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