Story Time: The Four Minute Mile

Have you ever been told that something can’t be done, that it is impossible, to not bother starting because the record can’t be broken anyway?

It is the early 1950’s, and there has been a limit set. There are many people who feel that running the 4 minute mile has a barrier there for a reason, that the human body cannot propel itself fast enough to break this elusive record. But there are many others who see it as a goal to be reached.

Enter to the scene Mr. Roger Bannister. Born in England, inspired by watching races and Olympic events, he decides to try running. His career was impressive, and he won many awards and broke several records, but the 4 minute mile seemed to be something out of reach. Most of his records were broken more by force of will than by actual training – most authorities agree that his training regime was considered very light in comparison to other runners of the day. He trained less than 3 days a week, and in one case broke a world record at an official event, but he hadn’t trained at all in the last month!

Despite is fairly light training, Roger Bannister ended up breaking the 4 minute mile barrier in 1954. What is interesting is that many runners, who had previously only run the mile in 4:10 or longer, began breaking the 4 minute barrier within weeks or months of Bannister’s run! They only needed the example set before them in order for them to believe it was possible.

So what goals, achievements, dreams or desires do you have that you haven’t accomplished yet? They are possible! Look for examples of the people who have gone ahead before you and achieved – if you can believe it, you can achieve it!

And if you don’t have an example of someone who has already succeeded in what you want to do, than BE the example for others!

Summer is almost over, and I think this is a perfect time to set some new resolutions. I know that everyone likes to do that on January 1^st, but September has always seemed like a good time to re-commit for me. It is the beginning of the school year, and the end of the summer holidays. There is an automatic mindset there to get re-focused, back into the grind and get back to work.

So set a goal! If you haven’t accomplished something this year yet, set that goal for between September 1^st and December 31^st, 2009. What are you going to do? What will you complete, build or make progress on? For those 4 months, find a target you want to reach, and use New Year’s Eve as a marker for you to re-evaluate your progress thus far, and then re-set that goal for the next few months until it is complete!

Achieve! You are greater than you think you are.

"Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." - W. Clement Stone

(If you want to read more about Roger Bannister's story, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bannister)