I have recently started working with an athletics club which has some great people, all the way from the coaches and staff to the athletes and the parents. The club has a World champion, several Olympic athletes and many young future Olympians and national champions already.

Last night I was talking to some of the youngsters about the difference between the very BEST, the champions and those that don’t quite make it.

I explained that the difference is in the final 1%. Those that are willing to go to the place where most people won’t are the ones who WIN. Some of them may not even win that many medals but by pushing themselves to go to places where most people are afraid to go, they fulfil their potential as athletes. And that is the ultimate goal. That is all they can do.

They cannot control the destiny of other athletes. They can only control their own. Do their personal best. And when they have done that, no matter where it places them in their field, they are a winner, a champion.

Most of the time they end up in the medal category as an indirect result of this attitude. Success is often a by product of how far you are willing to go. How far you are willing to push yourself, to apply yourself, to test yourself.

The U17′s had a tough night last night. They did 6 laps of the track to warm up (2400 M/1.5 miles). Then they did 10 x 200M sprints. Not quite at 100% but at about 85-90%. A tough session!

Half way through some of them were struggling. I had a chat with some of them and told them what makes the difference. Where you have to be willing to go to. They were feeling the pain. I told them they need to embrace the pain. Most people try and avoid it and if they want to succeed, then they need to embrace the pain. “LOVE THE PAIN” I said.

In the tenth and final sprint they did just that. One of the young athletes amazed the coaches with his time. He ran the final 200M in 25s. He has only recently turned 16! Afterwards he could not walk and had temporary blindness from exerting himself so much. He went to that place where most people are not willing to go. He embraced his fear zone and boy did it pay off.

In life, we all have this fear zone. We have it in every aspect of our lives. Successful people embrace this fear zone while many people avoid it. Most of your success lies in this zone but you have to earn it. You often have to do the things you don’t enjoy doing but you know they are required.

The great thing about embracing this zone is that every time you do you gain new found confidence and belief. You gain self esteem and all kinds of positive emotions that set you off on a pathway to success.

Every time you avoid going to this place, the invisible barrier (FEAR) gets stronger. The only way to remove the barrier is to go through it. Go beyond it.

And you CAN. It is just a mental barrier. It only exists in your mind. Ignore the doubts and limiting thoughts that try and tempt you into staying in your comfort zone and step beyond it into your FEAR ZONE. Embrace it and watch your RESULTS soar.

This is the place you need to go to regularly. If you do then your life will take on a whole new meaning and level of satisfaction.

As I explain in my book, you need to “make friends with fear”.

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

Motivational Speaker, Trainer and Performance Coach to Athletes and Businesses

Did you enjoy this article? I hope so! If so then please leave me your thoughts below and also check out my book which is full of similar strategies for success.

Think about this – if you simply refuse to give up, then how can you fail?

True failure to me is when you give up. If you simply refuse to give up on something, yes it may not always work out as you hoped but you certainly will not fail.

You can only fail when you stop trying.

True champions just refuse to give up. They see obstacles, disappointments and setbacks as part of the journey. A test from the universe to see how committed they are.

And something amazing happens when you simply refuse to give up. Things just seem to come easier. Life hands you better opportunities, better ways of doing things, better ideas. But you only become aware of these things when you refuse to give up.

When you set yourself a goal that you haven’t achieved before, how do you know what will happen along the way?

You don’t.

You may have done your research. You may have studied every other successful person. You may think you have all the answers. But believe me you don’t.

When I first started my business I had studied what everyone else was doing, how I needed to do it, what worked, what didn’t.

But I realised it wasn’t as simple as that. I had to go out and do it for myself. Learn my own lessons. Forge my own path.

The key is to NEVER give up on your goal but always be willing to change the route to that goal. Be flexible. If one way doesn’t work out, try another.

I’ve tried many many different things in my life so far. Some have worked out brilliantly, some have crashed and burned. But as long as I never give up on the end vision that I am working towards, I will get there and YOU will too.

Champions never give up on their dreams. They always try another approach.

It is this attitude that eventually leads them to amazing results.

When the greatest basketballer of all time was rejected from his high school team, he could have gave up. Many others would. But he didn’t. And look what Michael Jordan has done for the sport of basketball since?

You could say the same about Sir Richard Branson when his first business ventures didn’t take off or Sir Alex Ferguson when his initial period at Manchester United didn’t start as he would have liked.

Did they give up? Or did they find another way?

Look at where they are now.

Imagine your life, imagine never giving up on the vision you want to create, imagine where you will be in 5 years time if you simply refuse to give up?

I for one would love to find out so go and make it happen.

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

Motivational Speaker, Author and Peak Performance Coach

If you enjoyed this article then please do check out my book. It’s currently getting some great reviews and I just know you will enjoy it as much as the others

Champions are made when nobody is watching.

I spoke with a sporting client today. We have done some great work and he has made brilliant progress since we started working together. Every so often I check in to see how things are and if progress is being made consistently.

I always ask the question – Are you following through on the essentials? And then I told him that regardless of what he tells me, what he tells his coaches, what he lets others believe, that champions are made when nobody is watching and that if he is or he isn’t following through 100% then only he will know in his heart.

The ‘essentials’ are different for every person and vary depending upon the goal but the one thing that is consistent with following through on the essentials is the need for preparation.

You cannot perform at your peak if you are not prepared.

“The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital” – Joe Paterno

Do you prepare fully? For each and every day? For each and every moment and opportunity you get?

If you want to excel in life then you MUST prepare. Whatever your goals are, whatever your mission in life, the need for preparation is essential.

Whether you want to have a great career, earn lots of money, be a great parent, have a great body, have fantastic relationships, the need for preparation is essential.

If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

My client knows this and takes a performance inventory where he scores his performance on the essentials every day. He knows in his heart if he is doing all he can.

Do you?

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

Motivational Keynote Speaker, Trainer and Performance Coach based in the UK.

If you enjoyed this article then you will love my book which is full of great strategies and concepts like this to help you to reach your A game in life.

Do you plan, write and schedule things in?

Do you know exactly what you are going to do and when before the day has even started?

If you have answered yes to at least 2 of these questions you are doing well.

If not there is MUCH room for improvement.

People are always banging on about there only being so many hours in a day, so many day in our lives… And yet the majority of people do not spend enough time getting organised and prepared to make the most of each day.

So what happens?

It passes you by with distractions like social media, TV, conversations, pointless meetings, twiddling your thumbs…. Etc etc.

If you don’t get organized the day will pass you by.

You may see it as boring and YES you will have to use your brain to think about what you want to accomplish the following day/week/month BUT if you want to have a fulfilling life with lots of great moments you will have to plan them. Simple as that.

ORGANIZE to OPTIMIZE!

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

Motivational Speaker, Author and Performance Coach – Manchester, London, UK.

If you really want to get OPTIMIZED then check out my book here. It is full of simple strategies to optimize yourself and take your life to a whole new level.

This is the second in the series of lessons we can learn from the World of elite sports.

There is a lot to learn from elite athletes because the margins are so small that to become great you have to practise and master many disciplines.

The one I talked about in the first post was application. Read about it here.

Lesson number two

Great performers in sports overcome many obstacles on their road to victory.

They understand the principle of Optimal Response.

On the road to success in any walk of life you will face many obstacles and it has been no different for the best of the best in sport.

You may watch them on TV and think, wow, they are so lucky. They get to live their dream, earn lots of money and have the World at their feet.

But I promise you that it has not been an easy journey for the majority of elite athletes. Every single one of them has overcome many obstacles, setbacks and disappointments and that is what makes them great.

It is not what happens to you but how you respond to it that matters.

The BEST respond to defeat and they respond quickly. They are quick to put it down to learning and move on. They never reside in a place of negativity. They don’t have time. Their career is short and they must pick themselves up quickly and get back to their best.

But how is your life any different?

Life is short. It is to the majority of people anyway who just wander through it without really appreciating it and making the most of it. And we are all guilty of that at times.

But in elite sports there is no time to dwell or complain or over analyse why things don’t work. You have to be solution-orientated and you have to be quick to implement the solution.

One result can change the whole course of your season in sports. In life, one event, one decision, one moment can also change your whole year.

You will face challenges, both small and large. Many of these will be beyond your control but what will determine your RESULTS more than anything else is how quick you are to RESPOND to them in a positive fashion.

Now stop reading and go and respond to the latest challenge to pop up in your life.

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

Motivational Trainer, Speaker and Performance Coach based in the UK.

If you enjoyed this article then I just know you will love my book Optimize Yourself which is full of strategies to help you excel in your life. Check it out here.

I do a lot of work with professional athletes and teach the strategies they use for success in a highly competitive field to people in the business and corporate World.

There are many lessons I have learnt from modelling World class performers in sport that apply in our daily lives and I am going to be sharing some of them with you over the next few posts. The first lesson is below.

Lesson Number One

Every World Class performer in any given sport has put in the hours. Talent is overrated in sports because often it just is not enough. It is the people who are willing to work harder, who practise self-discipline and who make sacrifices others wouldn’t that I have found to be the most successful.

It is the same in business as in life. The people who have the easy ride are the ones who often struggle to maintain their success. There is no easy win in life. To sustain any level of success it takes constant application and willingness. Those who have it easy or who are naturally talented often meet with complacency at an earlier stage and their performance starts to decline. They often get overtaken by the more willing, gritty competitors who have a stronger desire and dedication to succeed. This is commonplace in the sporting World.

It is also commonplace in life.

Complacency is dangerous and it sneaks in through the smallest of cracks.

To keep it out you must keep raising the bar, setting higher goals and surrounding yourself with people and environments that demand the best from you.

In the sporting World you are surrounded constantly by winners, coaches and a culture that does not allow performances to drop. When they do you also have the whole World waiting to bring it to your attention. This is MASSIVE accountability.

Make sure you have accountability to a high standard in your life or by human nature you will rest on your laurels and before you know it, you will be left chasing the leaders.

A winning culture is not just important in the changing rooms (or your workplace). It is important in every aspect of your life – at home, your social circles, work, networking circles, online networks – everywhere.

Are you in a winning team?

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

Motivational Keynote Speaker, Author and Performance Coach based in the UK.

If you enjoyed this article then you will love my book, it is full of strategies used by the World’s best performers in sports, business and life. Check it out here.

Many would argue that belief leads to action.

If you believe in yourself then you are more willing to work hard at something because you believe your hard work will pay off in the end.

I had a great day yesterday working with some professional coaches and athletes from different sports and covered the topic of the athletes who believe in themselves. We discussed how those that believe they are going to succeed are more willing to put the work in, the work required to make sure they succeed.

Then there are those that lack the belief in themselves. Somewhere deep inside them for one reason or another, they lack self belief. This is common not just in sports but in all walks of life.

However our inner beliefs mean nothing unless they lead to the right actions.

After all, it is our actions that lead to our RESULTS.

You cannot measure a person’s progress by the amount of self belief they have because how do you measure self belief?

BUT you can measure the actions, the number of hours, the amount of practise and the results you are getting.

Now of course I am not saying self belief isn’t important. It is massively important in all walks of life but there are two ways of building it.

One is from the inside-out.

The other is from the outside-in.

The best way of building self belief from the inside is repetetive positive self-talk. The subconscious mind does not know the difference between something right or wrong. It just knows what it constantly hears. This is why positive self-talk plays a huge role in self belief. You can convince yourself something is true if you tell it yourself over and over again.

Does a certain “I am the greatest” statement ring any bells?

On the other hand, it is no use having self belief if you are not willing to put the work in and take the required actions to succeed.

And I believe too many people wait to feel sure about themselves before they take the action.

The drawback with this is that taking the action and puting in the work actually builds your self belief.

The question you need to ask yourself is this:

If I believed in myself 100% what action would I take?

Then take those actions.

You don’t need to believe in yourself to take action. You can just take the action regardless of how you feel.

The great thing about this is that you will see results and when you start to see results and improvements, your self belief will grow.

So don’t wait for one or the other.

Start building both.

Use the power of positive self-talk to build your belief up from the inside BUT make sure you also take the actions of somebody who believes in themselves 100%.

This is the inside-out approach.

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

Motivational Speaker, Author and Performance Coach based in the UK.

If you enjoyed this article and the methods I share with you at this blog then I just know you will love my book. Check it out here and take your life to a whole new level.

We all have them. Those days where for some reason things just don’t go to plan no matter how hard you try. You feel as though everything you attempt doesn’t come off and you quickly find yourself in a downhill spiral.

It happens to the best of us.

The crucial difference is the meaning you place on that event.

Do you write it off as a temporary blip, “one of those days” and quickly forget about it?

Or do you generalise and say “I guess I’m not cut out for this” or “this is too hard” and give up?

The difference lies in the length of time it takes you to get back on track.

Winners in life are quick to write off bad days, take the positives from the experience, learn from it and then get straight back on track the very next day.

They never let a BAD day turn into two BAD days. They know all about ‘Optimal Response’.

It is not the fact that you have had a bad day that determines your results, it is how long it takes you to respond.

As I said, even the BEST of us have bad days.

BUT the best are quick to put them to bed and move on. The last thing they do is wallow in defeat, in the misery of a bad day. The BEST cannot wait to get back on track because they are addicted to the buzz they feel when they are doing their best. That feeling that you are pushing yourself, you are achieving and growing as a person.

They cannot wait to get up the following day and DO something positive to get them back on track. They are determined not to let another day of their lives slip by because they know that is a dangerous place to be. They know that one bad day can quickly become a bad week and if you are not careful, before you know it, it’s been a bad year.

How many people do you know like that?

Be quick to stop the pattern forming as soon as it emerges. Every day is the chance for a fresh start. Remember that and get straight back ON IT with vigour, tenacity and enthusiasm.

This blog will help you to get back on track quickly.

Or convince yourself you are not cut out for this and never achieve what you really want.

Your choice!

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

Motivational Speaker, Author and Performance Coach based in the UK

If you like this strategy, then you will love the many more in my book. Check it out here and take your life to a whole new level STARTING TODAY.

Focusing your mind is one of the most crucial factors in achieving high performance in any task.

Our mind is like the most powerful of computers but most of the time we do not use it correctly. When were you last given a manual on how to run your mind like you were when you bought a computer or a mobile phone?

Similar to computers our minds can multi task and handle lots and lots of information at any one time, however is this optimal?

Think about when you are running multiple programs on a computer and it slows down. It becomes less effective doesn’t it? Well the mind is no different.

The problem with that is most people are running lots of different things through their mind at any one time. Most people’s minds today are overloaded with information AND most of the time it is useless information.

In performance psychology this is referred to as ‘Interference’.

Interference may show up in the shape of negative self talk, self-doubt, distractions, overwhelm from thinking about too much at any one time, trying too hard, reaching a mental block, etc.

There are many forms of interference but they all come as a result of a busy mind.

And a busy mind is counter productive to high performance. High performance requires full concentration on the task at hand. Especially when that task is important and requires you to be at your best.

That may be in competition, in training, in a meeting, in an interview, whilst giving a presentation. Whatever the task it is, whether it is in a business environment or a sporting environment – focusing your mind is essential.

If you want to be a high performer and excel at what you do then you MUST learn how to focus your mind when you need to. Because in high performance environments – whether that be a sporting arena, a boardroom, a sales call or during an intense workout – it is the smallest moments that make the difference.

Have you see the film Any Given Sunday?

Where Al Pacino gives the speech about “inches”?

Here it is if you have’nt seen it. It is well worth another watch even if you have.

And to GAIN that inch, to make the difference – the key is in focusing your mind. Whatever the task ahead of you.

Winners learn to FOCUS their minds. Losers are distracted. That is the difference.

So what can you do to focus your mind?

I have tried many different ways. Some work great and some not so great but here are my top recommendations;

Practise meditation

Meditation is about slowing down the mind and being in the moment. By practising meditation for just 5-10 minutes per day you are training your mind to FOCUS in the moment. This will transfer into all your daily tasks.

I know that whenever I practise meditation I am much more focused, less distracted and in the moment which in turn has a positive impact on my performance.

Develop a pre-performance ritual

Before you go into a task that will require your full focus, take a moment to prepare your mind mentally. Take a deep breath, slow down your breathing and your mind, focus on what you are about to do, repeat positive self talk (Muhammad Ali was the master at this “I am the greatest”) and then execute.

I get all athletes I work with to practise this and it has a tremendous impact on their performance. Watch any great athlete before a performance. The best are fully focused in the moment.

Do less but do it better

The word “busy” seems to be the buzz word today. It seems to have become popular to be busy. “Hello mate, how are you? You busy?”

Well busy with what exactly?

Be careful not to be busy just because it is a habitual pattern you  just repeat. The most effective performers do less but they do it with intense focus.

Try taking on less and doing it with more FOCUS. When you rush through things this is when you make mistakes, perform poorly and let yourself down.

It seems great in the moment to be feeling like you are getting lots of things done but not if in the end they actually get you nowhere because those things were not good enough.

Slow down and get it right first time.

Now go and put these into practise and watch your performances go through the ROOF.

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

Motivational Keynote Speaker, Author and Performance Coach – Manchester, London, UK.

My book is full of more insights into maximising your performance, controlling the mind and taking your life to the highest level – check it out here.

I gave a motivational keynote talk today called “Making it Happen – From Dreams to Reality”.

I explained how the most common thing I have come across that holds people back in life is FEAR.

Fear of change, fear of the unknown, fear of getting it wrong, fear of not being liked, fear of upsetting people, fear of being laughed at, fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of criticism, fear of what others think, fear of looking stupid, fear fear fear…..

The truth is we all have many fears. Most of them we are not even aware of. And when we embark on a new challenge or set a new goal that throws us into new situations we have not been in before (and every good goal will) then we will feel FEAR. It shows up in the form of negative self talk (doubt), uneasy feelings in our body (increased heart rate, shaking, red faced, dry mouth, butterflies, upset stomach, etc). You felt these feelings before?

I hope so. They are a sign of life. A sign you are growing, stretching, making progress.

Most people interpret these feelings as negative signs. “Oh I must not do that – it doesn’t feel right”.

HOW RIDICULOUS. I am here to tell you the opposite.

For you cannot achieve anything worthwhile without feeling the fear. Every time you do something new or challenging your comfort zone will kick in. The difference lies in your response.

Do you embrace the feelings?

Or do you avoid them and retreat?

It is your choice. One leads to growth, learning and eventual success.

The other leads to sticking to what you know and staying stuck in the same place.

One leads to the feeling of life running through your veins.

The other a feeling of warm comfortable – nothing-ness.

If you want success, if you want to win, to grow and to make progress towards your dream life then you need to embrace the feeling of your comfort zone.

I told the audience today that every time you fail at something – celebrate.

You know why?

Because if you always beat yourself up or worry or feel bad when you learn something (failure) then you will never try anything new and you will be denying yourself the chance of success.

And for what?

For some FALSE EXPERIENCE APPEARING REAL.

Most often you will find that your fear of doing something is worse than the actual doing itself.

So what are you scared of attempting at the moment?

Write down the action steps. Know that your comfort zone will kick in when you take them. Only this time embrace those feelings as a sign of your progress and how well you are doing.

If you can make this one shift in your perception of fear you will make more progress in your life than you would mastering any other habit.

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

Motivational Keynote Speaker, Author and Performance Coach based in Manchester and London, UK.

Check out my book on amazon, it’s receiving some great reviews. Please order a copy to help yourself become the best you can be and also help me achieve my goal of becoming a bestselling author and inspring people all over the World!

Thank you very much for reading today.