Before April 1954, it was believed that no one could run a mile in less than four minutes. People had tried to do it repeatedly for over a thousand years, and yet it failed. It was considered impossible.

 

在1954年4月之前，人们认为，没有人能在4分钟之内跑完一英里。一千多年以来，人们进行了无数次尝试，但都失败了，所以大家都认为这是不可能实现的。

 

The human body was simply not capable of a four-minute mile. It was called the four-minute barrier. And then in Oxford, on the sixth of May, Roger Bannister came along and he ran a mile in three minutes fifty-nine point four seconds.

人类的身体，就是做不到在4分钟之内跑完一英里，人们把这叫做四分钟界限。接着，在5月6日，牛津，Roger Bannister出现了，他跑一英里只花了3分钟59.4秒。

 

Interestingly, Bannister was not a pro-athlete. He attained this record with minimal training while practicing as a junior doctor, but as part of his training he relentlessly visualized the achievement, in order to create a sense of certainty in his mind and body. He thought and pondered on his success daily.

有意思的事，Bannister并不是专业运动员。他是一位见习医生，正在实习，他的跑步训练非常有限，他能却打破这个记录。但是，在他的训练过程中，他一直想象自己会成功，这样，无论是在生理上还是心理上，他都坚信自己能做到。他每天都在思考，想象着自己的成功。

 

Now here's what's significant about that event. From then on, the four-minute barrier has since been broken by over 1,400 athletes, including high schoolers. The record set by Bannister only lasted 46 days before being broken by John Landy in Finland. What happened? What made what seemed impossible now possible to many?

这件事情为什么很重要？因为，从那以后，有超过1400位运动员突破了这个四分钟界限。Bannister创下的记录，46天后就被芬兰的John Landy打破了。到底怎么回事？是什么把不可能变成了可能？

 

Here's what changed. When he crashed through the barrier, the rest of the world saw that it was possible. And the previous myth was only a mental barrier. It was the mind that set the limitation and not the body.

我来告诉你吧。在Bannister打破记录的时候，全世界都看见了，这是有可能实现的。此前的神话，不过是心理上的阻碍而已。设下界限的，不是身体，而是思想。

 

It took Bannister a sense of extreme belief, extreme thought in his mind, to remind himself, that it was possible. And when he reminded himself that it was possible, his subconscious just had to agree with him, pushing his body to create the effect of his manifestation. He alone created that certainty in his mind without seeing any proof that it was possible.

Bannister对自己的成功保持绝对的信心，心中怀有绝对成功的想法，提醒自己，这是有可能实现的，这样他才打破了记录。当他告诉自己，这是有可能的，他的潜意识就会认同他的观念，不断鞭策他的身体，去追求能够成功的效果。他自己在心中创造了信心，就算有任何事情告诉他这是不可能的，他也不去理会。

 

From then onwards, when other athletes got on the track, they knew it had been done. Holding that thought in mind made them go on to break the barrier and break his record. They thought about it into reality. Mind power is one of the most influential and most useful powers you possess.

从那以后，其他运动员走上跑道的时候，他们知道，四分钟内跑完一英里，这件事情已经实现过了。心中有这样的想法，他们就能够继续去越过阻碍，打破记录。他们把想法变成了现实。思想的力量，是你拥有的最强大、最有用的力量。

 

This power consists of your thoughts. The thoughts that pass through your mind are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Your predominant thoughts influence your behavior and attitude and control your actions and reactions.

这种力量，由你的想法组成。你头脑里面的想法，决定了你生活中发生的所有事情。那些最强大的想法，影响了你的行为和心态，控制了你的举动和反应。

 

Some call it the law of attraction, while science calls it the reticular articulating system. This law of attraction uses the power of the mind to translate whatever is in our thoughts and materialize them into reality. The results of positive thoughts are always positive consequences. The same holds true for negative thoughts, always leading to bad outcomes.

有人说，这就是吸引力法则，而科学上把这称为网状表达系统。这种吸引力法则，运用思维的力量，把我们头脑中的所有想法，转变成了事实。积极的想法，会带来积极的结果。消极的想法，会带来消极的结果。

 

When it comes to science, we have a system in our body called the reticular articulating system, RAS. This system helps our brains decide what information to focus on and the ones to disregard.

在科学领域，我们身体内有一个系统，叫做网状表达系统，简写为RAS。这个系统帮助我们的大脑决定关注什么信息，忽略什么信息。

 

When your purpose is clearly defined, and you have a mission, and you live every single moment with certainty that you will achieve it, you influence what the RAS filters into the subconscious, positive information.

如果你有清晰的目标，有明确的使命，你生命中的每一秒都在努力实现梦想，你的RAS系统就会过滤信息，它让积极的信息进入你的潜意识里。

 

The consequence of this is that you begin to pay attention to the things that help you achieve your goals, things you otherwise would have never paid attention to. That's what the power of thought gives you.

结果就是，你开始注意那些能够帮助你实现目标的事情，而原来你从来没有关注过它们。这就是思想带给你的力量。