Even though I am not a martial artist, the play-by-play analysis was beyond my interest, the self-analysis and honesty revealed was quite remarkable and refreshing to read as she let us into a champion’s mindset – especially when she failed or came up short.

She is a true champion with laser-focused concentration on the ultimate goal – the Olympic Gold Medal.

Thus is a must-read for anyone who wants to know the inner workings of the Mindset Of A Champion.

I highly recommend it.

The fourth game was another good effort, yielding an 11-7 win for me.

So we’re back to another 5-set match, my third in a row following an opener that was a 4-setter… I had never been to this marathon territory before. As it turns out, I lost the last game 11-7 with a series of loose shots and strokes that were symptomatic of what I realised 10 to 15 minutes after the match.

Marathon matches makes muscles mushy.

The brain tried everything it knew to do, but the legs just weren’t in the game. Once again, it’s a subtle nuance that a competitive athlete knows only too well… I had never been to this point before in squash, but know the feeling from ice hockey that is a longer game than squash and requires a lot more endurance (The game is timed for 3 20-minute periods, but lasts over 2 hours, sometimes 3!).

I am sure I will see the symptoms of this in the video replay that I will analyse later, but I know because nothing else was really ‘wrong’ with what I did or didn’t do.

In the past, my game would break down and I would lose in 3. Now my game doesn’t break down, it just slips a little and that means the rallies and games are longer – a LOT longer!

In squash, it’s all about getting to the ball early to have the choice of shot and executing it well – when you get there even a fraction of a second late – the game shifts dramatically. When both opponents are equally tired it evens out, but in this match – my opponent was only playing his 3rd match and the first one was an ‘easy 3-setter’… That is a component of competition that many spectators don’t take into account – they just see the match on TV that is being played – not realising that the PREVIOUS match(es) do have an influence on today’s game…

This means a whole bunch of changes to my future training, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

Last year I was ranked +/-50 in the world. My goal/outcome/target for this year’s competition, only my second International championship (and only my fifth competion ever !) was to make the top 32 with next year’s goal to make the top 16.

As it stands now, I’m in the top 20 at position 17 or 18 depending on Thursday’s final match for the Bronze Medal…

That means that instead of playing in Division 1, I need to step up my training and start playing in the Open with the former professionals and coaches!

I have learned so many lessons that confirms that I can get way past the top 16 – maybe even reach the top 8 or 10…

I have my list of REASONS I didn’t win today’s match and why the other matches went to 5 sets… They will be ticked off as you’d expect…

Am I disappointed? Sure I wanted to win, but I didn’t know that the marathon effect was going to kick in – now that I know, I can and will plan for it next time. There are sure-fire strategies to deal with it… Those are well-guarded secrets that only my training partners and coach know!

But that was not my Next Best Step for this year.

That’s a hard concept to explain in sport and in business – for me this year, I had 3 or 4 things I needed to do (they’re secret because my competitors may be reading this public blog).

I did those things so that I would stop losing matches in 3 sets. To worry about 5-set matches when you win or lose in 3 is NOT your Next Best Step.

The other aspect is that you can’t do all the steps at once – UNLESS of course you’re a professional athlete. Since I am not a full-time professional athlete, choices have to be made.

The same is true in business – everyone wants a life(style) not just business or financial success at the cost of relationships, health and whatever you consider to be balance.

I am very happy with the choices I made in selecting and deploying my Next Best Steps – the outcome of a ‘top 20′ World ranking is quite honestly — Awesome!…

So the lesson for the day is simple – as you expand your circle of influence, new challenges will present themselves, introducing NEW Next Best Steps to take on your path to Unleashing Your Exponential Potential.

Just take your Next Best Step and let destiny guide you… Onward and upward!

Don’t forget to wish me luck on Thursday – I play for the Bronze Medal and I am going to be FRESH, and READY TO PLAY FULL ON!!!!

In case you’re interested – I am analysing each game/match assessing the winners, unforced errors, etc… That is the only way you can make quantum leaps forward like this. It doesn’t happen by luck or chance – it happens by revolutionising your thinking BY DESIGN rather than just evolving BY DEFAULT.

These are some of the tips, techniques and tools I teach in my program – The Mindset Of A Champion and what will be integrated into my Personal Mastery Program curriculum… If you’re keen to excel in sport or other competitive endeavour, I suggest you consider this program. As you can see from this blog – it’s a journey that starts with a single step.

That step is your DECISION to raise your bar to the next level – either to get yourself into the gym, pick up a new sport or take up a long forgotten one…

Whatever you do – TAKE YOUR NEXT BEST STEP NOW I guarantee you it’ll take you on an incredible journey of self discovery and awareness that will revel your true spirit and self.

I came out with all 8 cylinders and double barrels loaded – got up 5-0 and took the game 11-6 – with total power, pace and intensity that was firewalking, over-the-top full-on domination.

I felt good to finally figure this out. Of course in hindsight it’s always 20-20…

I suspected this was happening, but because I didn’t feel or think (self-talk) I was doing this, it was hard to pin point.

Throughout this competition I’ve felt confident, strong and in control – in the past I didn’t have this match confidence due to lack of experience. I’ve played less than 10 competitive matches in total, so to get to world-class competition this quickly means there are going to be gaps to fill.

More match play will fill this gap as will targeted training sessions once this competition is over.

Lessons of the day that I can share publicly are:

Once you ‘decide’ to win, something changes in your physiology, body chemistry and of course mindset. Sure this sounds self-evident, but anyone who’s competed and punched above his or her weight understands this pivotal shift.

I just hadn’t realised I had dialled it down one notch since my self-talk hadn’t changed – I wasn’t saying or thinking different things even though my body was.

The scores in this match were 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 4-11 and 11-6. The third game was the one I should and could have put away, losing it by 2 points – that’s the lesson I’ve learned – to trust my instincts and abilities to red line it when it counts.

The other lesson was the preparation for today’s match – I did a few things to make sure I was ‘ready’ – in doing so, I noticed others who were also doing likewise – until today I had never even thought they would be there…

It’s confidential because at the top levels, everyone’s trying to get and keep the edge so I can’t divulge who and what they were doing because I wouldn’t want them doing that to me.

That’s the other lesson I learned today – the camaraderie is quite something. I’ve said it before how positive an environment it is with world-class competitors who are fit and healthy…

I obviously highly recommend it to anyone who’s feeling alone, left out or otherwise excluded. Any sport or group activity that is competitive will attract this positive and supportive environmental factor…

So that’s it for today – tomorrow’s match is another challenge – one that I look forward to.

Wish me luck!

Game 2 was more like yesterday’s games – my accuracy, pace and length came back and I won it ‘easily’ 11-7. It needs to be said that my opponent was formidable, in fact one of my squash partners was overheard saying he thought he had ‘too good of a game’ for me without meaning any disrespect.

The third game was very tight, well fought on both sides and I took it 11-8. So I’m up now 2 games to 1.

The all-important forth game went to a tie break 10-12 for my opponent who I handed the victory to on a silver platter – not quite sure why I didn’t put it away as I should have. I didn’t feel like I lost my cool, rhythm or focus, the points just didn’t go my way even though I held the lead for the whole game until the ‘tie break’ final two points. I will review the video and analyse why this happened because at the time, it just slipped away without knowing why – I didn’t feel I choked nor changed my game plan.

In the fifth game I came out firing on all cylinders and jumped ahead with a quick lead, 4-1, then he caught up 4 all. I dug in deep and stuck to my game plan to 7 all. 4 more points and the winner would be decided.

Then it happened at 8-7 – I got hit on the hand, my racquet hand. I got the stroke against me because I got in his swing – he hadn’t delayed his swing all game and caught my pinky finger square on with a full swing.

Yes – OWCH!

I requested a 3-minute injury break (which I know is allowed, got an ice pack thrown to me on the court) and started breathing nice and deep to re-set and recover my wits. I know from a previous match injury several years ago that it rattles you. You need to take the time to re-set, otherwise your body chemistry can get upset enough with a mixture of pain killing endorphins and adrenaline flowing through your blood stream. Your brain wants one thing, your body another. the whole match gets decided in the next few points.

We had 3 or 4 lets in the last 3 points alone, I took the game and the match 11-8.

A match hard fought and won – overcoming a totally unexpected challenge and a formidable opponent – he is ranked #2 in the first division after the open.

I earned the match and was the best player on the day – I should have and could have won it in 4, but as I said yesterday, it’s about ME playing MY game and having the confidence that whatever that is (of course it’s my little secret) it’s (more than) good enough to win.

Then I have to trust and believe that all the drills, preparation and routines will play themselves out when I need them on the court during the key points in the match.

They did – both today and yesterday’s matches would have had a completely different outcomes months, maybe even weeks ago.

That is the beauty of the 1 percent improvement doctrine – once applied, the BEFORE and AFTER contrast is like BLACK and WHITE, ON and OFF.

2 of my regular squash partners watched both my matches yesterday and today and they were witness to the improvements – many of them slight nuances that they too could see have made a difference in me as well as IN THEIR GAME…

That’s why competition at this world-class level is so important. It’s the only way to gauge, monitor and track progress. Anything else is a compromise, a substitute.

Wish me luck for tomorrow’s match!

Cool Body Scan

Psst! Don’t forget to mention me as the source and of course Caylene who passed it on to me so you could have it!

Did you know…

• It takes your food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.
• One human hair can support 3 kg (6.6 lb).
• The average man’s penis is three times the length of his thumb.
• Human thighbones are stronger than concrete.
• A woman’s heart beats faster than a man’s.
• There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.
• Women blink twice as often as men.
• The average person’s skin weighs twice as much as the brain.
• Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing still.
• If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it.
• Women reading this will be finished now.
• Men are still busy checking their thumbs.

Champions know that the key to success is not achieving to be happy, but rather happily achieving – which means having FUN with stats like these.

What I’m talking about it playing to WIN versus playing to IMPROVE. I often play with players who just want to WIN on the DAY. That’s it, that’s all. They don’t care about tomorrow or the next day. Winning TODAY is everything.

Winning Might Make You Into A Loser

They fail to realise that by WINNING today, they end up losing TOMORROW or NEXT MONTH when it really counts.

It’s hard to tell someone who’s driven to achieve NOT to… Even TEMPORARILY…

So hard in fact that few people can actually make the transition – it’s like a tug of war. I see it often.

TOO often. In fact I’m at the point where I can determine who’s committed to excellence and who just wants to have a hit (=fun).

When you come across someone who wants to play ANY sport or do ANY activity to IMPROVE rather than WIN – become their very best friend.

They will take you to greater heights that you could ever have imagined.

When you play to IMPROVE, you will become the BEST you can be – which is the BEST you can ever aspire to be. Chances are, THAT will make you a Champion if only in life, that would still be one helluva a victory!

There is a parallel in business that I’ll address in my Business Mastery Blog… For today, think about what I said and let it incubate in your psyche. I remember the day I had this epiphany YEARS AGO.

I still struggle to help others have this same ‘enlightenment’, but y’know what?

It’s not for everyone. Some people are not meant to be Champions and deep down down really want to be.

Fair dinkum.

I sliced, I drove, I floated and I lobbed the ball – each and every time Malcolm created his own pace to hit his cross court nick drop shot – MASTERFUL.

Now that I have EXPERIENCED it first-hand I can now start the process of learning to mimic it to get the same devastating effect on the ball.

Champions like to help Champions get better…

Fun stuff!

That being said, I explained that my goals have been to get in the ‘Top 100′ last year, I made the ‘Top 50′. This year I am aiming for the ‘Top 32′ and the year after that, the ‘Top 16′. That is where I think I will reach my maximum skills and fitness —> That I am willing to create and invest in.

Sure, I could stop working, get myself a coach, a dozen players to train and WIN a World Championship, but what would I do the day after that?

What would it have cost me?

What would be the point?

I have a big ego, but not THAT big.

I also have an equally big INTELLECT (a.k.a. a brain that stills works).

I reckon that I can reach the TOP 16 in the world AND not get injured OR create any long-term damage to my body AND be fit, heathly and vitally strong AND be professionally and financially successful AND enhance my personal/romantic relationship AND expand my ‘inner circle’ of friends…

As you might know, my mission in life is “to continue living my dream and empower others to do the same“.

My dream is to become the best ‘me’ I can be. That means “I can have it all”.

I don’t want ONE thing at the cost of everything else.

If I do end up winning a World Championship, trust me – I’ll take it!

But my goal, my outcome is NOT uni-dimensional. It’s multi-dimensional BECAUSE that’s what I’m all about – life is an adventure, a journey that isn’t and should never be about juts ONE thing.

It should be about living a FULL-FILLING LIFE.

Anyway, that’s my outcome/goal/result/reward I want.

I am having a BLAST as I happily achieve rather than achieving to be happy.

I just wanted you to know – so you can appreciate a different, antimimeticisomorphic perspective on ‘winning’.

I’ll tell you about an experience of lifetime I had this week with someone I consider to be a ‘World Champion of his life even though he only reached #7 in the world in squash…’ In my esteem, he’s ‘World #1 in inspiration, leadership, tenacity and excellence of leading by example’.

More about him in an upcoming blog post.