The Truth About Human Potential

There's an awesome episode of Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu available online. I try and catch an episode each week and highly recommend it for anyone trying to grow in every arena of their life. 

The co-founder of Quest Nutrition has remarkable guests ranging from Tim Grover (former trainer to Michael Jordan) to Lewis Howes.

On a recent episode he interviewed Jim Kwik, the popular keynote speaker, learning expert, and trainer. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjdDnCN9yyE

During the episode Kwik shared his belief that we're "living a lie" when it comes to the limits of human potential. He used the story of Roger Bannister, who in 1954 became the first man to break the 4-minute mile to illustrate a point.

"How he was able to do it was he would visualize himself crossing the finish line and looking at the clock and it says, 3:59. He knew that success is an inside out process. Dr. Wayne Dyer has a famous phrase: It's not I'll believe it when I see it. It's I'll see it when I believe it."

Nobody before Bannister had run a 4-minute mile but shortly after his remarkable achievement everybody started doing it. Why? Was it because of drastic change in training methodology or diet? 

No. It was a shift in belief.

Before Bannister's run the widely held theory was a 4-minute mile would literally kill you. Not only that, your heart would explode in your chest. A proclamation that would keep most people from running in general.

The point is, when you accomplish something you didn't think you could do it opens the flood gates to other possibilities. 

We have more power to influence our thoughts and beliefs than we realize. 

How Not to Be Like a Lion

This afternoon as I was trying to illustrate to my students the importance of focusing on the main idea of a reading passage rather than getting bogged down with details I shared an interesting fact I'd heard many years ago. Lion tamers often use nothing more than a simple chair to keep an (understandably) angry lion at bay. For years I wondered why an animal that can easily weigh up to 480 lbs. didn't just attack the trainer. The lion clearly has the strength, speed, and ability to do as it pleases. At least one would think.

Apparently, the reason a lion tamer is able to manipulate the animal's movements is because when the lion sees the 4 legs of a chair it becomes completely overwhelmed. The lion doesn't know which leg to focus on and as a result zeroes in on none. He then becomes completely paralyzed with indecision, thus failing to take action against the trainer dictating its movements.

We are living in an age where we practically need to go to war against distraction. I read on average we're interrupted every 3 minutes and that it takes 11 minutes to regain our focus. See any problems with that math?

Make success easier for yourself. Create an environment where it becomes more difficult to fail. Have a tough time getting to the gym in the morning but know you have to? Leave your sneakers by your bed. Not eating enough fruit? Put them in a place you have to walk past several times a day.

Remember, it's easier to avoid distractions then to resist them. The better you get at cultivating an environment that'll help you thrive the easier it becomes to focus on the one thing that really matters.