A story: In October of 1995, Goran Knopp left Stockholm, Sweden on a bicycle and rode it to the base of Mount Everest,arriving in April of 1996. He then proceeded to climb Mount Everst without using an oxygen mask or the help of sherpas. After he reached the summit, he descended back down the mountain and eventually pedaled his way back to Sweden.

If someone invited you to embark on an adventure like this, you might say “That’s crazy!” or “That’s impossible.” Well, for some of us, it might have been crazy, but it turns out that it isn’t impossible, because our boy Goran did it.

So, it’s really impossible. It’s hard, very hard, it’s true. But it’s doable, with the right attitude and under the right circumstances.

Audrey Hepburn once pointed out that the word “Impossible” actually contains the words “I’m possible.” There’s a Mount Everest of truth in the old saying we’ve all heard, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Finding the way around a writing difficulty that seems impossible may seem daunting. But the seemingly insurmountable obstacles we face are often more manageable than we imagine. Whether it’s getting a piece published, finding an agent, orrevising a draft that’sproving resistant, there’s always a way. Sometimes we just need to change our strategy. Here’s a simple 5-step approach you cn take to get yourself moving toward turning Impossible into “I’m possible” and proving it:

1. Ask yourself, “What’s the next step I have to take to make this happen?”
2. Ask, “What is in the way of taking the next step? What’s the obstacle?”
3. Remove, disregard, or ignore the obstacle.
4. Take that next step.
5. Go back to step 1 and repeat the process as many times as necessary.*

Sounds doable doesn’t it? It might take some planning, some brainstorming, but its doable. And once you take one step – even a baby step — in the direction of your dream or solving a tough problem, you get momentum. You’ve made progress. You’re not sitting on the sidelines having a pity party, you’re on the field playing. You’re in the game. And you need to be in it to win it!

So when that word “Impossible” rears it’s head, let’s just nod and say, “Hello, ‘I’m possible,” and figure out how to make it true. I just wrote this post in less than half an hour. Impossible? No! Write on!

• This strategy comes to us via Dr. Rob Gilbert’s inspiring Success Hotline (973.743.4690).