I few years back, I lived in a rural town close to the DE/PA border. The nearest grocery store was five minutes away, but further south from where I lived. Instead of going to that store, I would drive to another town 20 minutes away to buy food. The stores were identical and I had no conscious reason for not going to the closer location; I honestly never thought about it. It’s just that the closer store was located further south, and everything else I did was north. Clearly, I had a subconscious block about it.
If I had such a strong mental block about something so trivial, what else do I have a block about?
Think about all the things that we have achieved once mental restraints around what’s “possible” were lifted. On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile, something that had never been done. The previous record of 4:01 was set in the 1940’s and it stood for nine years. People thought it was impossible to break… For. Nine. Years. Then Roger Bannister comes along and breaks it. While one could argue that training or genetics or other factors played a role, less than a year later someone else broke the 4-minute mile. Today you may know a handful of people who’ve hit this mark. Clearly there was a subconscious block about the 4-minute mile. Once that perceived limit was removed, the flood gates opened.
What is it that you are trying to achieve? What is holding you back?
“Don’t let mental blocks control you. Set yourself free. Confront your fear and turn the mental blocks into building blocks.” —Dr. Roopleen, Words to inspire the winner in YOU
Have a great weekend.
—Vijay
About Friday Food for Thought (FFfT)
I frequently attend conferences and retreats on entrepreneurship and leadership and while I am away, the J2 team picks up the slack, allowing me to learn to be better at what I do. I wanted to share what I was learning with my team, so I created the weekly FFfT emails in November of 2015 and have been writing them ever since.
Before long, the J2 staff began sharing the FFfT emails with their friends and family and now other leaders have asked to be included, which led to the creation of this newsletter. I hope you enjoy!