Over the years, most of us have heard that anything is possible. Our mentors say, “If somebody else is doing it, you can too!”
When Roger Bannister broke the “four-minute mile barrier” in 1954, 1,400 other runners followed in his footsteps.
I was watching American Ninja Warrior recently, female after female climbed the 14-foot warped wall. Something impossible before Kacy Catanzaro did it in 2014.
This past week as we attended the Medical School graduation of my step-daughter. I was reminded of how her journey began nine years ago, sitting on my office floor in tears.
Deciding to do something that seems so far off can feel like an impossible and scary thing. Even if you have an “if they can do it, I can do it attitude.” A journey of a thousand miles is always filled with doubt until you arrive at your destination.
After an hour of imagining the scariest things that could happen on her journey, Alayna’s tears died up. She took a breath and asked, “What should I do, Scott?”
Since it seemed that she had made up her mind, had assessed all the possible challenges, and wanted it more than anything, the only question I could think to ask was,
“Do you have a Plan B?”
She repeated her answer dozens of times over the years as she navigated the up and downs of achieving her goal. On graduation day, I overheard her saying the exact phrase to anybody who congratulated her on her achievement,
“Thank you. You know – there wasn’t a Plan B. There was nothing else I wanted to do or be. I had no choice, so here I am!”
We all know Alyana had a choice. We always have a choice.
No, that doesn’t mean that you always get what you want. But you increase your chances of success when you cut off all your other options and go for your dreams.