Roger Bannister had an assured belief that a human being was able to run a sub four minute mile.
Interestingly on the actual day of the record attempt May 6th 1954, it was raining and overcast in Oxford. Bannister told his coach Franz Stampfl - I am not going to run because the conditions are too bad.
Stampfl replied that he believed Bannister was capable of running a 3:56 mile. He also said that having been given the chance to break the mile record and not take it, maybe something he would regret for the rest of his life.
After he had achieved this breakthrough many more people quickly achieved this previously impossible milestone.
Bannister’s attitude and mind-set to this challenge was demonstrated clearly when he stated that:
Self-confidence is built over time and a function of the results you have achieved and your emotional state of mind. In my experience the most successful people are able to see the opportunity presented in every challenging situation. By setting career goals, challenges along the way are inevitable but can be overcome.
Those who excel in their performance e.g. Olympic athletes, actors and successful business achievers, have all trained their mind to visualise being a success.
“However ordinary each of us may seem, we are all in some way special and can do things that are extraordinary, perhaps until then even thought impossible.”
Roger Bannister