is that without the financial and family encumbrances of older people, they have so little to lose by taking risks. So encourage them to try something new.  Defy the odds.”

Mackay further writes in his book, Swim With the Sharks (Without Being Eaten Alive): “They may fail at times, but to double their success rate you may have to double their failure rate.  Just remember: The wheel is tilted in their favor, the system is biased on their side, because it is based on change — on destroying the old. They have a lot less to lose attempting to make a change than attempting to hang on to an old technology, and to the status quo, in a system that rewards change.”

Again, here is a thought from Charles Kettering: “Virtually nothing comes out right the first time. Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. The only time you don’t fail is the last time you try something, and it works. One fails forward toward success.”

Allow me to share this anecdote: One day, a farmer returned home with a baby eagle he had found in the woods and placed it in the chicken pen to raise. It learned to mimic all the behaviors of the chickens. Eventually, a naturalist visited and observed the farmer, “Hey! You have an eagle among the chickens.”

“I am aware,” the farmer responded, “but he no longer possesses any traits of an eagle. He may have large wings, yet he cannot fly even three meters.” The naturalist disagreed: “I find that hard to believe. He must still have the instinct to fly as an eagle within him. I will attempt to bring it out.”

Thus, the naturalist picked up the eagle and attempted to throw it into the air to encourage it to fly. However, the eagle merely gazed down at the chickens below and jumped back down to join them.

The naturalist made one final attempt. He brought the eagle to a lofty mountain just as the sun began to rise. The eagle extended its long wings and fluffed its feathers as if rousing from slumber. However, it did not take flight.

The scientist then directed his gaze and focused straight on the blinding sun. Something clicked within the large bird. It made a powerful leap, spread its formidable wings, and ascended – first circling and gliding effortlessly on the invisible wind currents. Then, up, up, and away the eagle soared – never to return.

 “How many men have thrown up their hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience would have achieved success?” Elbert Hubbard asked.

 Good question!