We are drawn to stories of extraordinary acts under extraordinary circumstances.
We find them inspiring and try to distil lessons from them.
But as motivating as they are, I don’t think they’re entirely useful.
For one, these acts are usually a product of the circumstances, which means we’d have to replicate the circumstances to achieve something similar.
I also think that humans are inherently capable of achieving amazing things when faced with an impossible challenge.
Or put another way – when your only option is to do something impossible, it suddenly seems possible.
So on some level, we are all capable of achieving extraordinary things.
But why then are so many more stories of extraordinary achievements under extraordinary circumstances?
Because we’re less motivated to do something extraordinary when things are ordinary.
But some people have been able to do this, and these are the stories I find inspiring.
Do you want to know the lesson I’ve gleaned from these stories?
Extraordinary achievements don’t need extraordinary actions under extraordinary circumstances.
Extraordinary achievements can happen through ordinary actions under ordinary circumstances.
The secret is to keep choosing to do ordinary actions – that anyone can take – that could eventually lead to something extraordinary.
If you have any stories of extraordinary achievements under ordinary circumstances, I’d love to hear them.
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