It’s a big question so let me break it down.
We don’t know the limits of human potential. All at once we are incredibly fragile, anti-fragile and powerful beyond belief.
We could get hit by a car and be gone on our routine walk to work, or we could survive the worst kind of atrocities and come out of the experience resolute in improving the world and the lives of others. So how do we know what we are capable of?
Test yourself. Apply your mind to furthering your goals. Make a decision.
I love the etymology of the word decision. It comes from the Latin “de” meaning “off”, and “caedere” meaning “to cut”. To decide means literally to cut off all other possible routes and focus on one.
There is incredible power in deciding to do something. Cut off other possibilities and decide to test yourself, and you will soon discover that you are capable of so much more than you ever believed possible.
Our biggest barrier isn’t fear of failure, but fear of success. Who do you need to become when the world sees what you’re capable of. Can you keep that up? For years?
So we hold a little bit back. We fall short on a regular basis and get used to the results of our 60% effort.
3:59 in – raise your hand as high as you can.
I’m not advising you to go all-in and work every hour of the day. As one of my heroes Elon Musk has exemplified, working too hard and burning out can jeopardise your dreams just as easily. I do think that we should all be looking to test our limits on a daily, monthly and yearly basis. Only if we know our limits can we ever hope to expand them.