When a student says, “This is impossible”, they seem to be suggesting that something is impossible for everyone. For example, to make a general statement that solving a math problem is impossible, suggests it is impossible for everyone, not only you. Keep in mind that other students have solved the problem in the past, so it must not be impossible for everyone.
So it seems this leaves only one option, “This problem is impossible for me to solve”. This only becomes true when you choose to give up, so that you accept failure. But of course, you know that success comes to people who just keep making attempts, rejecting failure by learning from each mistake. In this way, you instead will say, “Nothing is impossible for me, since I refuse to give up!”
Another thing to notice is the person saying, “This is impossible” is not taking responsibility, not blaming themselves at all for their failure. They will say things like, “It is impossible because I haven’t been taught how to do it”, for example. Remember that your teacher wants you to understand fully, but at the same time, they alone can’t ‘learn you things’. Your learning will depend a huge amount on your effort to think carefully and stick with a problem that seems impossible.
Successful people quickly get to work on learning from failure, so they move forward in a positive way. They almost never waste time saying, “This is impossible”, but immediately take action to make another attempt. Thomas Edison was said to have made over 10 000 attempts before succeeding in making the incandescent lightbulb. He decided ahead of time to reject failure which he knew would come, and continued making attempts until he succeeded!
When someone has already solved a problem in the past, it clearly is not impossible to solve. Remember that every invention that you use today came about because someone sat down and focused their mind on solving a problem. If they had not believed in the possibility of solving the problem, you would not now enjoy the benefits of their determined effort. Even when a problem has not yet been solved, like the lightbulb for Edison, it quite often is possible to solve, and does get solved in the future.
So, remove the word impossible from your vocabulary. Instead, enjoy the fact that you are faced with obstacles and challenges to overcome that will strengthen you. Whenever you feel like giving up, remind yourself to keep moving forward. Chances are you are closer to success than you know. Real achievement comes only after many failed attempts, perhaps so that you will appreciate what you have accomplished.
Please let me know in the comments how you have rejected failure. Have you had the thought that something was impossible, only to find out that it wasn’t when you decided not to give up?