Overcoming Limiting Beliefs
Lessons from Roger Bannister and Sophie Power
Beliefs are powerful forces that shape our actions and determine our success or failure.
While some beliefs propel us forward, others function as barriers to our potential. People commonly refer to these beliefs that hold us back as limiting beliefs, but I call them bullshit beliefs because they are usually unfounded. This article tells two inspiring examples of how overcoming these types of negative beliefs can lead to extraordinary achievements. Additionally, I’ll share practical tactics that have helped me overcome the bullshit beliefs that held me back from a life on offense.
Roger Bannister and the Four-Minute Mile
In the early 1950s, the consensus in the athletic community was that running a mile in under four minutes was humanly impossible. This bullshit belief was so pervasive that it was considered a physiological limit, not just a mental barrier. Enter Roger Bannister, a British middle-distance runner with an unconventional approach to training and a growth mindset.
On May 6, 1954, Bannister did the unthinkable. He ran the mile in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds. Within a year, several other runners also broke the four-minute mile, proving that it was never an insurmountable physical limit but a psychological one. This achievement, now known as the "Bannister Effect," demonstrated that perceived barriers could be broken, empowering countless others to aim higher.
Sophie Power’s UTMB Story
Fast forward to 2018, when ultrarunner Sophie Power defied societal expectations and medical advice by competing in ultra-endurance events while pregnant and postpartum. Her participation in the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), one of the most grueling ultramarathons globally, while stopping to breastfeed her infant, captured the world's attention.
Power made international headlines after finishing the 107 miles in 43 hours and 33 minutes. What made her an ultramarathon legend was that she competed only three months after giving birth! A photo of Power breastfeeding her son, Cormac, at an aid station 48 miles into the race went viral online and made global news headlines. In the photo, she’s sitting in a chair at an aid station using a breast pump with one hand and holding her son while breastfeeding in the other. On the floor next to her, a male runner is laying on his back with his feet resting up against a wall.
Overcoming Bullshit Beliefs
These runners’ stories exemplify overcoming limiting beliefs imposed by societal norms. Roger Bannister crushed a made-up time barrier and Sophie Power challenged the prevailing notion that pregnancy and athleticism are mutually exclusive. In 2023, UTMB updated their policy to allow pregnant women and their partners to defer entries for up to five years. Stories like these remind us that there are still other common beliefs out there that are holding us back.
Here are seven tactics you can use to overcome beliefs that aren’t serving you:
1. Do HARD Things
Attempting challenging tasks can prove to yourself that you are capable of more than you think. HARD stands for:
Health
Affluence
Relationships
Development
Setting a daily goal in each of these categories will propel you to doing the HARD things that you want to accomplish. Whether it's running a marathon or learning a new skill, pushing your boundaries helps dismantle bullshit beliefs.
2. The BEAR Cycle
Beliefs affect Emotions, which influence Actions, that determine your Results. You have the power to change how you think and act. Making this cycle work for you leads to positive outcomes and overrides bullshit beliefs.
3. Identify Your Emotions
Understanding your emotional state is crucial. You can use tools like the Abraham-Hicks Emotional Guidance Scale shown below to identify where you are emotionally and work towards more positive states. The goal is to move up the scale to the smaller numbers associated with more empowering feelings.
4. Positive Affirmations
Use present-tense statements that reflect your desired reality to shift from negative to positive emotions. For example, "I do HARD things" can replace "I can't do this." Sophie Power and Roger Bannister likely had their own affirmations or mantras stating that they could run a 3:59 mile or finish an ultramarathon.
5. Identify Your Triggers
Recognize what triggers negative thoughts and emotions. You can use physical or imagined doorways as triggers to reset your mindset and prepare for new experiences. When meeting with different people, imagine moving to a different room to refocus on effectively communicating your ideas and emotions to the specific person you are speaking with. Each event on your schedule should also help you plan to get your mind right for switching tasks.
6. Redirect Your Energy
Change your behavior or environment to disrupt negative thought patterns. Activities like meditation, exercise, or even a change of scenery can help reset your focus on what matters. Redirecting your energy is the go-to tactic for when you need to change your mindset immediately. If you’re in a bad situation you can’t get out of, sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and refocus on solving the problem at hand or just surviving.
7. Create New Beliefs
Use the RACED framework to develop empowering beliefs. These steps reverse engineer the BEAR cycle shown in the second tactic from above:
Result Identification: Define the outcome you desire.
Action Assessment: Determine the actions needed to achieve this result.
Current Emotion Analysis: Assess your current emotional state.
Examine the Limiting Belief: Identify the belief holding you back.
Develop a New Belief: Create a new, empowering belief.
Jay Tiegs, my best friend from the Army, and I curated the above tactics to help people move past their bullshit beliefs and accomplish their goals. Together, we are writing a book titled Life on Offense: Do HARD Things, designed to equip you with practical tools like these. Sir Roger Bannister and Sophie Power's stories motivate us and serve as compelling reminders that our limitations are often self-imposed. We hope their stories inspire you as well and that our tactics provide you with actionable steps to break through your own barriers and achieve your goals.