Our willpower is an exhaustible resource. Every now and then, we need to recharge and today we’ve got the perfect thing for you. After working in the corporate graphic design industry for 8 years, Gavin Aung Than quit his unfulfilling job at the end of 2011 to focus on his true passion, drawing cartoons. Since then, he has produced a lot of great strips, but one of them really stands out.

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Titled “It couldn’t be done,” the piece was actually based on a poem by Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959). “I love taking old poems and adapting them for modern readers, so I thought using fitness and running was a good idea,” he told Bored Panda. “Plus, the character in the comic was used in one of my earlier Zen Pencils comics where he first decided to lose weight. So I wanted to bring him back and continue his story.”

Some readers have even e-mailed Gavin, telling him they were motivated to get into shape after reading the comic. “I guess the combination of the poem and my pictures really packs a punch. That’s the power of comics!” he said. “The poem is pretty motivational but I thought that by adding a new original story I could make it the message even stronger and I think I achieved that. Well, I hope I did.”

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