“Lots of things that couldn’t be done have been done.”
-Charles Auston Bates

Hopefully you’ve heard about the Guinness Book of World Records. If not, it is an annual book containing all the records humans have achieved throughout history and when they achieved them. There is a story about one of the records that truly amazes me and inspires me every time I hear it, so I am here to share it with you today.

The First Four-Minute Mile happened on May 6th, 1954. No one in history had ever broken the four-minute barrier before. Most scientists at the time simply concluded that it was impossible for any human to run faster than that. Studies were done, reports were published; all leading to the fact that it could never be done.

Roger Bannister said to hell with that. He not only believed it possible; but he believed that he would be the person to break it. Needless to say, the guy had balls. To openly defy what nearly everyone in society believed in takes extreme courage, self-confidence, and an iron will. Bannister had those traits, and so, in a race where he was running against his former school Oxford, he did it.

With a time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds, Bannister now had the world record for any person running the mile. Guess what? It took 46 days for the next person, Landy, to break Bannister’s record. Then the floodgates opened. By the end of 1957 (just 3 and a half years later) Sixteen Runners had broken the Four Minute Mile. Compare that to the entirety of human existence without someone doing it, and you will probably be impressed.

So, why this quote? Because it doesn’t matter what it is- Impossible is Nothing (sorry to take the Adidas quote). It’s true, people will tell you that you can never do something, that you’ll never be that good, you’ll never get that girl/guy… whatever. Always remember, lot’s of things that couldn’t be done, have been done. This week, go out there, and Just Do It (so many good slogans).