“Do not think that what is hard for you to master is humanly impossible; and if it is humanly possible, consider it to be within your reach.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
A few years ago, I was running ultra-marathons. 26-mile plus running races, with the furthest I competed in being 50 miles. There were a lot of reasons I started running ultra-marathons, which I won’t go into here. What I didn’t expect was the number of life lessons I took away. One of my favourites comes from Stoic philosophy.
Paraphrasing Marcus Aurelius, “If a human can do it, and you yourself are a human, then you can do it too.”. If there are examples of a human performing a task, given you are also a human, then it is within your grasp. It goes without saying, there are limits to this statement. I’m not going to will myself into being the next Usain Bolt. There are some biological limitations. When you look around at almost any human endeavour there are people of all different backgrounds and abilities. If they can do it, and they are human, then why can’t I?
I find this incredibly motivating, and it feeds the work by Carol Dweck on growth mindset. Simplifying Carol’s work, there are two types of mindsets: fixed and growth. A fixed mindset is one that believes you can’t improve, and a growth mindset is one that believes you can. I can look at Usain Bolt and say a) I’m never going to be as fast as him, why would I try or b) I’m going to train hard and get as fast as I can. If he can do it, why can’t I?
One thing that separates some of the hardest working, talented people I know from some incredible people who don’t seem to move ‘forward’. Do you look at the world and think everyone is better than me why bother trying? Or do you look around and think all these other people are human just like me, I’m going to push and become the best that I can be. This mindset has served me well, but it’s worth noting that not everyone starts from the same place.
It’s important to apply this thinking to things within your control, things outside your control are just that. Of course, societal barriers and discrimination are real, and not everything is within our control. But where you do have agency, this mindset can help push you forward. Remember, if it is humanly possible, it’s within your reach.
James