for years, people thought that running a mile in under four minutes was impossible.
people didn’t consider it to be just a difficult, exceptional feat.
people thought it was a feat that would never be achieved.
the four minute mile was sort of like a psychological barrier around human performance.
people who ran, ran with the belief that this would never happen.
people who ran, ran with the knowledge that those who came before them tried, and failed.
so much failure had been piled upon itself, that this barrier became a fact, not a limit.
then on may 6th, 1954, a man named roger bannister ran a mile in 3:59.4.
he beat it by a hair’s width. but he beat it, nonetheless.
roger bannister proved to everyone that the four minute mile was possible. so what happened next?
what happened next was that plenty of other runners over the years joined in on the fun.
within a few years, the four minute mile went from being an impossibility to a logical feat that could be achieved with extreme dedication.
what was it that changed?
did oxygen concentrations in the air start suddenly pumping up? did our bodies mutate overnight, becoming stronger, more elastic, with greater endurance the moment roger bannister crossed that finish line?
no.
the only thing that changed was our perception of what was possible.
we all had some kind of internal limit, a point beyond which we are incapable of seeing ourselves passing.
roger bannister broke through his, and by doing so, broke it for everybody else.
the next moment, people weren’t saying “this is impossible”. they were saying “this is possible”.
by changing something from an impossibility to a possibility, you make a huge difference.
your relationship with it changes.
that’s what i want to talk about today.
these self imposed limitations we give ourselves.
i think they’re lies. i think almost all of them are.
yes, there are limits to things in life. there are things you cannot do, things you can’t achieve.
for example, i can’t suddenly walk out my front door and start flapping my arms expecting to fly. i can’t breathe in space either.
shit, sometimes i do think i can fly. but that's another conversation about my delusion.
but objectively my body is bound to this earth by gravity and certain biological necessities.
these are limitations but they’re built into the system. there are certain laws of physics that can’t be toyed around with, and certain rules that can’t be bent.
these are real imitations and they’re not going anywhere.
what i’m talking about are the other kind.
the kind that aren’t actually limitations at all.
the kind that are just phrases that sound really good when you say them. phrases like
“i’m not smart enough.”
“i’ll never be rich.”
“i’ll never be able to create something like that.”
“people like me don’t do things like that.”
“i’ll never be able to have friends.”
these are all phrases that are not limitations. these are all predictions.
you’re predicting your future based upon your past. that’s where self imposed limitations come from. by doing this, you’re predicting things so that they become reality.
you’re keeping yourself stuck in a place you don’t want to be.
i’m going to deconstruct all of these and prove to you that they’re lies, that they’re just things you tell yourself. i’ll dissect self-imposed limitations as if i were operating on a patient. i’ll take you through how to dismantle each of them, piece by piece.
i’m going to show you that they’re nothing more than lies in your head.
stack of lined paper beside me.
my notebook ran out of space a couple of days ago and i haven’t had time to grab some new ones. lined paper does the job well enough.
papers are filled with my notes from research for this post.
some papers are from yesterdays post. some for today. even some research for later posts already in the works.
today’s paper is on top of the stack, with the pen resting over it.
my room smells like willy wonka’s factory.
got a cocoa candle lit. mix that with black coffee and it feels like i'm in a different reality.
let’s get to it.
"The only thing that stands between you and your dream is the will to try and the belief that it is actually possible." — Joel Brown
i want you to take a moment to think of something you’ve told yourself that you can’t do or you think is unrealistic for you to achieve.
don’t cheat by picking something silly like flying or turning into a car.
pick something that isn’t bound by universal laws.
pick something that you actually want. something that you truly believe you will never be able to achieve.
starting a successful seven-figure business.
getting so ripped you look like a real-life captain america.
having enough self-confidence that you walk into a room like your gatsby.
traveling the world and visiting every country like you were an ancient explorer.
gaining a huge following online.
becoming excellent at whatever you care about most.
whatever it is for you, i want you to bring it to mind.
now i want you to ask yourself this. what exactly is keeping you from it?
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