Impossible is Nothing

- by Jaime Willis

“Listen to the Mustn’ts, child, listen to the Don’ts.

Listen to the Shouldn’ts, the Impossibles, the Won’ts.

Listen to the Never Haves, then listen close to me.

Anything can happen, child, Anything can be.”

-Shel Silverstein

We spend an awful lot of time listening to the Mustn'ts and the Don'ts, the Shouldn'ts and the Impossibles. Whether they come from others or from a scared voice inside ourselves, the only Can't you should listen to is the voice that says, "You Can't Stop! You Can't Fail!"

A very talented friend of mine sold a screenplay a few years ago. Not well-versed in the ways of Hollywood, I didn't realize that selling your screenplay, which is a huge accomplishment in and of itself, is actually just one small step on the path to getting your movie made. Three years, several options, two directors, and a couple of agents later, the movie still hasn't been made.

In an emotional discussion with his screenwriting partner, my friend wondered why they had been waiting so long for "someone to give them permission to make their movie." They simply needed to raise $50,000 - $150,000 to fund an independent production of the movie themselves.

His colleague balked. Oh, we "just" need raise $150,000, he said. Ha! If that were so easy, everyone would be making a movie. My friend hung up with his partner, but not before asking him again to rethink his Mustn'ts and Impossibles.

A half hour later, his colleague called my friend back. Sheepishly, quietly, the colleague began talking. Um, he said, we've got the funding.

"What?!?" My friend shouted.

Yea, we have $150,000. We're funded.

The guy who just 30 minutes before couldn't believe that fundraising any amount of money for their movie was possible had gotten enough of a spark, a glimmer, of hope he called a friend of his to talk through the idea. His friend was so enthusiastic, he offered to foot the bill himself. A day later, a family member matched the contribution, so their total production budget is now $300,000.

The guys are now in the enviable position of deciding whether to shoot their movie, a movie that has been sitting on a shelf for THREE years, on an independent film budget or use their existing budget as seed funding to raise the $1.5 million needed for a full-size movie shoot.

And it all began with squashing the Mustn'ts. Squashing the Impossibles. Squashing the Shouldn'ts, Won'ts and Don'ts.

Imagine how much you can get accomplished this week if you give up the your Mustn'ts and even just pretend your goals are possible!

As Jillian Michaels says, "Unless you puke, faint, or die, keep going!"

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Special thanks to everyone who came out to our goal-setting workshop this past weekend and friends of Sam Horn now reading our blog! Matt and I really enjoyed meeting you all and look forward to achieving with you.

2. Have you wanted to come to our class but don't have the money or time to commit right now? Join us this Thursday, December 16th at 6pm at Local 16. Matt and I are hosting a free one-hour happy hour and will answer any and all questions you have about goal setting, our course, and the meaning of life, even! :) Join us!

3. Have you shared Velocity with your friends? Fan us on facebook, follow us on twitter, or sign up for our blog's RSS feed by clicking the "Subscribe Now" button ------> to the right of this post. Matt and I have a goal of hitting 1,000 facebook fans in 2011. We are already 20% there and 2011 hasn't even begun yet! Thanks for helping us achieve our goals.

4. Gentlemen! We are still looking for inspiration for young men. Please email me or comment on this blog post today!

5. Did you see our first TGIF (This Goal Is Finished) interview on Friday? If not, please go check it out! If you would like to be highlighted in an upcoming TGIF interview, contact us for more details.