Can you? Or can’t you? I wrestle with these questions all the time. Two seemingly simple questions that commonly separates achievement and failure.
The pursuit of difficult goals present challenges and frustrations that bring us to a moment of truth where talent, past accomplishments, or ability will likely not determine success. A moment of truth that commands in us a belief that we can do it, a point where you don’t worry about whether anyone else thinks you can - you step out and do it.
Cliff Young had no idea what everyone else thought when he entered his first ultra marathon.
Would anyone confuse a 61-year-old man, dressed in overalls and boots, for a competitor in an ultra-marathon race?
Walking to the starting line of the grueling 543.7 mile race, everyone wondered if he was crazy. Maybe his coach was Saint Francis of Assisi who said,
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
It is unlikely Cliff Young was familiar with these words of encouragement from Saint Francis of Assisi. How could he possibly be familiar with what would be required of him to complete this race, short of telling the press he had run in boots for two or three days straight, herding up sheep on his farm?
The typical competitor in this race was a professional, under the age of 30, and backed by major shoe and nutrition companies. Every ultra-marathon is grueling, but the race from Sydney to Melbourne is considered the most demanding in the world.
The race takes five to seven days to complete, and as the press questioned Cliff they repeatedly told him there was no way he could complete this race.
“Whatever you do or dream you can do – begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.”
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
As the race commenced Cliff did not look like a runner, let alone an ultra-marathoner. As he shuffled his feet and the field of professionals raced off leaving Cliff behind, concern turned from his ability to finish the race to his safety.
The race strategy employed by the professionals was to run for 18 hours, then sleep and reenergize for six. Cliff Young’s strategy was simply just to keep on running. Every day as the professionals slept, Cliff kept running.
On day one, when the competitors lay down to sleep, Cliff was well off the pace. When they awoke, Cliff had taken the lead he would never surrender. On the final day, Cliff crossed the finish line ten hours ahead of the five other world-class ultra-marathoners who completed the race.
Cliff Young won $10,000, set a new course record, and changed the strategy for ultra-marathoning forever.
“Your future is created by what you do today and what you do today will be energized by whether you think you can."
Today may present you with one of those moments of truth. Can you? Or can’t you?
As Cliff Young proved, it is not what is on the outside but what is on the inside that will carry you through the finish line.
What suggestion would you make to someone who is facing a moment of truth?