There is an 87.3% probability that you are limiting yourself. There is a 59.8% probability that you are letting peer pressure contain you.
Confession: I made up those statistics. But there is a very high likelihood that your performance is well below your full potential.
A man who tried twice to become a Navy SEAL (and quit both times) told me about one of his first days in selection. His cadre leader barked out, “Give me 100”, and he cranked out 100 pushups on the beach. On command, dropped and did it again. Did it 12 more times. No breaks. “Did you know you could do 1400 pushups?”, I asked. “No, but one of the things you learn is that you can do 3 to 10 times what you think you can.”
Exercise physiology researchers put world-class cyclists on stationary bikes, in a room by themselves, and told them to sprint as hard as they could for 10 minutes. Then they put them side by side with a computer racer who raced 1% faster than they had in the first test. In every case, the cyclist kept up with the computer, or beat it.
Roger Bannister broke the 4 min mile “barrier” that all the experts identified…and then others quickly did it, as well. High-school runners run sub-4 minute miles now. How did Bannister do it? He used “rabbit” runners who ran in front of him and set an aggressive pace.
Being capable of more is not just limited to human physical feats. Henry Ford automated car manufacturing and changed the idea of who could afford to own a car. FedEx transformed the conventional limits on package delivery. Amazon demolished the conventional thinking on the size of a bookstore. Alibaba proved that online business did not have to originate in Silicon Valley or only use Western marketing.
The company you keep matters, because they can either shatter or reinforce the limits you put on yourself or your organization. The stories we tell ourselves and others are powerful.
Wrestle with these questions as a leader: Are my ideas limiting what’s possible? Is my self-perception of limits cutting my performance down? What are the mindsets of the people around me? Are they helping me think bigger and think differently, or making me satisfied with the status quo?
Next: act on your answers. Growth begins on the far side of comfortable. Free your mindset, and distance yourself from people who hold you back. This is how you become capable of more. (Note: this was originally published on asmithblog.com)
