Dare To Do What You Think Is Impossible

[Music]

in the spring

of 2016 i tore my hamstring

training for my second olympic team

it happened 12 weeks before the 2016

canadian olympic trials

and it left me with a lot to think about

now why do i say that well

as you can imagine going to the olympic

games

is not easy going once

it’s impressive going twice

well now we’re starting to border on the

impossible

especially in the sport of track and

field but i’m biased

plus i had already been to the olympic

games

in 2012 as part of the canadian men’s

4x100 meter relay team

it was an incredible experience

one that i won’t forget and one that

will live with me

forever so

as you can imagine i thought this was my

swan song

it was time for me to hang up my spikes

call it a career and put

the dreams that i had as a child to rest

you know as an olympian i’m often called

upon to

inspire and encourage others to do what

they think

is impossible now here i was

facing my own version of what i thought

was impossible okay

spoiler alert i did end up making my

second olympic team

however there are three things i learned

about going through this experience

that i want to share with you today

the first is this you have to believe

it’s possible okay

i think it goes without saying that if

you don’t believe

it’s possible there’s a good chance that

it won’t happen

there’s a quote i liked by nelson

mandela and he says this

it’s only impossible until it’s done

now i really like that quote and i like

it because

i think it highlights a really important

point

that is often overlooked

and it’s this from the perspective that

we are currently looking at

our situation or problem or in my case

injury and trying to make it to my

second olympic games

what we’re trying to do seems impossible

however if we were to look at it from a

different perspective

and maybe shift the way that we see it

it opens up the doors to the impossible

becoming possible

okay here’s a stat for you to share with

your friends

and family if you were to take the

number of athletes that participated at

the 2016 olympic games

roughly 12 000 and divide that by the

population of the world

which is 7.6 billion people

the chances that you or i or anyone for

that matter

picked at random considering all things

equal going to the olympic games

the chances are zero point

zero zero zero zero zero one

five six seven four percent

that’s a failure rate of 99

you throw in a torn hamstring and not a

lot of time to get better

and those chances start to seem a little

bit more

impossible so from that perspective i

could have just given up

thrown in the towel called it quits

and i almost did but i chose to look at

it

from a different perspective i chose to

look at it from the perspective

of my grandkids now

my grandkids are anything like me they

would

a be super cute be

be borderline obnoxious and c

would never let me rest with their

constant questions

why didn’t you do it grandpa what about

this grandpa

or why didn’t you try that grandpa why

why why and i knew that i would never

hear the end of it

if my answer to them was simply just

because

you see kids don’t see barriers the same

way that we see them

as adults kids don’t think

limits they think possibilities

and it made me realize that if i were to

look at this situation

from a different perspective if i chose

to

view my injury from a different lens

it would open up the possibilities of

the impossible

becoming possible okay what about you

what’s that thing that you want that

seems impossible

i want you to think of that right now

you got it maybe it’s not impossible

maybe you just need to change your

perspective on it

the second thing i learned was this it’s

not enough

to believe that it’s possible you have

to take

action there’s another quote i like

by tony robbins as you can tell

i really like quotes he says this

the only impossible journey is the one

that you don’t take you see i can dream

about going to the olympics and i can

really believe it’s possible

and i can even believe it’s possible for

me to go to the olympics

if i were to say tear my hamstring

with 12 weeks to go before the canadian

olympic trials

however if i don’t do anything about it

nothing happens yes my perspective may

have shifted

yes i may believe it’s possible however

my hamstring was still torn and the

chances of me going to the olympics

are still say with me 0.000156 seven

four percent here’s something really

important to know

about taking action it may not be easy

but it’ll definitely be worth it

for me that action looked like slow

deliberate

boring action drill

after drill exercise after exercise

appointment after appointment doing the

same thing

over and over and over again

actions like didn’t seem like they were

doing anything

yet they were still action

now to know something a little bit about

me i

like to take big massive action

however i realize that sometimes it’s

not about

the size of the action that you take but

the action that you take

does need to get you going taking action

to keep a positive mindset it’s not easy

taking action to regain the strength and

the confidence in my body again

not easy doing the same old boring

repetitive actions

over and over and over again

not easy but definitely

worth it what about you

what’s that thing that you want so bad

yet seems impossible what’s something

you can do

to move yourself one step closer

to making that happen you know

it won’t be easy but it’ll definitely

be worth it

finally i had to be willing to be

uncomfortable

to do what i thought was impossible i

had to be willing to step outside of my

comfort zone

and even be willing to risk failure in

order to see that happen

you know sometimes if you want to see

what you think is impossible

happen you might have to step into a new

environment

face a long-held fear even be willing

to risk humiliation

however if you’re willing to accept the

good

along with the bad you might be able to

experience something new

you might be able to experience the

impossible

all right another quote i really like by

an author named roy t bennett

he says this step outside of your

comfort zone

comfort zones where unrealized dreams

are buried

are the enemies of achievement

for me i was scared to risk failure i

was scared to risk not achieving

my goal what would happen if i didn’t

make it

what would people think if it didn’t

work out

what was the point of going to a second

olympic games

but then i thought about it from a

different perspective

i thought about what it would feel like

to watch the olympics from the comfort

of my couch

i thought about my teammates competitors

and friends experiencing something that

i wanted to experience

i thought about my kids and my grandkids

and what i would tell them about this

moment with the actions i take today

inspire them tomorrow

you know it’s not easy to take risks

it’s not easy to step outside of your

comfort zone

it’s not easy to achieve something but

the chances of you achieving it are

0.000

but i think living with regret is a lot

scarier

again what about you what’s that thing

you want

that seems impossible

yes it might seem scary even

intimidating

but if you don’t step outside of your

comfort zone you’ll never know what

could happen

on july 11 2016 five days after my

birthday

65 athletes were nominated to represent

canada

at the 2016 olympic games

in rio i was one of them

earlier that week i had managed to run

1017

and finish fifth in the 100 meter final

good enough to make my second olympic

team

something earlier that year i thought

was impossible

remember that quote from nelson mandela

it

only seems impossible until it’s done

good news only three things you need to

do what you think is impossible

number one believe it’s possible

try looking at it from a different

perspective

number two take action remember

it won’t be easy but it’ll definitely be

worth it

and number three be willing to be

uncomfortable

step outside of your comfort zone that’s

where the magic happens

so the next time you think it’s

impossible

or the next time you think it can’t be

done

or if the chances of you achieving it

are

zero point zero zero zero zero zero

one five six seven four percent

do what you think is impossible i dare

you

[Music]

you