image source: NEOPIXX

The Pessimist: The glass is half empty.
The Optimist: The glass is half full.
The Delusional: You’re both wrong. The glass is actually full.

One of the most important traits of successful people is their optimism. However, when the optimism no longer has a basis with reality, they’ve become delusional. Credibility is lost, effort becomes wasted, and the results are only pain and disappointment.

It’s a good thing that Roger Bannister and Erik Weihenmayer did not believe this. Otherwise, they would never be in the history books.

According to Sports Illustrated, the two most important achievements in the 20th century were breaking the four minute mile barrier and climbing Mt. Everest. These achievements were not supposed to happen; they were beyond what was humanly possible. These feats now occur on a regular basis.

Breaking Down Barriers
They began recording the times for the four minute mile in 1852 and the first record was 4:28. Every few years the record would be broken, but at the time around World War II, the frequency of the record being broken tapered off, and soon the opinion from a few skeptics regarding four minutes being the human limit became a generally accepted fact. Turns out, the person who eventually shattered this barrier was actually a loser.

In the year prior to the 1952 Olympics, Roger Bannister scheduled his training so he would peak during the Olympics and have the best race of his life in his event, which was the 1500 meters run. Bannister had hoped to medal, but he placed fourth and came home to Britain empty handed and ashamed. At that low point, Bannister seriously considered retiring.

In that era, the four minute mile was not considered a goal, but a barrier. Breaking this barrier was the only way Bannister figured he could redeem himself. He increased his training intensity, but more importantly, he ignored the pundits and believed he could achieve it. On May 6, 1954, Bannister broke the world record and became the first person ever to run the mile in under four minutes. The following month his record was broken by another runner, and for the 12 months after Bannister became the first, nearly one hundred people also ran the mile under four minutes. They all owe a debt of gratitude to Bannister.

image source: BBC

No longer conscious of my movement, I discovered a new unity with nature. I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed.
- Roger Bannister, on breaking the 4-minute mile

Believing The Inner Vision
Mt. Everest is the closest point to heaven, but climbing it was considered impossible for many reasons. The temperature is significantly below freezing, the monsoon snowstorms can come without notice, and the oxygen levels are below what can sustain a human for a period of time. In 2001, Erik Weihenmayer conquered all those factors and made it to the highest point on earth. Why was this special when Sir Edmund Hillary beat him to the top 50 years earlier? Because Weihenmayer was the first to accomplish the feat as a blind person.

Weihenmayer was born with retinoschisis and became totally blind at the age of 13. It was inevitable, and he knew it when he still had vision as a kid. When he initially lost his vision, he refused using a cane or learning Braille and tried to conduct himself as normal. However, he simply could not do the things he was able to do before, such as walking without stumbling or even finding the rest room on his own. As a boy, Weihenmayer eventually learned to accept his limitations and to not fight his disability but instead learned how to work with it. According to Weihenmayer, “People get trapped into thinking about just one way of doing things.”

image source: Ezzz

The reasonable man tries to conform to the world, while the unreasonable man tries to make the world conform to him. Therefore, all progress relies upon the unreasonable man.
-George Bernard Shaw

Turning Delusions Into Reality
Optimism is believing you can maximize your capabilities to achieve a goal. Being delusional is believing you can go beyond your capabilities to exceed your goals. There are some lessons we can learn from Robert Bannister and Erik Weihenmayer on turning delusions into reality:

• When you fail, pick yourself up and keep going: Weihenmayer literally picked himself up every time he stumbled from his blindness. In spite being a young child, he anticipated becoming blind and mentally prepared himself for the ordeals that awaited him as he grew up.
• Use these failures to re-adjust when needed: For many athletes, the Olympics is a once in a lifetime chance. Bannister didn’t train properly for the Olympics and did not succeed. However, he adjusted both his goals and his training regiment in order to redeem himself.
• Use attainable milestones to stretch your current capabilities: Before Mt. Everest, Weihenmayer climbed Mt. McKinley, Kilimanjaro, and Mt. Aconcagua. While these are certainly no trivial feats, they were the milestones needed to prepare for Everest.
• Ignore those who tell you it’s impossible: According to Seth Godin, “When you do something that everyone said was impossible, or that they never even considered, you get remembered for a long, long time.” Sometimes it’s good to ignore the person who tells you it’s impossible, especially when that person is yourself.

Links
The following are some links related to Roger Bannister and Erik Weihenmayer.

• Profile of Robert Bannister at the Academy of Achievement
• Anniversary of Breaking the Four Minute Mile at the BBC
• Touch the Top - Erik Weihenmayer’s web site
• Blind to Failure from Time Magazine