Have you ever heard the story of the four-minute mile? Before Roger Bannister ran 1 mile (1.6km) in less than 4 minutes (3min 59sec) in 1954, something people had been trying to accomplish that since at least 1886. It was heavily questioned if the feat was actually possible by a human. Once it was accomplished once, it only took another 46 days, for someone else to do it and they did it in one second less time. Since then over 1400 athletes have achieved the four-minute mile shaving as much as 17 seconds off the original run.
The purpose of this story goes to show the power of belief and how we can put limitations on ourselves. Once we see evidence that those limitations do not have to exist, we are able to accomplish something we thought was impossible. I would like you to reflect on the things in your life you have deemed impossible and really start to reflect on them.
Can you find evidence that it is possible? Can you do a google search and find someone that has already achieved it? What stories are you always repeating to yourself about things you are not accomplishing but want to be?
When experts were analysing the conditions they believed would have to be in place for the four-minute mile to be done, they decided it needed to be the perfect weather conditions, no wind, on a particular type of track, one that is hard, dry and clay. They said it would need to be in front of a huge enthusiastic crowd urging the runner to push for his best performance. Bannister did it on a cold, wet day, the track was wet, in front of a small crowd.
This story shows the power of mindset, the power of determination. It goes to show that things do not have to be perfect to achieve what you wish. We have these ideas in our head that we can only go ahead with someone once everything else is perfect and in place. But is that never how it works out. Just go for it, do things you want to work towards, stop waiting and hoping for things to be the perfect weathered day with the smooth dry path. Things will never go exactly as you picture them to, but they can end up with the results you dreamt about.
So, what are you doing this week? What is your four-minute mile and how can you start to accomplish what you once decided was impossible? Once Bannister achieved his feat, it showed the other athletes what was possible. It was not about some huge evolution, change of human design, we were still the same as we always were. What changed, was their mindset, what they believed was possible. Mindset is always in your control. It doesn’t always feel like that, but it is the truth.
What goals are you now going to allow yourself permission to move towards? How can you start to prove to yourself how powerful you really are? Is it time for you to set into a new mindset of believability? What is that now going to look like for you? The only limitations that you have for your goals are the ones you create in your mind.