Results Don’t Change Until Beliefs Do
The not-so-secret, secret of breakthrough results?
Change your beliefs.
New results don’t just take action. It takes changing your beliefs to see something differently. At least if you want anything beyond fixing or adjusting the results you already have.
It was the early 1950’s and the record for the all-time fastest mile run stood at 4.1 minutes. This record had been unbroken for nearly a decade, and according to the world of sport medicine at the time, that’s the way it was going to stay. Humans, it was believed, had reached their physical and biological limitation of speed.
Roger Bannister was a gifted runner from England. He had great success on his Oxford University team, but when his opportunity came to compete in the 1952 Olympics, he didn’t even medal. He was devastated and considered giving up running forever. Instead, he decided to focus on changing his beliefs. He cultivated a belief that humans could run a mile in under four minutes – and he’d be the one to do it. Despite the popular belief that it simply wasn’t possible, Bannister now believed it was.
Several months later, Bannister took his position at the starting line of his record-attempt race, along with five others. It was a cold, wet, windy day—the antithesis of good conditions—but it was time to put his new belief into action. The lead was traded several times, but in the last lap Bannister pulled ahead and won the race, collapsing with exhaustion at the finish line. The race announcer began to call out the time: “Three minutes and . . .” The crowd roared to life. They had just witnessed the impossible becoming the possible. Roger had run a mile in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds.
Roger Bannister forever transformed beliefs about humankind’s running potential. It took lifetimes for anyone to break the four- minute mile. Yet Bannister changed what others believed.
And those new beliefs created new results. It was only forty-six days before someone else beat his time.
And then that time was beaten.
And beaten again.
Once Bannister demonstrated that it was possible, others believed it was possible for themselves, as well.
You have to change how you’re seeing something if you really want to create breakthrough results for your business, community or self. If you haven’t read my book Hunting Discomfort yet, you can download the chapter on changing your beliefs (or as I call it in the book: expand your reality) below [Chapter 3, Hunting Discomfort].
Acting in accordance with your existing beliefs will give you the results you already have. After-all, any action is only possible in accordance with your beliefs. New action from new beliefs will create breakthroughs every time. Change your beliefs, change your results.
PS: AudioBook coming soon!