Possible for Anyone | @caroline-cavanagh | The Anxiety Alchemist

15 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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Caroline Cavanagh argues that if something is possible for one person, it's possible for anyone. She uses Magellan's circumnavigation and Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile to show how proof of possibility changes what we believe we can do. When anxiety hits, verify others have done it, then study how they succeeded.

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So one of my personal beliefs is if it's possible for someone, it's possible for anyone. It's possible for me. And there is lots of evidence around this. It wasn't that many years ago that people thought if you sailed off the edge of the world, you dropped into abyss. But then Magellan— I think I've got my history right— went over and came all the way around the world and survived. And people went, oh, that's okay. and suddenly loads of people were circumnavigating the world. More recently to many of us is the 4-minute mile. There was a real belief that no human being could run a mile in less than 4 minutes. Roger Bannister went, nah, I don't think that's true. And as soon as he cracked that 4-minute mile, lots of other people did too. So if you are fearing something, if you have got anxiety about something you can't do, Step 1, can other people do it? Because if they can, so can you. Step 2, find out how they did it. Learn from them because you may be able to do that quicker and even better.