How to Free Your Mind from Limitation

How to Free Your Mind from Limitation

Hello to My Future Readers,

A few days ago, I stumbled upon a YouTube short (yes, a YouTube short, not TikTok—I know it’s weird, but I enjoy it more, so sue me). Back to the story: it was a small scene from a movie whose name I don't know, but that short led to my journey today. But first, storytime.

The Story: A Lesson from the Rugby Field

The scene is about a rugby coach making his team do a specific training exercise. The task is to hold a teammate on your back and crawl on the field to see how far you can go.

Here comes the hero of our moral story. He says to the coach, "I can barely do fifty yards." Keep in mind, fifty yards is quite a lot. The coach replies, “We’ll do it differently with you. You’ll be blindfolded for this.”

So, the player gets blindfolded, his teammate climbs onto his back, and he starts the drill. He crawls and crawls, then asks the coach, “Am I over 30 yards yet?” The coach answers, “It doesn’t matter where you are. Just keep pushing.”

In the back of his mind, the player thinks he’s not doing well and that the coach is just trying to encourage him. This goes on for a bit, and then the player says, “I can’t, coach. I can’t push anymore. Sorry, but I’m going to stop.”

He stops, and the coach comes to him, saying, “Look behind you—you ran across the whole field!” His teammates are in disbelief at such a big achievement.

The Lesson: Breaking Self-Imposed Limits

This short scene inspired me to write about the topic today, but it also got me reading about it. And boy, oh boy, did I learn a lot more than I anticipated! It turns out there are many people talking about this, too, so let’s dive right in.

Two Types of People and How They Overcome Limits

I’ve divided people into two types based on what’s more productive for their character. Let’s talk about them one at a time.

Type 1: The Limitless Achiever

The first type is like the person in the YouTube short. You shouldn’t give them a specific limit or indication about the limit; let them figure it out themselves. Maybe you should stay beside them to ensure they don't hurt themselves during the process. Sometimes, people get lost in the moment and need someone to pull them back to safety.

I came across a pretty logical quote about the limits we put on ourselves: “There are already the laws of physics and their limits, so why put extra limits on yourself?” If you want something, go for it. Just put in the time and effort and do your best. If it works out, then it was meant for you. If not, you should appreciate how hard you pushed yourself and what you learned about yourself during the process.

Type 2: The Checkpoint Champion

The second type is the exact opposite of the first. For these people, you should divide your goal into small parts, then set checkpoints, and focus only on the checkpoints—not the end goal. For example, if your goal is to cover 100 meters, focus on reaching checkpoints like 10 meters, then 20 meters, then 30 meters.

Your mind gives you a push for each checkpoint because it thinks it’s the end goal, so it gives its all. Then comes a new checkpoint, so it gives its all again. Step by step, you’ll reach the 100-meter mark.

Real-Life Example: David Blaine’s Breath-Holding Feat

For this type of person, I have a famous and wonderful example. I assume you know David Blaine and his stunts. It’s truly astonishing when you know the science behind them.

I heard him in an interview with some celebrities explaining his method on how he achieved his mind-blowing 17-minute breath-hold. If you told yourself, “I will hold my breath for 17 minutes,” it would seem impossible. Even with training, your mind would be defeated by the idea itself.

Back to the interview: David Blaine said you should focus entirely on holding your breath for 30 seconds, then aim for 45 seconds, and keep going like that. Some celebrities managed to hold their breath past 3 minutes using that method, even without training. They couldn’t reach those numbers when they tried it without that incremental approach.

Finding Your Own Way

At the end of this, you should see which approach better helps you keep going towards your goal. Call it tricking your mind or whatever you like, but what’s important is the result. Everything has a way, and your job is to find the way that suits your way of thinking.

Conclusion

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