It began a couple years ago when I had a group of decent swimmers, but they were sheltered by the summer recreational league that is prominent in the Central Valley of California (Porterville to Yosemite). I had them do an IM ladder which went 100, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200, 100 IM's. Most of these swimmers didn't think a 200 IM was possible let alone a 400 IM. They finished the set and they were all so amazed because they truly felt it was impossible.
I was hearing a lot of "I Can't"s before, and the next day we addressed this as I had given a lot of thought that night. I explained to them that they had accomplished what they deemed impossible, but they were able to complete the set. I explained that they had accomplished the Impossible, even though it wasn't Impossible, but they had thought it was. We talked about how we really don't know what is impossible, and the only way to find out if it was Impossible is if we Challenge that which we see as Impossible. All of sudden Time Standards that seemed impossible before were now their goals. Some accomplished the goals, and those who missed their goals, after a meeting, felt that had they done what was necessary they could have accomplished those goals.
The Motto became "Challenge the Impossible." It bled into my jargon and spread to my High School Team that was made up of most members having never taken even swimming lessons, and kids extent of swimming was taking a bath when they were little, and some playing around in the pool during PE Class. These kids might not have been very fast by the end of the season, but all felt so good about what they were able to do, and truly accomplished what they had originally thought was impossible.
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