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Has your negative thinking kept you from moving forward in living a better life? Does negative thinking keep reminding you of the failures and mistakes of yesterday? Negative thinking can make you feel that you can’t live pass yesterday’s problems, today’s circumstances or tomorrow’s challenges.
Roger Bannister’s story
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.
What artificial barriers have you placed in your life? Have you told yourself that you are not smart enough to get the promotion or you don’t have enough experience to start the business? Have you succumbed to thoughts that tell you, you don’t deserve a better life or that you will never make enough money to live debt free? Have you convinced yourself that achieving your vision is impossible or out of your reach?
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 you can accomplish in your life if you think differently. Roger Bannister had to not only believe he could break the four-minute mile; he had to exercise his belief.
51 Thoughts to Think On
Here are 51 thoughts to think on daily to help you demolish the thought barriers that hinder you from accomplishing your four-minute mile.
- Success is a journey, not a destination.
- You cannot change what you are unwilling to confront.
- The path to living your dreams is paved with your actions and not your words.
- Physical sight, see things as they are, but vision sees things as they could be.
- Walking on traveled paths, only leads you where others have been.
- Excuses are not accepted, get the job done.
- God created you to be an original and not a carbon copy of anyone.
- Your character is who you are when no one is looking and who you are when everyone is looking.
- Don’t let something that doesn’t matter cause you to lose something that does.
- Failure is only final if you don’t pick yourself up and try again.
- One small act in the right direction can change the course of your life.
- You are responsible for what you think, what you say and how you act.
- You have the power to walk away from negative conversations.
- Every day that you wake up, you should be on a mission to do something that makes you better than you were yesterday.
- Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain.
- Do not let anyone talk you out of going after your dreams because they don’t see it.
- You were created to stand out, not blend in.
- When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things a chance to catch you.
- Sometimes the thing you want most in life is the very thing you are better off without.
- When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things the opportunity to be caught.
- Having a dream changes nothing, but taking action can change everything.
- You are not limited by what others say you can do.
- There is no one or nothing that can hold you back, but you.
- You can’t move forward if you are constantly looking backward.
- Don’t focus on yesterday or worry about tomorrow because you must live today.
- When you are up, your friends know who you are. When you are down, you know who your friends are.
- Don’t wait for tomorrow, to do what you need to do today.
- Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
- Worry does not add to your life it only takes away.
- It is impossible to live out your vision if you don’t believe it is possible.
- Success and failure begin with what the mind believes is possible.
- There are seven days in the week and someday isn’t one of them.
- 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.
- Speak like you want to win and act like you have already won.
- Don’t let the fear of what could happen to stop you from pursuing what is possible.
- Don’t base living your life on other people’s opinions.
- A good name is to be more desired than great wealth.
- There is no right way to do the wrong thing.
- Life is too short and unpredictable for you to keep putting your dreams on hold.
- Don’t hold onto people whose season is over in your life.
- Stop complaining about what you allow to happen in your life.
- The race is not always won by the fastest or strongest, but the person willing to endure to the end.
- Victory will elude you if your eyes are focused on the possibilities of defeat.
- Your attitude has the power to lift you up or take you down.
- Invest in your dreams before their shelf life expires.
- The cost of not following your dreams is spending the rest of your life wishing you had.
- Change and progress draw more opposition than sameness and stagnation.
- If you want to excel to new heights, you must cut loose of yesterday’s weights.
- Let your obstacles strengthen you rather than stop you.
- If you focus on what you don’t have, you will miss what you do have.
“For as he thinks within himself, so he is…” Proverbs 23:7
Question: What artificial barriers have you erected that have kept you from living your vision? Leave a comment.
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Photo by Mitch Lensink on Unsplash