Achievetheimpossible

You Can Achieve the Unachievable

Back in 2010, I started my business in New York City with almost no experience in food styling, photography, food writing — and built it anyway.

Not because I was fully prepared.
But because I refused to let my current abilities define my future career.

Over the course of my career — from graphic design and advertising, to food styling and photography to content creation and social media — I’ve reinvented myself several times and achieved a successful career doing what I love.

It wasn’t easy, but every time, I aimed beyond what felt realistic. What felt comfortable. What seemed out of reach.

I pitched new clients before I felt qualified.
I stepped into rooms that intimidated me.
I took on big projects that I wasn’t sure I could do yet.
I built platforms I had never built before.

And here’s what I’ve learned:

Most limitations are self-imposed.

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali said,
“Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion.”

Drive matters.
Ambition matters.
Consistency matters.

But belief comes first.

You don’t wait to feel ready.
You build readiness through action.

If you’re in a season of growth, reinvention, or expansion — the question isn’t whether you’re capable today.

The question is whether you’re willing to become capable.

And take the leap.

1. Aim Beyond What You’re Capable Of

Most people set goals based on their current skill level.

That’s the mistake.

If your goal matches your present abilities, it won’t transform you. It will simply confirm what you already know how to do. Real growth begins when the vision demands a version of you that doesn’t exist yet.

Les Brown once said:

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

moon and stars

When you aim higher than you feel ready for, you force expansion. You learn faster. You stretch further. You develop resilience. Even if you don’t hit the exact target, you won’t land where you started.

✨ Action Step:
– Write down one goal that feels safe.
– Now write down one that feels almost impossible.
– Circle the impossible one — and commit to exploring it for 30 days.

2. Disregard Where Your Abilities End

We over-respect our current limitations.

We say things like:
“I’m not technical.”
“I’m not a leader.”
“I’m not experienced enough.”
“I’m too old.
“It’s too late.”

But your abilities are not fixed — they’re expandable.

Sara Blakely said:

“Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength.”

The truth? Every expert was once inexperienced. Every leader was once unsure. The only difference is they didn’t let inexperience define their identity.

✨ Action Step:
– List three things you think you “can’t” do.
– Next to each, write: “Can be learned.”
– Choose one and take a 20-minute action today toward learning it.

Growth compounds.

3. Try the Things You Feel Incapable Of

Confidence is not a prerequisite for action.
It’s a result of it.

Michael Jordan said:

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Failure is data.
Attempt is expansion.
Inaction is stagnation.

The longer you wait to “feel ready,” the longer you delay growth.

✨ Action Step:
Ask yourself:
– “What would I attempt this week if failure wasn’t an option?”
– Now take one small, concrete step in that direction.

Movement breaks fear.

4. Aim for Elite Rooms

If you think you’re not qualified to work with the best company, brand, or leader in your field — pause.

Who told you that?

Steve Jobs said:

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

Elite spaces are not mythical. They’re filled with people who decided to apply, reach, and refine themselves.

✨ Action Step:
– Identify the top company or opportunity in your industry.
– Audit your positioning.
– Upgrade one thing this week — your portfolio, your pitch, your online presence.

Act in alignment with where you’re going, not where you are.

5. If You Think You Can’t Run a Company — Make That Your Aim

Leadership isn’t personality-based.
It’s responsibility-based.

Oprah Winfrey said:

“Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life.”

Running a company — or leading anything — begins with self-leadership. Decision-making.
Ownership.
Vision.

If you think you’re “not cut out” for it, ask yourself: Is that fact — or fear?

✨ Action Step:
– Write: “If I were the CEO of my life, I would…”
– List five changes.
– Implement one immediately.

Leadership begins with daily choices.

6. Make “Impossible” Your Target

Muhammad Ali said:

“Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion.”

When you quietly dismiss your biggest ambitions — recognition, influence, impact — you shrink your potential.

Big visibility comes from big contribution.

✨ Action Step:
– Define your boldest recognition goal.
– Ask: “What habits would someone at that level practice daily?”
– Start one this week.

Identity precedes achievement.

7. Make the Vision Real

Dreaming is easy.
Execution is discipline.

Walt Disney has a famous quote that I love:

“If you can dream it, you can do it.”

But you must translate vision into systems.

Goals into milestones.

Intention into calendar commitments.

✨ Action Step:
– Break your bold goal into a 90-day sprint.
– Choose three milestones.
– Schedule time daily and weekly to work on them.

If it’s not scheduled, it’s not prioritized.

8. Rewrite Your Beliefs

Henry Ford said:

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.”

Your beliefs shape your behavior — and your behavior shapes your results.

Most people don’t fail because they’re incapable.
They fail because they never fully believed.

✨ 7-Day Practice:
– Every time you think “I can’t,” replace it with: “How can I?”

Watch your brain start solving instead of shrinking.

The Artful Gourmet Podcast by Kristen Hess

🎧 If this resonates, I go deeper into this mindset shift in the latest episode of The Artful Gourmet Podcast– Into Focus series, “You Can Achieve the Unachievable”

You can listen on all the major streaming platforms – Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeartRadio, and YouTube.

You can also read my companion essay on Artful Gourmet Substack