“The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.”
–Roger Bannister
We all have it within ourselves—to do something grander than we are currently doing. What exactly? That is our purpose to discover. Whatever it is, it is not likely to come from our current effort.
What I love about the Roger Bannister story is not that he did the “impossible”. He merely did the (im)possible first. Now, it is not unusual to hear of even high school students approaching the 4-minute mile. Bannister simply pushed through the pain to do something (extra)ordinary.
We, too, can find our “impossible”. It requires only that we take our own inherent giftedness and push it through the “pain”.
Growth—and thus achievement—requires effort. It requires that we go beyond uncomfortable to do what we are capable of doing. Success require the dismissal of “Can’t” and the commitment to “Will”.
I have to remind myself daily of these things. The drive to do the (extra)ordinary is not natural. We are wired physiologically for survival—for self-preservation. Pain is a perception of the mind. Thus, it is our mind that decides how to respond. Pain is a warning. It suggests that we take the protective course of action, but it is nothing more than a set-point. Every time we effort through the pain, we increase the threshold. We adapt to a higher level of performance.
No matter one’s age or status in life, there is opportunity to grow. Go. Run your “4-minute mile”!
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!