Roger Bannister’s name may not be a household name, but still turns heads at road races and track and field events as the first man to break the 4-minute-mile barrier way back in 1954.

Why should we lowly marketing gurus care about a 4-minute-mile?  Because they told him it couldn’t be done. They – doctors and scientists and even his fans – said it was impossible. To which Roger Bannister said, ‘I don’t think so.’

Actually, I don’t know exactly what he said, because I was barely walking, let alone running, in 1954. But as a small business owner and a consultant, advisor, marketer, and cheerleader for countless others, I know what happens in the pit of my stomach and to the hair on the back of my neck when they tell me something I want to do is impossible. I turn defiantly away and figure out how — exactly how — I can get the job done, on time and on budget. And so should you.

Do the work. Then do some more. Research, reinvent, reduce, remake and realize your impossibilities. Visualize your success. This is not new-age hogwash: it’s science.

Roger Bannister was systematic and methodical in his approach to achieving the impossible. He devoted countless hours to research, theory and practice. He immersed himself in the study of human physiology. And where he took his physical being, his mind followed. He used mental imagery to visualize success, and in doing so, reached his goal of being the first to break a 4-minute-mile.

What’s your business goal? Do you have a strategic plan to reach it? Or did someone, somewhere, tell you it was impossible?