All Limits Are Illusions

As someone immersed in personal and professional development for many years, I've heard it said many times that we use only a fraction of the brain-power available, we have much more potential than we actually use and we are all being far less than we truly are.

I know that to be true, because every single person I have ever met, no matter what their level, has been able to continue to expand, learn and grow in any direction... if they chose to. Any "diminishing returns" or "genetic ceilings" or other limits have been self-imposed within the confines of social consensus. A consensual paradigm of reality anchored in mass perception and belief. In other words: ILLUSIONS.

I have never met, heard of, or read about, anyone ever reaching their absolute highest potential. EVER.

And you can argue that as much as you want, I don't believe we actually have ANY limits to what we can become and achieve.

Many fast cars have a device called a "governor" which sets an artificial speed limit that the vehicle can't exceed. From what I've been able to learn over the years, our predominant thoughts and beliefs act as the "governor" on our potential. They "set the bar" on what we can become and achieve. As soon as someone rises to a higher level of consciousness, a higher perception, and their belief in themselves rises...they can do greater things than what they could do before. No exceptions. Who we become is always limited by what we believe or allow ourselves to become.

So many times, "experts" have set the bar on the "limits" of human potential and were disproved by someone who either were certain it wasn't true and set out to proove them wrong, or simply did it because they didn't know it couldn't be done.

One of the most renowned examples in sports is the story of Roger Bannister and the 4 minute mile. In 1954 most experts said it was physiologically impossible, that the human body could never handle it and that a human heart would explode from the pressure. All the scientific information at the time "prooved" that humans could not and would never be physically able to run a mile in under 4 minutes. Roger broke that barrier by running a mile in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds, and many other athletes have run sub-4 minute miles since.

It was the same with the belief that climbing Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen to breathe was impossible and to even try to was said to be absolute "lunacy". In 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler did just that, and completely shocked the medical and mountain climbing community with their success. Since then, several others have succeeded in climbing the world's highest peaks without using supplementary oxygen.

In business, there's the well-known stories of Henry Ford, Walt Disney, A.L. Williams, Ray Kroc, Mary Kay Ash, Sam Walton, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and many more. These people all broke records and did things that many experts would have considered absolutely impossible.

There are many more of these stories about overcoming odds and breaking records in sports, exploding into tremendous success in business, miraculous healings in medicine and every other subject out there. Just read the biographies of the greatest people and organizations in history and you will have all the evidence you need. The common thread seems to be around having a clear vision of what they wanted to be or accomplish, making a decision, and going for it until it was done. No matter what stood in the way or how long it took.

Oh, and they didn't listen to the people who told them it couldn't be done.

Since we're coming to Christmas and the end of the year, why not take some time this holiday season to look back over the past year, be genuinely grateful for all the experiences, and make some decisions about 2010? As Robin Sharma says it, what would make your 2010 the best year ever?

Have you ever put any serious thought into a question like that before? It could change your life forever. Or how about:

Do you know how far you can actually go here, in this lifetime? What your true potential is?

I say we don't really have any limits, so it all depends on what you feel is your destiny here on earth... and on how far you want to travel on your journey and what you truly desire to be and do.

No one can tell you what you can or cannot be or do. No matter how "expert" they are, or how "proven" something is. Hey, just because it's never been done before doesn't mean it never will. It just means no one has yet. Might be up to you. There is still much we do not fully understand.

As far as I can tell, if you truly desire something, there is always a way. All limits are illusions. You just have to get yourself to the consciousness you need to see it.

So here's an exercise you can use to help you along:

Take a deep breath... then another, ... and another. As many as needed.
Feel very, very calm and relaxed throughout your entire body.
Now, look deep inside yourself... go as deep as you can... to the place where there is no sound.
Just breathe...
Listen to the silence carefully... here you will find your answer.

Here you will know who you can truly become.
You will also know what you must do now to move forward.

...

What you do with it is up to you.

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Good luck, and have a very merry Christmas.

CHB

Copyright © Charles Begin

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