The Ceiling Moved

Hey Team!

I’m not too sure what the weather is like in your neck of the woods, but I’ll definitely take what we’re getting over here in Tofino. Things have shifted, and after what felt like a long winter, a season of indoor treadmills, the sun has been shining and it’s been fantastic to run outside on the roads all week.

Whenever I get home, I settle back into my daily routine and everything starts humming again. Consistent meals, training, running sessions, sleep, work, all of it... and it shows. I woke up this morning amazed at what I was seeing: all-time high weight, increased muscle mass, and body fat percentage in the 9s. Who would have thought this was possible while traveling and running 80-mile weeks. I shared today what I consume daily that helps me stay strong, while running far and fast, because I think it’s easy to look at the running and only see the mileage. But the more I do this, the more I realize the performance comes from everything around the miles too.

My consistency with running and working with my coach is definitely paying off. I had one of those doozy-looking sessions on Saturday... the kind of workout you look at earlier in the week and already start dreading a little. But I leaned in, stuck to the plan, and pushed myself for the entire 24 km session. I was impressed that I essentially nailed it. I was happy with my performance, which is what matters most, but it’s always nice receiving a note from your coach afterward saying, “Looks super strong!”

This Week’s Shift

For those that caught last week’s newsletter, I highlighted a few inspirational stories in sport and why it excites me so much, even beyond AI. I guess you could say I jumped the gun and wrote that article one week too early, because this past weekend we saw the spectacle of all spectacles in the sport of running. The London Marathon, one of the world’s seven major marathons, delivered in spades.

For many recent years, the sub-2-hour marathon has been the target on the global stage. So much so, Nike poured millions into trying to make this happen. In an ethical, but non-official way. Back in 2019, Nike funded a solo marathon effort for Eliud Kipchoge, and although the great Kipchoge achieved the sub-2 marathon goal, the run was not approved as an official world record. It was staged with rotating pacers, a car projecting lasers on the road, wind protection, and a course designed to create the best possible outcome. It was a moment in human performance history, but it was also in a very controlled environment.

This past weekend in London, the world was able to witness not just one runner achieve the sub-2 goal in an official marathon setting, but the second-place runner also went under two hours. And the third runner would have beaten the previous world record as well. How wild is that?

Interestingly, moments like these happen for a reason. When one person showcases that something can be done, the belief of doing it becomes real, and steadily more and more people start doing it from that moment on. The very same thing happened in 1954 when Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile. After that happened, someone else did it shortly after, then more the next year, and more again after that. None of this is a coincidence. It’s a shift in belief.

And I think that’s the part that hit me the most. Yes, the times are mind-blowing. Yes, the athletes are operating at a level most of us can barely comprehend. But beyond the numbers, what we are really watching is the ceiling move in real time.

From The Field

This is all so fascinating to me at a human level. From sport to business, and everything in between, if we surround ourselves with people who push the limits, we start to see what’s possible in our own lives. Not because it suddenly becomes easy, but because the mind now has proof that the edge can move.

For me personally, I’ve experienced some of this firsthand. I had a lot of people “quit” on me when I committed to my Whistler run. Several people didn’t feel I could do it with such a short training window, or couldn’t see it being possible to raise the amount of money that we collectively did. And I get it. On paper, it probably didn’t make much sense. But I quickly became a student of the ultramarathon game, watching others achieve what they did, studying what they were doing, and starting to believe that maybe I could do it too. I had this feeling that if someone else could do something extraordinary, then maybe I could as well.

And along with having a few very close friends in my life who knew I could do it, championing me and reminding me what was possible, we got it done.

But here’s the thing... I have this unique feeling again. This time in business.

What if we built something that doesn’t currently exist? Why doesn’t it exist yet? Is it because it shouldn’t exist, or is it because the market just hasn’t seen it done in the right way yet? I believe this is where world-class innovation comes in. Once the market can believe something is possible, multiple people usually move into a similar product shortly thereafter. But someone still has to go first. Someone still has to be willing to look a little crazy before it looks obvious.

I was having this conversation with my friend Fiona the other day, who is an expert in product innovation and just released her book, Built for Breakthrough. She drew the parallels between breaking the 4-minute mile, the astonishing performances this past weekend by the top marathoners in London, and business. In fact, she shared that she had used the belief effect of the 4-minute mile story in a previous speaking engagement she had. And I loved that, because it’s the same pattern showing up in different arenas.

Sport gives us such a clean version of the lesson because the scoreboard is obvious. The clock doesn’t lie. But business, creativity, relationships, personal growth... they all work in a similar way. We often need to see something done before we can fully believe it’s available to us.

In the end, the big takeaway here is to surround yourself with people who are pushing the limits and believe in doing the impossible. Because the impossible can, and most likely will, become possible... it might as well be you trying to achieve it.

Quick Reminders Before You Start:

Here’s the Built for Breakthrough book I’m reading. If you’re launching a new product for your organization or for your customer, this will give you the framework to take a good idea and turn it into a great product.

The best part about watching others move the ceiling is realizing the edge was never fixed in the first place. Whether it’s sport, business, or your own personal pursuit, stay close to the people who make impossible feel worth chasing.

Catch you on the Start Line,
—Matty