“Some of the World’s Greatest Feats were Accomplished by People Not Smart Enough to Know They Were Impossible.”
~Doug Larson
What a profound statement, eh?
Think about all of the things that were “impossible” until they weren’t.
- 4 Minute Mile
- Sub-10 sec 100 meter dash
- A woman running a marathon without losing her uterus along the way…
The list of things that were thought to be impossible until proven otherwise can go on for awhile, especially if we expand beyond the realm of running.
Why Put Limits on Yourself?
Who Says Something is Impossible?
What is impossible in your life right now?
One of the life lessons I’ve learned as a runner is that we are very often our own biggest obstacle. We have this nasty habit of convincing ourselves that something is impossible before we’ve even given it a shot.
Think about it, have you ever said “Oh I couldn’t do that”?
Maybe someone asked you to run a 5k with them, and you didn’t think that was possible.
Or the first time you thought about running a marathon?
Or my personal bug-a-boo, thinking about racing longer than 26.2 miles?
“Oh I couldn’t do that.”
Bull shit.
We (and believe me, this is directed squarely at me as much or more than it is at anyone reading this post) need to stop worrying about what we don’t think we can do and put ourselves out there to see what really is possible.
Because if we allow ourselves to believe that we can’t do something, we have a 100% chance of being right. But if we give ourselves a fighting chance, we might surprise ourselves…
Impossible is a Reality
Now, I’m not saying that you can do anything you set your mind to, if you’ll just work hard enough.
The second time that I had Dane Rauschenberg on the podcast, he caught me off guard when he said that some things actually are impossible.
Not what I expected from a motivational speaker.
But as he elaborated on that statement, it made more and more sense.
Some things just aren’t possible. Allow me to be the example here.
It would be safe to say that I’ll ever run a sub-4 minute mile. For me, that is impossible. But can I get faster at a mile? Sure!
If I dedicate a significant amount of time and effort training to improve my time in the mile, I will definitely get faster.
Eventually, I’ll reach my peak where due to my genetics and physiology I won’t be able to get faster. I don’t know what that top speed would be, but it’s safe to say it’s much faster than I probably think I could possibly get.
By going after things that seem “impossible”, even if we never reach that goal, we will often go far beyond what we think we capable of and find out what our limits actually are.
And more often than not, that which we truly are capable of is mind blowing.
Stop Holding Yourself Back
It’s time to blow your mind.
What are you currently preventing yourself from achieving? What have you convinced yourself is impossible, that you’ve never really even tried?
Maybe it’s running a 5k without stopping.
Maybe it’s running an ultra marathon.
Honestly, it doesn’t matter what “it” is. The fact is, we could all do a lot more than we’ve done before if we would dare to attempt that which seems impossible.
Do it.
What is Something That Seems Impossible to You Now That You’ve Never Really Tried? What is Holding You Back from Attempting the Impossible?
