Absolutely loved this book. I didn’t cry as much as I thought I might because it was so positive. There was so much to learn from a sporting and a life perspective. Overall, it felt like a love letter to his family (I warn you when he reads messages to them at the end there will be tears!) but it is also a love letter to life, reminding us to live in the moment and find joy in what we can today.
Sport Psychology tools he talks about using – in sport and life…
- Vicarious confidence and how he took his from seeing other members of the GB team doing well
- Working on controlling the controllables – but not engaging with the things you can’t control.
- Focusing on the process not the outcome. When talking about driving racing cars: “A key was to focus all my attention on just the section I was in and then shift my attention to the next one.” There is no space to focus on outcomes.
- Ahead of tricky moments, choose how you will want to behave
- If unhelpful thoughts show up, notice them but don’t engage with them, instead visualise what you want to do instead.
- Finding your tribe and know that their opinions are the only ones that matter
A specific tool to try
You can use helicopter imagery technique to get some perspective – to imagine you doing your sport and gradually rise higher and higher above. What would you see? Often this techniques gives you a real perspective on the tasks of your sport (which you’ll always be able to do) separating them out from the perceived importance you have put on the outcome of your sport (which is more likely to trigger your threat system.
Favourite quotes
“Life is not to be won or lost but to be lived.”
Look at a challenge like cancer and think: “Not what it will take from me – but what I can take from it.”
“I can’t choose my diagnosis but I can choose how I approach each day and choose to focus on the positives and the glimmers of hope.”
“The future doesn’t exist. The future is just a thought. All we have is now.”
The life I have left now is a gift.
When I think ‘why me’ I now remember to think ‘Why not me?’ This is just life.
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