THE EFFORT TO SUCCESS

            Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister: a former athlete; a physician; an academic – how can one man be at all these positions and still maintain the passion, energy and determination to keep getting better at it and not give up? Bannister said, “The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.” There will be millions of reasons to quit. Millions of excuses to not move forward. Millions of ways to ignore the task. But there will be only one reason, one excuse, one way to inspiration. And once the source of inspiration is found, the pain, the effort, and the hard work will seem like a pleasure. It will seem like a description of a real and new you. In the movie chef, the chef says, “I get to touch people’s lives with what I do. And it keeps me going and I love it.” The moment one finds the driving force in one’s life, one is no longer scared of struggle and the effort it takes to get past it. In fact, as Bannister said, it drives you to win.

            Roger Bannister was the first person to run a sub four-minute mile. Bannister was the least trained out of all the other Olympics competitors. He believed himself to be better at a shorter run like a mile, rather than a longer run. “I found longer races boring. I found the mile just perfect.” With Bannister coming in fourth for the 1500 m race, and not winning a medal, he set a British record of 3:46.30. This defeat and disappointment gave him courage and strength to be the first four-minute mile runner. Defeat strengthens an individual in such a way that a renewed sense of determination takes over.

                   After setting the record, Bannister said, “he felt prouder of his contribution to academic medicine through research into the responses of the nervous system.” You don’t have to be best at everything: this is something everyone can learn from Bannister. He did not win the medal he desired. He did not achieve the victory that he desired. But he achieved the most important aspect of life: experience. He earned the experience that will constantly shape him into a well-rounded and dynamic individual. After athletics, he pursued the career of neurology and became a “distinguished neurologist.” The effort and hard work from the practice in running helped him to become successful as a neurologist and even as an individual. He became the man who drove himself further once the effort got painful, and became a winner at the end.