“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’ is to say ‘I don’t want to.’” — Lao Tzu
What people are capable of… is mind-blowing.What people usually do… is disappointing. Yet we all have the same 24 hours in each day.
Think about this for a moment.
We live in a time where people have left footprints on the moon. We’ve painted masterpieces, and split atoms. We carry immediate access to every movie, book, and song ever written in our pockets every day. We can connect with the entire world in an instant, and that barely scratches the surface of what we’re capable of.
But what do most people do with that potential? Absolutely nothing. We scroll. We binge-watch. We gossip. We complain. We over-eat, over-spend, and over-stress. We waste hours up hours watching strangers live “interesting” lives instead of living our own. Then we punch in at work the next day making the rich get richer.
To me, that’s sad…and gutwrenchingly (is that even a word?) disappointing. Potential means nothing without action. It’s like having a full tank of gas in your new Porsche, but you don’t drive it. It looks impressive, yet it takes you nowhere.
But once in a blue moon, someone fills their tank, hits the road, and blows our minds.
Like Courtney Dauwalter. If you don’t know her, let me introduce you.
Courtney’s not built like the stereotypical elite runner. She isn’t “typical” in any sense of the word. Context: A marathon is 26.2 miles. An ultra-marathon is anything longer than that. Often 50K (31 miles), 100k, or even 100 miles. In 2017, Dauwalter ran the Moab 240. That’s 240 miles through the desert, the mountains, day and night.
She didn’t just win. She set the course record, finishing in 57 hours, beating the second place finisher (a man) by 10 hours! She then went on to win the Cocodona 250. The Bigfoot 200. The Triple Crown of 200s — all in the same year.
Or take Ed Sheeran. You know him now—one of the biggest names in music. Sold-out stadiums. Songs you’ve heard a thousand times. But early on? People told him he didn’t have the look. Didn’t have the voice. Didn’t have what it takes.
And what did he do? He wrote a thousand songs before anyone cared.
Played in tiny pubs. Slept on couches. And now? He’s written for Justin Bieber. Taylor Swift. The Weeknd. One Direction. Songs you’ve danced to, cried to, fallen in love to. All from a kid who was told, “You’re not star material.”
Extraordinary people don’t start out extraordinary. They start out willing. They are willing to do what others aren’t willing to do…”Cuz it’s too hard.” They are willing to risk comfort and acceptance for possibilities. To trade easy for mind-blowing. Try and to fail…over and over, and to look at the proverbial couch-potato and say, “Why don’t you sit down on the couch with your pizza and beer and read a book about all the crazy experiences I’m gonna have!”
So, rhetorically speaking, what are YOU capable of?
Are you striving for that?
You don’t need to run 250 miles like Courtney. You don’t need to sell out stadiums like Ed. You don’t need to launch rockets like Elon, climb Everest in shorts like Wim, or change the world like Dr. King. But you can take a step, you can take a stand, literally and figuratively, just like they did.
Now go blow your own mind!
Harvesting Insights 