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What do you think about impact of the phrase 'nothing is impossible if you work hard enough' ?
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I think it inspires delusional thinking that sets people up for disappointment for no legitimate reason or gain.5
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I see this a lot on the daily inspirational quotes (accompanied by pictures of flowers and hearts) that some of my facebook friends post. I think a lot of the pictures are pretty but nothing I would say to anyone in real life.
I'm not generally a fan of motivational quotes. Or posters, or memes on motivational quotes. But I do get why they can be psychologically effective.
This phrase is one I've never actually used myself for anyone, old or young. It doesn't bother me, I understand the intent and it's not malicious and it's generally positive if naive
But if you want to see me get really annoyed by a motivational cliche, drag out the Robert Frost "the road less traveled" and put the final couplet out with no context. ARGHHHH!
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I think it gets in the way of setting realistic attainable goals. There are a limitless number of things that are impossible. Nothing wrong with setting your heights high, but dreaming about the impossible is wasting time.
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The statement is usually thrown around the most by people who haven't had to work for what they have.
Funny enough, the people who did need to work hard to get what they wanted will be the first ones to say that there's a definite chance that you'll fail but that it's usually worth a shot anyway.
That's pretty assumptive. You know how much effort anyone puts into things? Much less everyone who has ever used this phrase?
My statement is no more assumptive than yours. And while I don't mean to spark a political debate, I think we (in the US) have a whole federal government full of people who endlessly spout variations of this dreck...the people who don't have or who haven't achieved are simply not trying hard enough.
To say it more plainly because I'm very grumpy today...the statement is absolutely untrue. It's a worthless platitude spoken by people who don't generally have any better advice to give, nor interest in actually helping the receiver of the message. I actually lose respect for people who use the phrase, same as I do for people who use 'irregardless'. It's patronizing, trite, and cliche.
A much better piece of advice is "You'll never know what's possible unless you try", or "God helps those who help themselves" (or whatever non-religious version of this you prefer).4 -
Here's the thing.
We live in the age of the impossible.
Space travel
Computers in your pocket
Computers in your television
Television
Everyone is Dick Tracy
No, we don't have instant teleportation or FTL. But we're living in a Science fiction fantasy world otherwise. We can call our home and have the heat turned up/down, doors locked/unlocked, etc... No we don't have flying cars, but we are within 24 months of self driving cars.
Our practical conception of possible and impossible is so radically skewed as contrasted with previous generations.7 -
I think someone really entitled and privileged said it/coined it/whatever.8
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Personally, it makes me think that someone doesn't know the laws of thermodynamics. There are things that are impossible.
In terms of motivational approach, I prefer Orel Hirscheiser's approach. He would go into every start planning to pitch a perfect game. If he gave up a walk, then he would try for a no-hitter. If he gave up a hit, then he aimed for a shut out. Work for a realistic perfect future, but deal with an imperfect present and past.5 -
Unfortunately it's BS.
People have talents in varying degrees in various things.
For example, no matter how much I practice golf I will never be good enough to be a professional golfer.
I just don't have "it".
I am not good enough in math to be a physicist. Forget it. I'm not smart enough.
If I practice singing all the time will I sing like Maria Carey? No.
The trick is to find something you can become good at or at least half-assed at in the case of making a living.
Always do the best you can.
The vast majority of us will only ever be average if we are lucky.
The world is full of people who can't accept their lack of talent in a certain thing and never move on to something they can be pretty fair at and have some degree of success. It's a sad thing to see.
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Unfortunately it's BS.
People have talents in varying degrees in various things.
For example, no matter how much I practice golf I will never be good enough to be a professional golfer.
I just don't have "it".
I am not good enough in math to be a physicist. Forget it. I'm not smart enough.
If I practice singing all the time will I sing like Maria Carey? No.
The trick is to find something you can become good at or at least half-assed at in the case of making a living.
Always do the best you can.
The vast majority of us will only ever be average if we are lucky.
The world is full of people who can't accept their lack of talent in a certain thing and never move on to something they can be pretty fair at and have some degree of success. It's a sad thing to see.
Yet in my professional life (IT) I routinely met people of average talent who achieved a great deal more through persistence and hard work than did others with more talent but weaker character.
I've seen the same in a couple of athletic things I've done (Chinese martial arts and rowing, if it matters).
Nobody's beating out the talent + hard work/persistence combo, which is required to reach the pinnacle of darn near anything, and I'm not suggesting that the majorly talentless should delude themselves . . . but as differentiators in the middle ranks of achievement, the value of talent is overestimated, and that of hard work (with middling talent) underappreciated.9 -
Yes, I am a bit older and knowledge and information has evolved but I put this to you:
As a child I was both Epileptic and Dyslectic. In the 60s and 70s all the experts told my parents and myself, you are handicapped, you have brain issues, you may never be able to drive, have a job or even life insurance. Hopefully you will find a husband that can take care of you. I also have a twin that is high gifted in the opposite direction.
I was a 3 sport varsity athlete in high school, graduated a year early from HS. Yes, I drive. Worked myself through college, some times 3 jobs at one time to pay tuition. books and fees. I never had a single loan. My first degree was in Manufacturing Technology Management, The second in Business and finally a masters in educational technology. I also so many technical certifications I can list them and a interior design certification and a master gardening certification. I even took Japanese in college. I have worked for some of top 100 US companies. I will retire at age 55...younger than most people, fully self funded. I scuba dive, surf, skydive and a host of other adventurous things.
I told myself I could do what ever I wanted...even as an adult...just have to figure out how. Doctors, parents and schools told me I would never be productive in society. So yes, I buy into the concept that you invest in yourself and accomplish your goals. I can barley read and I will have to proof this posting 100 times and likely still have errors...and that's OK. I embrace what I don't do well as much as what I do exceptionally well and achieve anyway.
I tell my kids, the oldest with several physical impairments, that they can accomplish their goals...and maybe a hearing problem will keep the oldest from going into the military, but it wont prevent him from being a DoD rocket scientist...there are all sorts of ways to serve his country. Not everyone has to be the person with the gun...and I think the guy with the rocket has the bigger gun anyway.7 -
Unfortunately it's BS.
People have talents in varying degrees in various things.
For example, no matter how much I practice golf I will never be good enough to be a professional golfer.
I just don't have "it".
I am not good enough in math to be a physicist. Forget it. I'm not smart enough.
If I practice singing all the time will I sing like Maria Carey? No.
The trick is to find something you can become good at or at least half-assed at in the case of making a living.
Always do the best you can.
The vast majority of us will only ever be average if we are lucky.
The world is full of people who can't accept their lack of talent in a certain thing and never move on to something they can be pretty fair at and have some degree of success. It's a sad thing to see.
It's bizarre, out of the 3 examples you pick, they are either mostly wrong, or have notable counterexamples, or in the last case are utterly erroneous.
Golf is a skill, It can be taught, and with sufficient hard work, can be mastered. Pro golfer is within the realm of anyone who is prepared to put in the work between the ages of 12-21. Ditto for the second example
Regarding singing, there are tens of thousands of singers nationwide who are more accomplished singers than Mariah Carey. Most of which aren't getting paid, not because of lack of skill/practice/capability, but because they weren't in the right place at the right time with the right look.
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stanmann571 wrote: »
It's bizarre, out of the 3 examples you pick, they are either mostly wrong, or have notable counterexamples, or in the last case are utterly erroneous.
Golf is a skill, It can be taught, and with sufficient hard work, can be mastered. Pro golfer is within the realm of anyone who is prepared to put in the work between the ages of 12-21. Ditto for the second example
Regarding singing, there are tens of thousands of singers nationwide who are more accomplished singers than Mariah Carey. Most of which aren't getting paid, not because of lack of skill/practice/capability, but because they weren't in the right place at the right time with the right look.
I don't have a dog in this fight but I will say that the athletics example is absolutely true. I'm not particularly talented at golf but do play to a mid-single digit handicap via practice and perseverance. Could I ever be a pro? Not a chance.
If you've every played a sport with or against somebody with the potential to get there, you'd see that they are on a totally different plane from the rest of us based simply on raw talent (that is, before even considering training differences). They play a different game altogether; the gap between 'recreational' talent and 'professional caliber' potential is huge.3 -
lisawolfinger wrote: »
I tell my kids, the oldest with several physical impairments, that they can accomplish their goals...and maybe a hearing problem will keep the oldest from going into the military, but it wont prevent him from being a DoD rocket scientist...there are all sorts of ways to serve his country. Not everyone has to be the person with the gun...and I think the guy with the rocket has the bigger gun anyway.
This is the difference between actual valuable advice and a worthless throwaway platitude like "nothing is impossible if you work hard enough".
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DX2JX2 said: This is the difference between actual valuable advice and a worthless throwaway platitude like "nothing is impossible if you work hard enough".
I think it is, at the core, the same...he can do anything he wants to do...he just has to think outside the box...rather than narrowly define some of the words of the phrase.
To me, that seems to be the issues brought forward in this thread...do you narrowly or widely define the phrase? Do you look at it as a concept or with literal interpretation ? Are you left brain/right brain/use both?
Accomplishment can never be narrowly defined....or it will squash the very thing that drives people to their goals. Every time one of my kids say "I cant" or "its too hard" or what ever the going phrase may be, they get the same response..."Nothing in life worth having is either easy or free-you just have to work harder".5 -
lisawolfinger wrote: »DX2JX2 said: This is the difference between actual valuable advice and a worthless throwaway platitude like "nothing is impossible if you work hard enough".
I think it is, at the core, the same...he can do anything he wants to do...he just has to think outside the box...rather than narrowly define some of the words of the phrase.
He can't do ANYTHING he might want to. No one can. I cannot (and couldn't have even if I had worked hard as a kid) become an opera singer or professional violin player. (I am not that musical, it's not a lack of work -- although I would be better than I am now if I had worked -- but a lack of innate ability). I also could never have been an NFL quarterback (or offensive lineman). That's not that I was not willing to work; it would never have been possible.
Do I think that limits my life? No, of course not, I looked at where I had skills or wanted to improve and focused on those things and achieved them. At this stage of my life, I can never win the Boston marathon, period. Could I qualify for it? Sure, maybe, and I might try to do so and work really hard. Can I run a marathon? Absolutely, if I train again.
I don't understand this idea that if you don't assert the obviously false claim that you can do ANYTHING you want to that you are saying someone cannot achieve or be successful (or giving such ridiculous and limiting feedback as you say was given to you).
I do think it's different when talking to a kid, since you want him or her to be able to explore and think about options, but if a child decides that he loves basketball but does not seem to be especially athletically gifted, I don't think it's at all limiting to suggest that he can play recreationally and pursue his love through being a sportswriter or something. That's opening horizons. And frankly I think putting all the eggs in a high risk option is probably more limiting than acknowledging that not everyone who wants to do some things can and while it's great to try there's some luck involved and having backups is smart.6 -
I guess I was actually blessed by the archaic ways of the 60s & 70s...and glad I never subscribed to under achievement. How limiting my life would have been had I taken the "experts" to heart because I didn't seem to be especially capable. I put all my eggs in the high risk option to drive, after I was told no. I put all my eggs into going to college, after I was told no. I put all my eggs into a professional career when I was told I only might be able to find a husband to care for me.
Acknowledging that not everyone who wants some things can and will be great at them would have robbed me of the horizons.
I have done ANYTHING that I wanted to do in my life. I am exactly where I want to be with exactly what I wanted my life to be. I worked hard enough.6 -
lisawolfinger wrote: »I guess I was actually blessed by the archaic ways of the 60s & 70s...and glad I never subscribed to under achievement. How limiting my life would have been had I taken the "experts" to heart because I didn't seem to be especially capable. I put all my eggs in the high risk option to drive, after I was told no. I put all my eggs into going to college, after I was told no. I put all my eggs into a professional career when I was told I only might be able to find a husband to care for me.
Acknowledging that not everyone who wants some things can and will be great at them would have robbed me of the horizons.
I have done ANYTHING that I wanted to do in my life. I am exactly where I want to be with exactly what I wanted my life to be. I worked hard enough.
So you are saying that anyone can be an Olympic athlete can be if they work hard enough and if we don't agree with this we subscribe to underachievement? Your goals were realistic- college and career. Most people can achieve that but claiming that nothing is impossible is very damaging because it is not true and demeaning because it implies that they didn't work hard enough. So what do you tell your child when they don't qualify for one of the rare spots in the Olympics? Oh honey sorry you didn't try enough because nothing is impossible6 -
lisawolfinger wrote: »I think it is, at the core, the same...he can do anything he wants to do...he just has to think outside the box...rather than narrowly define some of the words of the phrase.
So... you can do anything you want to do... as long as you redefine "ANYTHING" to mean "things that are actually possible for you to do."
Which ... kind of completely defeats the purpose of the cliche ;D9 -
clicketykeys wrote: »lisawolfinger wrote: »I think it is, at the core, the same...he can do anything he wants to do...he just has to think outside the box...rather than narrowly define some of the words of the phrase.
So... you can do anything you want to do... as long as you redefine "ANYTHING" to mean "things that are actually possible for you to do."
Which ... kind of completely defeats the purpose of the cliche ;D
I think the general assumption is that "anything" doesn't include such feats as holding your nose, farting a rainbow and flying to the moon... in the case of lisawolfinger, she apparently accomplished a great many things that those around her, including "experts", had told her were impossible. So, she shook her head, ignored the the advice to be a "realist" and tried anyhow... and succeeded. I'd like to think that is the heart and soul of the saying.
I do wonder how many Olympians were once told, "lol, keep dreaming kid. There is no way you will ever be in the Olympics. Why waste your time on the impossible", but ignored that seemingly sound advice and kept pushing towards that dream anyhow.4 -
jseams1234 wrote: »clicketykeys wrote: »lisawolfinger wrote: »I think it is, at the core, the same...he can do anything he wants to do...he just has to think outside the box...rather than narrowly define some of the words of the phrase.
So... you can do anything you want to do... as long as you redefine "ANYTHING" to mean "things that are actually possible for you to do."
Which ... kind of completely defeats the purpose of the cliche ;D
I think the general assumption is that "anything" doesn't include such feats as holding your nose, farting a rainbow and flying to the moon... in the case of lisawolfinger, she apparently accomplished a great many things that those around her, including "experts", had told her were impossible. So, she shook her head, ignored the the advice to be a "realist" and tried anyhow... and succeeded. I'd like to think that is the heart and soul of the saying.
I do wonder how many Olympians were once told, "lol, keep dreaming kid. There is no way you will ever be in the Olympics. Why waste your time on the impossible", but ignored that seemingly sound advice and kept pushing towards that dream anyhow.
Someone like Oscar Pistorius?3
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