How to Push Some Limits with Ease

We all want to progress, whether on a personal or professional level. However, we sometimes face limits that we believe are insurmountable.

So, we look for techniques, methods, and "innovative" approaches to break down our barriers.

Sometimes, it works, but often, we stagnate because we don't know what is holding us back.

To understand, we need to grasp how our brain works.

For something to exist in my mind, I must be able to talk about it. To be able to talk about it, my brain (just like yours) must categorize things. A man, a woman, a car, a plane, a door, a desk, a fool, a pretentious person, a risk, a danger, kind, beautiful, mean, etc., are examples of the many categories we use.

Each is a way to simplify the world and imprison an event, object, or person within limits. Categories become beliefs about how the world works.

A belief can make us think it reflects reality and is immutable.

Surpassing our limits is not about a special technique known and mastered by a few rare people. It's about our ability to question our interpretation of a person, object, or event. This realization empowers us to break free from the constraints of our beliefs.

For example, I categorized Jack as an "idiot." This makes me reject everything he says... because, according to my decree, he is an idiot... and his ideas are not worth hearing. Due to this restrictive framework, I don't remember that he has more experience than I do and has solved situations as tricky as the ones I encountered long before.

When we break free from the limits of our beliefs, we often find that the solution was within our reach all along. This realization brings a sense of relief and freedom as we no longer feel confined by our perceptions.

Let's use another example. I accompany you to training and ask, "What is the maximum weight you think you can lift?" You answer 100 lb.

We do several trials, and at 100 lb (your stated limit), you grimace, push with all your might, and it's over. You can't do more.

Now, I'm going to put you in another context. I tell you that your limit (100 lb) is only subjective and that we will easily exceed it. I will guide you; you must push without worrying about anything else.

With each repetition, I gradually vary the load and encourage you, without telling you the weight you will lift. This simple trick will make you exceed your predicted limit by 10 to 20%.

One last example. You face time pressures. You have to deliver a project by a set date. You imagine the worst consequences if you don't make it. You impose your stress on your team and put more pressure on them. Instead of thinking about solutions, they focus on the negative emotions you impose on them. All members then lose their power of reflection, and the project fails, as anticipated.

In many cases, breaking a limit does not rely on excessive efforts, but on the ability to question the categories in which we classify things.

Jack is not just a simple fool. He is also an experienced man I can rely on to find solutions.

A muscle will always reach a maximum limit, but until then, its capacity is initially limited by an invented number. Why not play with this and see how our muscles react?

The less time I have to complete a task, the more stressed I become. It is better to make an effort to focus on the steps to take rather than on negative emotions. This way, I won't waste my time worrying, which is counterproductive.

Stress has the right to exist, but I don't have to lose all my thinking ability.

It's about questioning ourselves instead of believing that the world is governed by our beliefs (categories).

Seeing the world from a different perspective opens the door to many possibilities.