IF ITS

IMPOSSIBLE
DO IT
ANYWAY.
The worlds best article on
PAUL ARDEN.
By Dan Bergevin

Copyright 2009 by Dan Bergevin

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

Paul
Arden
is one of those
authors who can change the way you think
with only a few words or a single image.
That seemed to be the point behind his
two books Its Not How Good You

Are Its How Good You Want To Be

and Whatever You Think, Think The
Opposite.
If you went to a bookstore youd probably find these books
categorized as business motivation books, but thats just the
tip of the iceberg. They are actually very powerful tools for
getting what you want in life, whether you are in the business
of advertising or the business of making salad dressing in your
tool shed. They were written for anyone who thinks, and wants
to use thinking as an art form instead of just a form of data
processing.
For me, reading his books is like tapping into some innate
power supply that I forgot I had. They are more than just
creative inspiration they are instruction manuals for a
mindset that is a prerequisite to getting outrageous results out
of everything you do in life.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

So who was Paul Arden?

His work biography includes many impressive

credits: he was Executive Creator at Saatchi & Saatchi
for 14 years. He started the film company Arden
Sutherland-Dodd in 1993, and directed numerous
commercials and short films. He later opened the
photo gallery Arden and Anstruther with his wife
Toni to display over thirty years of collected pieces,
both from famous photographers as well as found
images from various sources. After writing Its Not
How Good You Are Its How Good You Want To Be,
published in 2003 by Phaidon Press, he then wrote a
weekly column for The Independent. He then wrote
Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite, published
in 2006 by Portfolio (Penguin Books). His third and
final book was titled God Explained in a Taxi Ride
and was published in 2007 by Penguin Books.
Paul died on April 2, 2008, at the age of 67.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

I interviewed Paul Arden sometime in 2006 because I wanted to. At

the time, I had just read his two books, and it seemed like a good
idea to talk to him. His ideas were leaking into everything I did, and I
wanted to personally thank him for the unexpected and highly useful
intrusion into my normalcy. I needed to know that I had spoken with
him directly.
He didnt have to talk to me. He
certainly didnt have a reason
to. He didnt know me, and I
wasnt a journalist or author
or advertising executive. I was
just me. But he took the time to
speak with me, and its fair to say
that this conversation changed
the course of everything that
came after it.
Paul lived the words he wrote.
His experiences he shared
with me were like case studies
of the ideas in his books.
More accurately, his ideas
were distilled from his many
experiences and provided in
highly concentrated form as the
contents of his books. These books were written to be more than just
fun and inspiring. They arent like your typical creativity textbooks
that are no more than catalogs of clever (and not-so-clever) ideas.
Pauls books were created as operating manuals for getting what you
want in life. They were not meant to be read. They were meant to be
used.
If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

As a tribute to Paul and his ideas, I present this article. Pauls direct
words have been fused with his published thoughts and ideas from
both Its Not How Good You Are Its How Good You Want To Be and
Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite and my own elaborations on
Pauls ideas.
Quotes directly from Paul Arden are in blue.
Quotes from Its Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want To Be
(Copyright 2003 Phaidon Press Limited) are in green.
Quotes from Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite (Copyright
2006 Paul Arden, published by Portfolio) are in purple.
All black (and the occasional white) text is my own doing.
Enjoy.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

If you want to know how your life

is going to turn out, you just have
to know where youre heading.

No matter what you want in life, there is a way to get it. But first you
have to decide what you really want. Then you have to decide that
you really will get it.
If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

Your vision of where or who you

want to be is the greatest asset
you have. Without having a goal it
is difficult to score.

Theres only one sure way to get what you want know what you
want.
Oh yes. And you have to act on it too.
If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

You can achieve the unachievable.

Firstly you need to aim beyond
what you are capable of. You must
develop a complete disregard for
where your abilities end.
Ambition will take you
further than talent.
Talent is based on your
past experience and
accomplishments. Ambition
is based on your idea of who
you want to be. Experience
counts for something but
cannot lead you to the life
you want to live all on its
own.
What you are capable of
achieving is only limited
to what you are capable of
imagining.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

When it cant be done,

do it. If you dont do it, it
doesnt exist.
The last (commercial) I made was for Volkswagon. The agency wanted
to do it one way, I wanted to do it another. I got the job, but the way
the shoot was planned up is they wanted to start somewhere and I
wanted to start somewhere else. There was two ways to do it but
I couldnt do it two ways. I didnt have the time to do it two ways. I
wanted to do it two ways then sort it out, but I couldnt do it. I didnt
have time. And then I was going to do it the agencys way. Then I
thought, heck, wait a minute. And then I thought of my own book.
And it says if you dont do it youll never get it done. (He paused, and
I could hear pages turning as he looked through a copy of Its Not
How Good You Are Its How Good You Want To Be. He then read from
page 46.) When it cant be done, do it. If you dont do it, it doesnt
exist. So I did do it two ways. I just forced myself to do it two ways
somehow. And I won, I got my way. And I pleased myself because I
thought I cant do it. Logic, everything was against me to do it. But
somehow I geared everyone up and we did it. Its as simple as that.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

Heres something I have on my wall I have worked with wonderful,

clever, and talented people who when they were young had good
new and exciting ideas. These ideas then became principles. These
principles then became doctrines. The wonderful, clever, and talented
people became victims of their own belief. Experience, they call it.
So we all suffer from experience. Experience is supposed to be a good
thing, but in the end it clouds you. Whether you want it to or not your
experience stops you from being fresh.
Experience is built from solutions to old situations and problems. The
old situations are probably different from the present ones, so that
old solutions will have to be bent to fit new problems (and possibly fit
badly).
If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

What is common sense to some is

nonsense to others.

It doesnt make sense to allow others to determine what makes sense

for you. If this is how you separated good ideas from bad ones, then
youll merely be following in old footsteps that may have no bearing
on what you really want, and will therefore lead you nowhere you
want to go.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

10

Anything you think of that is creative is doing

something sort of wrong. Its considered
unbusinesslike and impractical. And youre difficult.
You make things difficult. And most people dont
want to work with difficult people, no matter how
clever they are.
Good people are often difficult because they know what they want
and dont want to change their desires for anyone. Because of this,
they are likely to be respected later rather than sooner. But this is less
important to them than getting what they have set out to achieve.

Great people have great egos; maybe thats what

makes them great. So let us put it to good use
rather than try to deny it.
Modesty wont get you what you want, but a belief in your own ability
will.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

11

Question: How do you shape reality in the

likeness of your vision?

Answer: You ignore reality. You ignore reality

and you decide which course youre going to

take. Your art of how youre going to live your life,
really. Or how youre going to balance your life.
Sometimes you become realistic, sometimes you
dont. And that depends on the individual. My
tendency is to be unrealistic so to do what I think
is right I have some belief in it, rather than going
by what is common sense. Because everyone is
latching onto what is common sense. Your idea
is so strange on paper or in your head no one
will understand you. So you have to decide what
attitude youre going to take. Whether youre going
to be a company man, a corporate man, and do
things for money, and do things that are probably
a bit dull, or whether youre going to try and do it
differently. They both have their merits. And Im not
saying which is the best. Its just different.
We all have our lives to live. Do you want to live it
with a big fancy house and a helicopter or do you
want to live it in a quality way? A quality thinking
way. Its just a choice we have to make.
If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

12

What you choose to see defines reality. Your point of view is reality,
albeit a subjectively interpreted sliver of it. But you can shape the
world to your viewpoint, and if you can do this then you can get what
you want on your own terms. Shaping your viewpoint to conform to
the popular perspective may be a sign of maturity and experience,
but it is also a sure way to get mediocre results instead of outrageous
ones.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

13

My son (Christian Arden) used to have a chain of nightclubs that

were very successful, but then he went bankrupt. But he opened up
another club very recently and he asked me for some names for the
club. I came up with some various names, like The Blue Coconut or
various clubby names, but I got bored with them. They sounded like
I had heard them before. So I said call it Parker McMillan. And my
son said, Dont be stupid. And I said no, it sounds alright to me. Its
different. And he went to his board, his financial people, and they all
liked it. And now its quite a name Parker McMillan. But if youd tried
to research for that you probably wouldnt have gotten anywhere
because it doesnt sound like a club youd wonder is it a stock broker
or? But its a club. And its just different. I just thought (of it) and
wrote it down. I didnt know why. It just sounded nice. There was no
reason, there was no logic to it except Its in the city of London and
its also on a place called London Wall. So I thought about London
Wall Street Parker McMillan, London Wall Street which makes it
sound international. So he had it done like that and its very good.
It sounded very American and dignified, businesslike. Slightly Ivy
League. An Ivy League night club, whatever that is.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

14

If you have a good idea, but you dont use it because you think it
might fail, then its not a good idea. If you dont have the courage to
bring the idea out of your head and into the world, it doesnt even
matter that you had the idea in the first place.

What is a good idea? One that

happens is. If it doesnt, it isnt.
If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

15

Become what you want to be before

you can prove you can do it.
You cant become something before trying to be it first. And trying
requires testing your limits - or even better, pretending you dont have
any.
Yes, you will make mistakes and even fail. But soon youll have failed
enough to know what youre really doing.

Too many people spend too much

time trying to perfect something
before they actually do it. Instead
of waiting for perfection, run with
what youve got, and fix it as you
go.
The person who doesnt make mistakes is unlikely to
make anything.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

16

Everyone says its more difficult

now, but Ive never known a time
when people didnt say that. Its
always been better (back) then.
Even when we want to be timid and play it safe, we
should pause for a moment to imagine what we
might be missing.
If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

17

How you perceive

yourself is how others will
see you.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

18

How you present

yourself is how others will
value you.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

19

Your personal point of view is more valuable than trying to keep

up with the popular point of view, because it is yours. You are far
better off honing your own perspective than trying to adopt the
perspectives of others. You will achieve unique results without
compromising your vision.

Having an original point of view or angle is a

novelty. Recognizing its value is intelligent. Having
the courage to stand up for it in the face of public
opinion is what makes you a winner.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

20

Getting what you want means doing what needs to be done to get
what you want, regardless of what may seem possible.
What you want and how you want it are both irrelevant if you dont
have the audacity and will to get going and see it through. Of course,
in the course of things, you will make mistakes. They are exactly the
feedback you need in order to improve. Truth hurts, but in the

long run its better than a pat on the back.

This of course means youll have to risk your ideas by removing
them from their protective packaging and subjecting them to the
real world. Do not covet your ideas. Give away everything you

know, and more will come back to you.

Sometimes you will find that others dont want to do it your way.
So do it their way and your way. When you make your opening

negotiations with the client, you say 95% of the work we will
do in the way you want. But the way to get the good will from
us is to give us 5% to do what we want. So its part of your
contract. So you might be wrong, but you also may be very
right. And (the client) picked up that rightness for a small
amount of money.
Other times you will find that no one supports your ideas. Then youll
just have to find a way to do it yourself. It is unlikely that anyone

will sanction the cost of something they dont understand,

therefore you have no choice but to do it yourself. At any cost.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

21

The name of the game is

persistence and charm.
Sometimes you wont have
an idea. I just believe in the
truth, frankly. Go with what
you believe, and if you dont
know, have it their way. If you
really believe something, you
go with it all the way.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

22

This is all part of a fundamental wrongness

that, ultimately, is your greatest weapon.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

23

Be insensible. Sensible decisions are exactly what everyone

else is making. So being sensible almost never creates spectacular
results or anything dramatically different than the status quo.

Be nave. Knowledge is safe because it is easy to agree with.

But knowledge is based on the past, not on the present or the future.
Being original is thus incompatible with being knowledgeable. You
must be willing to ignore reality to create something unique. If you
base what you do on what you want to do, you are only limited by the
boundaries of your imagination.

Be risky. Safe decisions are inherently dangerous because they

cannot lead to anywhere new. By playing it safe you sacrifice the

discovery of new opportunities for the apparent security of what
you already have. But if you want to move forward you must push
yourself into the unknown.

Of course, youll survive if you

dont do these things. You
might even move up. But youll
do it on other peoples terms
and not your own. And youll
be more likely to only move
sideways.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

24

Last but not least, whatever it is you do, regardless of how impossible
or just plain silly it may seem, have no regrets. There is something
to be learned from everything, and your energy could be put to far
greater use by capitalizing on your mistakes rather than regretting
them.

Whatever decision you

make is the only one you
could make. Otherwise
you would make a
different one. Everything
we do we choose. So
what is there to regret?
You are the person you
chose to be.
If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

25

Credits and End Notes

Special thanks to:
Toni Arden for biographical assistance and for the use of the color
photos of Paul (pages 3 and 27).
Lucinda Roberts for arranging my telephone interview with Paul in
2006 and for the use of his photo on page 1.

Other photo credits:

Gary Scott: Soccer goal on page 6.
Chutiporn Chaitachawong: Archer on page 7.
Carlos Sotelo: Walk, Dont Walk sign on page 10.
Sufi Nawaz: Lightbulb on page 15.
Stephanie Schleicher: Cookie cutter on page 24.

Biographical information on Paul Arden obtained from www.

ardenandanstruther.com, www.brandrepublic.com,
www.independent.co.uk and www.creativereview.co.uk.

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

26

1940 - 2008

If It's Impossible, Do It Anyway

27

www.capitalizedliving.com