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Several years ago, I read a powerful inspirational story about Roger Bannister. Roger Bannister was the first runner to break the four-minute mile. Before he broke the record it was widely believed to be impossible for a human to run a mile in under four minutes. It was believed that the four-minute mile was a physical barrier that could not be broken because of the significant damage it could cause to a runners health. The achievement of a four-minute mile seemed impossible to break.
Thinking for a change
I imagine that Roger Bannister heard an earful of negative and discouraging talk. He heard the media say that breaking the four-minute-mile was inconceivable. He heard the doctor’s reports that stated it is beyond human possibility. He heard the analysts say the record would never be broken. At times, he may have even questioned, “What am I doing?” But, Roger decided that he was going to fight through all of the obstacles and accept the challenge.
He had a hunger and drive deep within that kept pushing him to his ultimate goal of breaking the four-minute mile. His vision of breaking the record was so powerful that it would not allow him to quit or give in to the naysayers. His mind was made up and his will could not be broken.
The moment when he broke through his psychological barriers, the once impossible record became possible. No negative reports. No discouraging opinions. No false barriers were going to stop him from achieving what he knew was attainable.
The best step that you can take in the pursuit of your vision is to change how you think. If Roger Bannister had accepted that the four-minute mile was impossible, he never would have attempted to break through his mental barrier. He would have allowed the negativity to dissuade him. He would have complied with the naysayers’ voice. He would have consented to the dream-killing experts.
Instead, he decided to go after his dream. Just think of all the things in your life that is possible if you change your thinking. Roger Bannister had to not only believe he could break the four-minute mile; he had to exercise his belief. To break through your four-minute mile, you are going to have to change the way you think and in the famous words of Nike®, “Just do it®.”
45 Thoughts
Here are 45 simple thoughts to help you think for a change and move in the direction of your destiny.
- Don’t be too quick to make a decision with limited information.
- Your fears will expose the level of your faith.
- Worry does not add to your life it only takes away.
- For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
- Success and failure begin with what the mind believes is possible.
- You never know how strong you are until you have to go through a difficult storm.
- You might as well live your life to the fullest because you won’t get another chance.
- Don’t waste time and energy stuck in the past; it is gone and you can’t get a redo. So move on.
- Achieving anything worthwhile in life takes effort.
- Don’t quit when things get hard, keep pushing forward because your victory is within reach!
- Living joyously doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to live beyond the imperfections.
- Never take your time for granted, you never know when it will run out.
- Enjoy what you have today. Either it will be gone, or you will be gone.
- Walking on traveled paths, only leads you where others have been.
- Without a definite purpose, you will be paralyzed by stagnation, crippled by fear and frustrated by failure.
- Everyone has the same 168 hours a week. The only difference is what you do with your time.
- Don’t allow the parameters of the familiar to lock you out of the potential of today.
- Without a definite purpose, you will be paralyzed by stagnation, crippled by fear and frustrated by failure.
- Everyone has the same 168 hours a week. The only difference is what you do with your time.
- Don’t allow the parameters of the familiar to lock you out of the potential of today.
- If the people you are hanging with are not helping you grow, you need to cut ties.
- If you want to excel to new heights, you must cut loose of yesterday’s weights.
- If you focus on someone else’s journey, you miss living yours.
- The real tragedy in life is not death, but to let your vision die inside of you while you still live.
- If people keep reminding you of the past, let them know you no longer live there.
- Life will give you lessons you only get by living.
- Is it worth sacrificing your vision at the expense of someone else’s expectations?
- Don’t let the shadows of your past darken the path to your future.
- Champions are not made in the classroom but on the field of play.
- You only get one shot at life so you might as well make that shot count.
- Fear is the boat anchor to progress, succumb to it and it will leave you stuck in the harbor of contentment.
- The volume of your life lived will sound louder than the volume of your words spoken.
- Sometimes there is no next time or second chances. It’s either now or never.
- Stop being a prisoner of your past and become the architect of your future!
- Don’t make your life’s journey difficult trying to fit in when you were born to stand out.
- The world doesn’t need you to be another copycat of someone else, it needs you to be an original with a different flavor.
- Never look down on another person unless you’re helping them up.
- Don’t throw in the towel; you may be closer to victory than you think.
- You can’t get ahead in life if you keep looking back at what happened yesterday.
- Don’t let your mouth write a check that your actions can’t cash.
- Sometimes the person you overlook is the person you need to look to.
- Tell the truth or eventually, your actions will tell it for you.
- Because you have a past with someone, doesn’t mean you should have a future with them.
- It is time to walk away when the pain of holding onto someone or something is worse than the pain of letting go.
- Stop wasting time on things that don’t matter and people who don’t think you matter.
“For as he thinks within himself, so he is…” Proverbs 23:7
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