The difference between impossible and possible is persistence. — Jensen Huang

The difference between impossible and possible is persistence.

Author: Jensen Huang

Insight: Most people hit a wall and assume it's permanent. They try something twice, it doesn't work, and they file it away as "not for me" or "too hard." But that wall rarely cares how many times you've already knocked on it. Persistence isn't about being stubborn or delusional—it's about understanding that most worthwhile things have a learning curve, and the first attempt is almost never the last one that matters. The tricky part is that persistence gets confused with grinding away without reflection. You're not just supposed to bang your head against the same door endlessly. Real persistence means trying, noticing what didn't work, adjusting, and trying again differently. It's the difference between someone who practices guitar for one hour a day for a year and someone who practices for ten hours one day and quits. Compounding small efforts actually works because you're learning something each time. The gap between possible and impossible isn't some magical threshold you either cross or don't. It's usually just the point where most people stop. Someone else—someone no smarter than you—will push past that point and suddenly the thing you thought was impossible becomes their everyday reality. That person probably just refused to accept the wall as final.