On May 29, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to summit Mt. Everest.  At 29,035 feet, it is the tallest point on earth.  However, he didn't achieve this accomplishment his first attempt.  In fact, in 1952 a few weeks after a failed attempt, he was addressing a group of people in England.  During his talk, he walked to the edge of the platform, made a fist and pointed at a picture of the mountain. He said in a loud voice, "Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I'll beat you the next time because you've grown all you are going to grow... but I'm still growing!"  He knew that his personal growth of knowledge and skill would inevitably lead to overcoming the mountain itself. 

I believe the greatest feat the late Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008) achieved wasn’t conquering Mt. Everest but rather it was conquering himself.  How easy would it have been for him to say, “It can’t be done.  I’ve tried and failed.  Nobody has ever done it.  Forget it.”  Rather, he said, “I’m still growing!...” and he did it.

How high can you climb?  The mountain is in your mind.  The world is simply an extension of it.  The following three belief principles are the tools that you will need to use in the process of climbing your mental Everests.

1. Somebody must be the first to do it.
2. Your past doesn’t need to predict your future.
3. God is in the business of miracles

Somebody must be the first to do it.

Have you ever considered the fact that everything ever accomplished in the history of the world, once held the title, “Never been done”?  One of the reasons I love sports so much is that World Records are set all the time.  A World Record is something that says anything more is ‘impossible’ or at least has never been done before.  When a new record is set, somebody moves that standard forward. 

Of course one of the most famous ‘impossible’ athletic feats accomplished was Sir Rodger Bannister’s sub-4 minute mile.  On May 6, 1954 (one year after Sir Edmund Hillary’s ‘impossible’ summit of Mt Everest), Rodger Bannister broke the four minute barrier with a time of 3:59.4.  Many at the time considered it physiologically impossible.  Yet, Bannister proved that to be false as did the 17 others who broke the four minute barrier the three years following Bannister’s feat.  

There are times when we really must work hard not to let our own self-imposed limitations dictate what can and can not be done.  Often, we don't even know that we do it.  We simply notice the bar of achievement that others have reached and subconsciously limit ourselves to that point.  There are fantastic stories of people accomplishing greatness when they were simply unaware of where the bar of achievement was set.  One of the best examples of unknowingly raising the bar is a story about George Dantzig.

In Dantzig's own words, "During my first year at Berkeley I arrived late one day to one of [Dr. Jerzy] Neyman's classes. On the blackboard were two problems which I assumed had been assigned for homework. I copied them down. A few days later I apologized to Neyman for taking so long to do the homework - the problems seemed to be a little harder to do than usual. I asked him if he still wanted the work. He told me to throw it on his desk. I did so reluctantly because his desk was covered with such a heap of papers that I feared my homework would be lost there forever.  About six weeks later, one Sunday morning about eight o'clock, Anne and I were awakened by someone banging on our front door. It was Neyman. He rushed in with papers in hand, all excited: "I've just written an introduction to one of your papers. Read it so I can send it out right away for publication." For a minute I had no idea what he was talking about. To make a long story short, the problems on the blackboard which I had solved thinking they were homework were in fact two famous unsolved problems in statistics. That was the first inkling I had that there was anything special about them." 

Everything ever invented, every record ever set, every problem ever solved was by somebody who decided (occasionally unknowingly) that the ‘impossible’ is actually ‘possible’.  Why must others’ performance limit your own?  Somebody needs to be the first.  Why not you?  Why not now? 

Your past doesn’t need to predict your future.

Have you ever said to yourself, “Well, I’ve just never been able to do that” or “This is just who I am”?  The truth is your past doesn’t need to determine what you achieve or who you are today.  In fact, who you are today is merely a result of who you have been; a result of your decisions.  Who you are right now is a person free to choose whatever you want.  Your decisions today will result in who you become tomorrow.

If you want to change the past, change today.  Because, today will be tomorrow’s past.  Get it?  The best analogy I have heard is that of a boat’s wake.  The wake is not what drives the boat but rather it is the trail that is left behind.  You may reflect on the past and learn from the past but you must understand that it does not drive your future. 

Your past failures do not make you personally a failure.  In fact, it’s often said, “The road of success is paved with failure.”  Learn and move on with greater wisdom.  Consider the words of Thomas Edison from an interview published in the January 1921 issue of American Magazine.  "After we had conducted thousands of experiments on a certain project without solving the problem, one of my associates, after we had conducted the crowning experiment and it had proved a failure, expressed discouragement and disgust over our having failed to find out anything. I cheerily assured him that we had learned something.  For we had learned for a certainty that the thing couldn't be done that way, and that we would have to try some other way."

God is in the business of miracles.

I subscribe to the philosophy of working like everything depends on you and pray like everything depends on God.  There is a saying, “Stop telling God how big your problems are and start telling your problems how big your God is.” 

Why is it that we feel it so necessary to put the world on our shoulders?  There is no glory to God if you can do it all yourself.  When you look to a greater source than yourself, you will find tremendous strength.  Ironically, dropping to your knees is very empowering.  When “I’m” taken out of the equation, the ‘Impossible’ becomes ‘Possible’.

Invite God to captain your boat and produce miracles in your life.  Remember, your creator didn't create you for harm.  That makes no sense.  If He can create the universe, He can certainly help guide you through your part in it.  To truly fulfill your Life Purpose and achieve more than you believe you are capable of achieving, remove your ego and your control from the center of your life and replace it with your faith, your spirituality, your relationship with God.  No longer will you depend upon your abilities but rather on His.