The Power of Impossible Thinking: Transform the Business of Your Life and the Life of Your Business

Chapter 2Running The Miracle Mile

Racing has always been more of a mental than a physical problem to me.¹

—Roger Bannister

You are running on the track.

You are exhausted. You feel you can go no farther. You're short of breath. Your lungs seem about to burst. But if you can keep up this pace a little longer, you can beat your best time.

Suddenly you think about an acquaintance who had a heart attack while jogging. It's certainly not worth that just to beat your best time. So you slow your pace.

Was it your body that stopped you, or your mind? Are our greatest limitations physical or mental? Our models help us act in the world, but they also limit our actions. Like the idea of the flat Earth for early mariners, our mental models form the limits ...