My Impossible List

Call me a copycat if you like, but I’ll take it as a compliment!

I took the idea of turning a bucket list into an Impossible List from Joel Runyon. He’s the type of psycho who puts psychos like myself to shame. (I mean that with all love and respect, Joel).

Joel’s core message is that framing goals and dreams as merely ‘possible’ means that you never get around to breaking the limits of what you’re actually capable of.

An impossible list challenges our preconceived idea of what is possible and what I should strive for. So does this list look long? Yes! Do some of the things look ridiculously hard to do? Yes! That’s the idea.

Like Joel, I’ve broken down my list into a number of subheadings. You can navigate to each subheading here:

• Run a 5k in under 18 minutes – Time: 17:47
  • Run a 5k in under 17 minutes
• Run a 10k in under 40 minutes – Time 38:23
  • Run a 10k in under 38 minutes
• Run a half marathon – Time: 1:38:45
  • Run a half marathon in under 1:30           Time: 1:24:56
    • Run a half marathon in under 1:20:00
• Run a marathon
• Run an ultra marathon
• Do a sprint distance marathon
• Do an Olympic distance marathon
• Do a sprint distance triathlon
• Do a half ironman triathlon
• Do tough mudder
• Do Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra Run

Sports to play competitively

• Running racing
• Football
• Futsal
• Ultimate frisbee
• American Football
• Volleyball
• Tennis
• Cricket

• Visit every continent
  • Australia
  • Asia
  • Africa
  • Europe
  • South America
  • North America
• Visit every Australian state
  • VIC
• • NSW
• • ACT
• • QLD
• • WA
• • SA
• • TAS
  • NT
• Spend more than 1 week in 10 different countries
  • Australia
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Germany
• Do a week-long hike
• Do a month-long hike
• Do a hike in six different continents
  • TMB or Camino de Santiago or WHW (Europe)
  • GPT (South America)
  • Appalachian Trail or GDT (North America)
  • Toubkal Circuit (Africa)
  • JT or Transcaucasian trail (Asia)
  • Great Ocean Walk (Australia)

1. Spanish – C2 (2/6 years)
2. German – C1 (5/5 years)
3. Ancient Greek – Reading fluently (1/3 years)
4. Hungarian – B2 (0/4 years)
5. Hebrew – Reading fluently (0/3 years)
6. Quechua – C1 (0/5 years)
7. Swahili – B2 (0/4 years)
8. French – B1 (0/2 years)
9. Sign Language – fluency (0/4 years)
10. Norwegian – B1 (0/2 years)
11. Latin – Reading fluently (0/3 years)
12. Xhosa – B2 (0/4 years)
13. Georgian – B2 (0/4 years)
14. Japanese – B2 (0/4 years)
15. Basque – B2 (0/4 years)
16. Hindi – B1 (0/2 years)
17. Australian Indigenous Language – B2 (0/4 years)

• Invest $5000 in an ETF
  • Invest $20,000 in an ETF
• Save $100,000
• write a short book and get it published
• write a novel
• Publish an academic article
• Write a guest post on a blog
• Interview a professional about their work

• Learn how to juggle for 1 minute without dropping
  • Juggle 4 balls
• Do a cartwheel
• do a handstand for 30 seconds
• make a piece of furniture myself
• learn to play chess
• learn to pick a lock
• learn to throw a knife
• bake my own bread
• Play piano
• Play guitar
• Play drums
• Play double bass

• Have a line in a movie
• Have a minor role in a movie
• Get something named after me
• Build a tiny house by myself and live in it

• Fix a tap on my own
• Recite a long poem from memory (an Australian classic)
• Change a wheel on my own
• Start a fire without any materials
• Learn to do the card shuffling thing
• Hunt an animal on my own
• Learn about bush tucker
• Build a raft with no materials
• Learn about knot types
• Do an orienteering race
• Learn martial arts
• Learn how to replace brake fluid
• Fillet a fish
• Change an oil filter
• Fix an electrical power point/lightbulb
• Learn to navigate with the sun/stars/environment
• Learn to fish with no equipment
• Build a hammock with no equipment