When called in as a business mentor and coach, my role is often to enable the client to do what they see as the impossible. After all, in many cases, if they could do it by themselves, why do they need an outsider to help?

Youtube is full of video clips, showing how individuals with physical handicaps achieve the most amazing success. One of my favourites is the young Australian ballerina, who refuses to quit despite losing a leg in an accident.

However, the question is what can the rest of us learn from these champions?

The answer is very obvious to my mind, but not so easy to implement. We should not just view the downloads and then marvel. We should realise that each and every one of them dug deep and found something that made them demolish accepted boundaries. So what are such demons in our own lives and how can we demolish them?

To show you what I mean, I have picked out three recent case studies from Israel, an environment where I practice my trade. I think we can all take a little bit from these stories.

First, the massive deal that was announced earlier this week, where by Intel will purchase Mobileye for a cool US$15.3 billion. With some irony, Intel’s Jerusalem plant is just down the road from Mobileye.

The founders of Mobileye come from different backgrounds, including academia and the car trade. One of them, Ziv Aviram, who could be walking away from the deal with around US$250 million before tax, started out life working as a logistics manager in a troubled printing company, Keter. From there, he went on to manage a tourist attraction in the Dead Sea.

And this week? Aviram’s company saw their shares leap 30% on NASDAQ. As the leaders of Mobileye mentioned on release of the news of the deal, it is not just about the money. It is about how you can change things for the better.

In a totally different sphere, Israel is performing for the first time in the World Baseball Championships. Rank underdogs, the team won its first four games in a row. This included the destruction of leading sides such as Cuba and South Korea.

While some have compared the heroics to that of the Jamaican bobsleigh team that won a gold medal, I find an alternative explanation. To me, it is clear that somebody sat down and said “how can we make this happen, despite all the odds and history stacked against us”. He or they then saw it through, come what may.

Which I suppose brings me to my third story, and this time it is about myself. I have always loved sports, but never been too good at anything. However, in two days time, I will try to complete the marathon in Jerusalem, one of the more difficult routes on the international circuit.

I will not bore you with the history of how I started running and who convinced (conned?) me to do this. What is relevant is the “why”. The answer has to be that I can show to myself what I am capable of rather than merely complete what I believe that people have expected of me.

And “that”, whatever it may be, has to be worth far more than just a personal best time. I hope you too can find it in yourselves.