You Don’t Know What Impossible Is
In 1913, the fastest any human being had ever run a mile, 1609 meters, was 4 minutes, 14.4 seconds, set by John Paul Jones of the United States. That is, in the entirety of human history, no human had ever had or developed the ability to run a mile faster than that.
To run a full mile in under 4:14:40 in 1913 was in a very literal sense, not possible. The best athletes in the world, with the best training available, could not exceed it.
4:10 was impossible.
4:05 was impossible.
And 4 minutes was definitely, beyond the shadow of a doubt, not conceivably possible.
And yet, 4:14:40 has been beaten countless times since 1913. In 1954, British runner Roger Banister famously broke the 4-minute barrier. The mile record has been reset 32 times since 1913.
The current record holder is Moroccan runner, Hicham El Guerrouj, who ran a mile in a staggering 3:43:13. In 1999. That record has stood for almost 23 years and counting at the time of this writing.
Right now, 3:40 isn’t possible.
3:35 is impossible.
3:30, definitely, inconceivably impossible.
Or is it?
At one time 4:10 wasn’t possible. Now, it’s not even competitive among elite runners. What’s to say in 20, 30, or 50 years that 3:40 or even 3:30 won’t be achieved?
When I started dreaming the dream of becoming a voice actor, I thought, “Man, if I could just make a thousand dollars in a calendar month, boy, that would be AMAZING.” And then I did it. And it was amazing.
Making $10,000 a month was inconceivable, and at the time, certainly not possible. It was not within the realm of what was imaginable. But once I made that first $1000, $5000 became possible. And once I hit $5000, $10,000 became conceivable.
Too many times, we start to dream a dream, and we tell ourselves, “That’s impossible.” And too many times, we let ourselves believe that bullshit.
They’re called limiting beliefs. A limiting belief is a state of mind or belief about yourself or the world that restricts you in some meaningful way.
Limiting beliefs are almost always either:
False: They’re made-up stories we tell ourselves with little or no basis in reality.
Irrelevant: Even if they may have a kernel of truth in them, it just doesn’t matter. You can overcome it.
They also typically focus on our identity (who we believe ourselves to be) or our view of the world.
The fact is you don’t know what impossible is. You don’t know your limits. I promise you they are unimaginably far beyond what you think they are.
You have no idea what’s possible for yourself until you decide to find out.
Becoming an entrepreneur has challenged me, stretched me, grown me, humbled me, and probably aged me a little. But nothing has shown me new levels of possibility within myself more than this ride.
The realization that I don’t know what’s possible for myself has changed everything, my outlook, my optimism, my resilience, accountability, how I prioritize my time, how I value my time… Almost every aspect of my life and worldview has evolved because of that revelation.
We’re constantly told as children, teenagers, and even as adults,
“Be realistic.”
“Dreams are nice, but they don’t pay the bills.”
“Have a backup plan.”
“If it gets too hard, you can always get a ‘real’ job.” (I even told myself that for quite a while.)
The people feeding us this garbage (sometimes ourselves) are worried that we’ll fail and they’re trying to protect us because they love us. But they’re doing us a huge disservice. They’re saying in so many words, “That’s not possible for you. That’s not realistic for you.”
Lots of people pay the bills by living their dream and the fact is that the people who commit 100% to their dreams and do what’s necessary live them the most fully and often the most profitably.
Having a backup plan and being “realistic” is having one foot on the dock. You can’t sail into uncharted waters that way.
No matter how much you train, learn, grow, know, or how well you think you know yourself, you have no idea what’s possible.
Go find out.