How do you know what you are capable of?
Setting and committing to a big, hairy, audacious goal like reversing Type 2 Diabetes might make you feel like you’re going to throw up. It can feel impossible. So how do you know if it is possible when it’s not possible until it’s done?
What a badass. What Muhammad Ali is talking about here is that “impossible” is only something that you made up in your mind. All that it takes to make something possible is to DECIDE that it is. When you make a decision that it is possible, you take action toward it. When you falter or get discouraged, you remind yourself that it’s still possible, learn from the misstep, and keep taking action. This is what separates success from quitting. Relentless action rooted in belief in possibility.
Where NOT to look for what is possible
Our biggest mistake is looking to our past for evidence of what we are capable of in our future.
Watch out for this because this is what our brains do on default. Our minds want to answer the question of what is possible by saying to us, “Well, you’ve never been able to do that before, so what makes you think you can do that now?” OR “You don’t know how to do that because you’ve never done that before.”
This is default thinking, and I am asking you to be much more intentional. I want you to create your future on purpose.
Consider this: if your past determined what you were capable of today, how would any of us ever grow? Ever create anything new? How would any of us ever learn to WALK?
The future does not yet exist. And I love to say, “The future is my property.” The future only exists in your mind. You literally create your future with your mind.
How to believe in possibility
I want to give you an example from my own life. I had a friend a couple of years ago ask me to run an 18 mile race in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming with her. I had never run anywhere near that distance in my life. Naturally, my mind wanted to tell me, “You are not capable of that because you’ve never done that before.” And I agreed to run it anyway.
I set out to train for this race 6 months before race day. I remember when I ran just 8 miles, the pain in my feet and ankle joints implored me, “Have mercy!” Soon, I covered 9 miles, with the same urgent, sobering pain in my feet. I confided in my friend my doubt: “I don’t know HOW I can run 18 miles when I can barely run half that.” I seriously finished every training run asking myself, “Why did I think this was a good idea?”
But I just kept taking action. I chose to believe, “I can run a little farther next time.” Taking action built my capability, and my capability built my self-confidence. Oh, and I took some Aleve every now and then 
.
You can make the hiccups or the obstacles mean you aren’t capable. Or you can make them mean that you still survived in spite of them. Two completely different ways of looking at the same situation.
So what does this have to do with reversing Type 2 Diabetes?
First, you have to believe it is possible. If you are wondering if it is scientifically proven to be possible, please open this post in a new window to answer that question: Why Hasn’t My Doctor Told Me My Type 2 Diabetes Is Reversible?.
Ask yourself: “Do I believe Type 2 Diabetes is reversible?” Evidence supporting this abounds.
Then you have to try this thought on for yourself: “I am capable of reversing my Type 2 Diabetes.” What kind of feeling does this generate for you? Do you believe it? If you’re feeling disbelief, apathy, or uncertainty–that’s a clue. A clue that you have some work to do in your mind.
You might need to start with a thought like: “Other people have been able to reverse their Type 2 Diabetes, so it might be possible for me too.”
It might need to be even more neutral, such as, “I want to believe it is possible for me too.”
This is a stair-step approach to believing something new. You might not be able to believe deep down right away that it’s possible for you, so you have to take steps toward that belief.
It looks kind of like this:
Warning: DO NOT get lost in “the HOW”
Most of us want to know HOW we will make our goals happen before we ever set out to achieve them. But the only way you will know how it is done is to achieve it.
I love the example of driving across the country in the dark. When driving in the dark, you can only see where your headlights shine and maybe where an occasional streetlamp illuminates. You can’t see the whole route ahead: every turn, every bridge, and every intersection. You keep driving because you believe that if you follow the general direction, you will eventually find your destination. Sometimes you take a detour. You might encounter a traffic jam. You don’t make these mean that you’ll never find your way. You drive across the landscape in the darkness only seeing what is just ahead of you the entire time until you reach your destination. Just focus on the next step ahead.
You are capable of more than you think you are.
