Journal

LIFE INGREDIENTS with Robert Irvine: Issue #38

Aug 25, 2026

Hey Folks,

This month we’ve got a leg workout to build athleticism and keep you pain- and injury-free, one of my very best fall recipes, and my thoughts on a life without calculation. Let’s get into it!

Now, on to the the food!

LIFE INGREDIENTS MOTIVATION

“Only he who attempts the absurd is capable of achieving the impossible.” — Miguel de

Unamuno

I’m always looking for good quotes, especially ones that pertain to the impossible. They don’t just make nice fodder for this column, either; they’re helpful for me personally, connecting me with historical figures who feel the same way I do about setting goals, working hard, and ultimately seeing the fruits of our labor.

This month’s quote in particular really resonated with me. As the guy who built his career around overcoming “impossible” circumstances, people bring me their supposedly impossible problems all the time. Most hope I’ll be able to offer a solution or at least some insight that will help them get through it. Others think they’ll really stump me. Hasn’t happened yet.

If you watched any Restaurant: Impossible, then you know that much of what I offered struggling restaurateurs boiled down to my fresh perspective. They’d have a problem, I’d approach it from an angle they had not yet considered. Together, we’d then find the way through.

But what the show really offered people was a permission structure—a safe environment to try something wildly different, or as the philosopher Miguel de Unamano put it, “the absurd”.

“Only he who attempts the absurd is capable of achieving the impossible,” he said. What did he really mean by this? I’d say he meant that if you only follow proven pathways, you can never expect an exceptional result. Put more simply, make predictable moves, get predictable results.

The great thing that you daydream about—the life, business, career, body, relationship—you’ve always wanted, is going to take an extraordinary effort. It’s going to require you do some things that today you might consider to be absurd.

If you’re well and truly stuck right now, or in a bad place mentally or physically, I wish I could tell you something different. I wish I could say that simply reading this would be good enough or that you could buy some product that might do it for you. Alas, I have no such news to bring you.

The nature of life is now as it has always been: to get something extraordinary will require something extraordinary from you. The good news: the hardest step is the first step. Creating habits and building momentum is tough, but nothing compares with the daunting task of starting from scratch.

But you want to know something? You only have to do it once. And it won’t be any easier tomorrow, so you might as well start today.

As always, I’ll be rooting for you.

Until next time, remember the words I live by:

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.

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