Motivational phrases (which have nothing to do with the scientific models about human motivation) are funny because they are mostly untrue, as in very, very untrue, but they don't die. Year after year you have the same old lies - some almost harmless, considering that lies are never harmless, some are dangerous. They are also randomly attributed to Einstein, Shakespeare, Aristotle, or some other dead person name that supposedly confers legitimacy to the lies.
Consider the ones about limits:
“All limits are self-imposed.” Icarus
“No fear. No limits. No excuses.” Anonymous
“Limits like fears are often just an illusion.” Michael Jordan
“Your only limit is you.” Anonymous
“Accept no limits. Just do it.” Nike
“If you want it badly enough there are no limits to what you can achieve.” Anonymous
They are all wrong. Physical abilities have a limit, we just don't know what it is. The other term for that is "ceiling".
The pick of the week is Latella and colleagues' article: "Long-Term Strength Adaptation: A 15-Year Analysis of Powerlifting Athletes". The stronger the athlete, the slower is his ability to gain strength. That is probably due to a "ceiling effect", concluded the authors. Indeed: the closer one gets to their own limit, the smaller the improvements, like an asymptote.
If one has a healthy approach to achievements and competition, dealing with the existence of limits shouldn't be a problem. Sometimes the athlete reaches a limit in one division and moves to a different one, where they are farther from the limits and will observe larger improvement rates. Sometimes they move to a different sport.
There are always healthy strategies to deal with reality.
Denialism is not only unhealthy but dangerous. Adults should be comfortable with the idea that humans don't get to choose their facts. Facts are facts, like it or not.
