Limiting Beliefs: Fact or fiction
Neil Gonsalves discusses strategies to tackle the impossible and shed limiting beliefs
Written by Neil Gonsalves for Seeking Veritas on Substack
I have always loved the story about Roger Bannister and the four minute mile, I have retold it in classes I have taught too many times. I’m drawn to the story because it’s about someone who dared to do what others thought impossible. If you read past the immediate story of his accomplishment however you discover an even more instructive narrative that highlights the influence of limiting beliefs and the potential to be realized once they are set aside.
For almost 70 years runners and coaches had been seriously and systematically trying to break the four minute mile. From roughly 1886, the most talented athletes in North America, Europe, and Australia strategized about what it would take to pull off the feat. The experts agreed the conditions would need to be near perfect, they theorized about the precise conditions under which the record could be broken. - Perfect weather, 68 degrees with no wind, on a hard dry clay track, in front of a huge, boisterous crowd urging the runner to his best-ever performance.
On May 6, 1954, on a cold day, on a wet track, in front of a small crowd in Oxford, England, Roger Bannister accomplished what everyone thought was unattainable. He ran the mile in three minutes, fifty-nine and four-tenths of a second - finally breaking the four minute mile.
His feat ended a 70 plus year journey to push the limits of the human body. A goal that defied countless others for decades. Then 46 days later, John Landy, an Australian runner, not only broke the barrier again he did so with a time of 3 minutes 58 seconds breaking Bannister’s record. One year later, three runners broke the four-minute barrier in a single race. Over the last half century, more than a thousand runners have achieved the feat once thought to be unattainable.
While the story is riveting to any sports enthusiast, it carries within it a much more useful lesson. Consider that all the best minds in the sports world worked on the strategy to get the first athlete past the four minute threshold. They all turned out to be wrong. All the best athletes tried to use their superior conditioning and athletic abilities to overcome the barrier, but none of them could achieve what everyone believed to be impossible. How much of their struggle was psychological rather than physiological?
Very little changed in the capacity of the human body over that 70 year span. Not much changed in the physical condition of their environment or equipment either. What changed after Bannister however was the psychological state of those taking on the challenge. Overnight they literally went from trying to achieve the impossible to attempting to better the possible. You can never truly underestimate the power of the mind and the barriers erected by limiting beliefs.
According to Tony Robbins;
“Limiting beliefs are the stories we tell ourselves about who we are that hold us back from becoming who we are meant to be... They are often subconscious… We seek certainty in our routines, relationships and jobs. We’re often averse to risk and don’t want to get out of our comfort zones... When we don’t believe we can get results… we give up before we start. We don’t put in our full effort. We sabotage our own success. That’s the very definition of limiting beliefs.”
How often does your limiting beliefs get in the way of your potential success? Here are a couple of strategies to help you get out of your own way according to Forbes Magazine
Increase your emotional intelligence. Increasing your emotional intelligence can raise your awareness of your circumstances and your understanding of yourself and others, and it can improve your ability to act in your own best interests, as well as the best interests of those around you.
Replace a limiting belief with an empowering belief. Positive and accurate beliefs that support your life goals can create a healthier mental state from which to work on your goals.
Acknowledge that your beliefs are not facts. As previously stated, they may feel true, but all they are is a point of view — an often mistaken point of view.
All of this is easier said than done, but if we don’t get rid of the limiting beliefs that hold us back, everything seems impossible to achieve. I am a sports enthusiast but the real reason I love the Roger Bannister story is because it inspires me to take on the things I’m told are impossible, with a willingness to fail forward, get up, dust myself off and try again. The alternative is just plain unacceptable to me. - How about you?
About the author: Neil Gonsalves is an Indian-born Canadian immigrant who grew up in Dubai, U.A.E. and moved to Canada in 1995. He is an Ontario college educator, a TEDx speaker, a published author and columnist, a recreational dog trainer and an advocate for new immigrant integration and viewpoint diversity.
So much truth in that Neil. Fact - People never rise above the opinion they have of themselves.. The greatest limits placed on us, are the ones we place on ourselves. So, whether we think we can, or we think we can't...we're right.