Photo by Jill Heyer on Unsplash

When something looks like it cannot be done, it generally cannot be done. But it’s not because it’s impossible. Rather, it’s because it will probably not even be attempted.

Had this been the case all the time, we’d probably still be living in caves and hunting with spears. But, because of our drive for new knowledge, key members of our species broke their comfort zone to invent the future. Think aeroplanes, smartphones, cloud computing, 3D printing, etc. All these seemed impossible before those select few innovators made them a reality.

Arnold Palmer, a retired professional golfer and one of the greatest players in men’s professional golf history, made his name thanks to a similar attitude towards the seemingly futile.

Quoted in an August 1966 speech by Leslie B. Worthington (President of U.S. Steel Corporation), Palmer reportedly once quipped:

The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done.”

Arnold Daniel Palmer

He was the first superstar in sports TV and is regarded as golf’s most important pioneer. Nicknamed “The King,” Palmer had a humble background, which changed the perception of golf as a pastime activity reserved for the upper-class, helping to make it accessible to middle and working classes.