Your ambitious goal isn\u2019t impossible to accomplish. And the first step is dismissing the naysayers who tell you otherwise. Certainly, you shouldn\u2019t think that you can defy Newton\u2019s Laws of Physics or pretend that gravity doesn\u2019t exist. You can, however, learn three priceless lessons from those who defied the skeptics:<\/p>\n
These days, running a mile in under four minutes is noteworthy but relatively common<\/a>. For the first half of the 20th century, however, athletes and others scoffed at the idea that it was even possible. As far as they were concerned, the human body couldn\u2019t complete a mile in the required speed without falling apart.<\/p>\n But then in 1954, British medical student and middle-distance runner Roger Bannister<\/a> ran a mile in under four minutes during a race at Oxford University. Even more amazing, Bannister did this in spite of being limited to just 45 minutes of practice each day between classes and hospital rotations.<\/p>\n Bannister took numerous steps to make the \u201cimpossible\u201d possible. This included intense speed practices to build up endurance as well as running against others to get his times down.<\/p>\n But the most important step Bannister took started long before his feet hit the track: He visualized that a four-minute mile was possible. Seeing the possibility in his mind is one reason why Bannister declared, \u201cIt is the brain, not the heart or lungs, that is the critical organ.\u201d<\/p>\n Decades later, scientists have proven Bannister right. Running expert Matt Frazier notes<\/a> that the brain is equipped with something called a reticular activating system. It helps us each of us decide what to focus on and what to ignore. Once you train your brain to focus on a well-defined goal, you will filter out skepticism from others as well as from yourself.<\/p>\n One way to help your mind focus is by thinking through the goal itself, whittling it down to its essence. Another way to achieve focus is to organize yourself before you start your day.<\/p>\n This means setting up a list of your priorities, reviewing the following day\u2019s schedule and creating the time needed to do the work required to make the impossible happen. You must also transform your own self-doubt into a tool for the learning you will need to achieve your goal.<\/p>\n \u201cIt all begins in the mind,\u201d writes my former boss at National PTA, Byron Garrett, in his children\u2019s book, There\u2019s Greatness on the Inside<\/em><\/a>. Once you visualize and focus, even the seemingly \u201cimpossible\u201d is achievable.<\/p>\n Bill Strickland shouldn\u2019t have made it out of poverty, much less become the founder of one of the best-known social programs for improving the lives of urban youth. Yet the MacArthur Genius grant recipient made it happen.<\/p>\n In 1968 while attending undergrad at the University of Pittsburgh, Strickland built Manchester Bidwell Corporation into a force in his hometown, working with companies such as Kraft-Heinz to help thousands of teenagers and adults emerge out of poverty by becoming artists, musicians, chefs, and pharmacy technicians.<\/p>\n Strickland visualized his way to achieving his \u201cimpossible.\u201d He also had a plan. As Strickland explains<\/a> in a lecture to students at Harvard Business School, \u201cYou have to create an environment that allows you to sustain the passion in whatever form that takes.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t2. Develop a plan of possibility<\/h3>\n