Everyone knew it couldn’t be done.

Roger Bannister had no real motivation to prove them wrong. The young Englishman loved to run but from the time he was a child he also had a passion to be a doctor. This was the passion that drove him. His parents were unable to afford a University education so it was up to him to make it happen.

He knew early on that to achieve his dream of being a doctor he would have to be exceptional – so he set about being exceptional. His studies were paramount but that didn’t mean he couldn’t improve his track skills by running to and from school. While he was on his way to earning a scholarship from Oxford University, he was also gaining a name for himself as a runner.

“It is physically impossible for a human being to run a mile in under 4 minutes.” This statement was the accepted wisdom of the time during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Runners tried, but failed, proving the words of athletes and medical doctors – cementing a belief in runners minds that it couldn’t be done.

Roger didn’t set out to prove them wrong. He simply loved to run and he was fast. He was also learning a lot about the human body in his studies at Oxford. The day arrived when he was firmly convinced it WAS possible for a human being to run the mile in under 4 minutes.

His decision to be that person was formed by a humiliating defeat in the 1952 Olympics. In order to redeem himself he decided to break the world’s record for the mile. No one believed he could do it.

Adding to his challenge was the fact he was now a full-time Medical student and he could devote only 45 minutes a day to training. People scoffed at the idea he could accomplish such a wild goal but Roger believed slow and steady training would allow him to break the record. He painstakingly researched mechanical aspects of running, and developed scientific training methods to help him achieve his goal.

His opportunity came 2 years later – on a blustery day with 25 MPH gusts of wind to hamper his efforts. It didn’t look promising. So what? He had trained. He was ready. He believed it could be done.

So he simply went out and did it. Roger ran the race of his life, breaking the tape and collapsing as the announcer delivered his time to a wildly cheering crowd:

3:59.4

Roger had done it! The world's record had been broken. Everyone of his time had been proven wrong.

Within two months his record had been broken by John Landy – proving the 4 minute mile was as much a physcological barrier as it was a physical barrier. As the years have passed the mile has been run in shorter and shorter times but it was Roger Bannister who proved the body was capable of far more than people believed.

When he was asked to explain that first four-minute mile – and the art of record breaking – his answer was simple: “It’s the ability to take more out of yourself than you’ve got.”

Did you get that?

“It’s the ability to take more out of yourself than you’ve got.”

How did Roger do it? First, he BELIEVED he could do it. He understood the size of his success would be determined by the size of his belief.

Here is where I’m going to depart from some more common thoughts that are spread around a lot today. While belief is critically important – in fact, he couldn’t have accomplished what he did without it - belief alone is not enough. It is not enough to repeat affirmations over and over to yourself, even though they are important.

At some point you have to do the work. Roger Bannister ran day after day. He researched the human body. He created scientific methods to enable him to stretch his limits. He did what it would take to fulfill his dream.

What are your goals? What do you dream of accomplishing? BELIEVE it can be done. Then do the work. Apply yourself to success. Apply yourself to excellence. Figure out what it is going to take and then go DO IT! You may have no interest in breaking a world record, but I know you have an interest in being the best you that you can be – or you wouldn’t be reading all these letters. J

Give yourself the ability to take more out of yourself than you’ve got!


Rex




"It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome."

William James
1842-1910, Psychologist, Professor and Author