From good to GREAT

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I’ve been working with some fantastic coaches and leaders recently in business and sport and I have become aware of something very powerful.

The difference between being good and being GREAT.

What is the difference?

My insight may not be what you expect.

I have discovered that the difference between being good at something and being GREAT at something is quite small. Let me explain.

I am not saying that you only have to do a little bit more work or put in a little bit more effort to become great.

What I am saying is that the difference lies in the smallest of details.

Great athletes, great coaches, great leaders… they all focus on every small detail no matter how small as long as they believe it will help them and their people to improve.

And I believe that the difference lies in those individuals who are willing to pay attention to every small detail and apply what they learn no matter how small it seems.

It is this attention to detail that makes the difference.

It is a mindset ultimately.

A mindset that says you are willing to do whatever it takes to go from being good (like the crowd) to being GREAT like the minority.

The average person would see this approach as obsessive or over the top. I have seen this reaction both in the workplace and at the highest level of sport. It can creep into any team, any workforce, any group of people.

Those who become great ignore the majority. They don’t see being obsessed as something negative. They see it as part of the process and they love it. Being obsessed is just another way of saying you are passionate about something and we certainly need more people like that in the World.

Think about how this applies to you and your life right now.

Are you simply good at what you do or are you taking note of every single detail you can to become GREAT?

I know which one I have chose and I know which one is more satisfying.

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

Motivational Keynote Speaker, Author and Performance Psychologist based in the UK

Did you enjoy this insight? If so then I just know you will love my book which captures lots of lessons from the greatest performers in both sports and business and shows you how to apply them in your life for amazing results.

How quick are you to judge yourself?

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Over the weekend me and a friend of mine were discussing how in football, the quickest of judgements are made and beliefs are formed about players in an instant.

It got me to thinking about how sometimes we are too quick to judge ourselves. Both in a positive and a negative sense.

We make one mistake and we say “I’m no good at that, it’s not for me”.

Or we do something well a couple of times and we say “I’ve got this handled. I will improve at something else now. Next”.

Both scenarios hold us back without us even realising.

If you judge yourself on the negative too quickly then you never really give anything your full effort. And we know what happens when you do this. You don’t improve.

If you judge yourself on the positive too quickly you don’t try any harder and just remain at a ‘good’ level and good just isn’t good enough. You should be aiming for GREAT.

I seen this happen with some young athletes a few weeks back. They were practising a new drill and in their first attempts they were struggling to get the hang of it. I said to them, don’t judge yourself just yet. Give it 10 tries and then see if you have improved. They did and guess what? They improved and were pleased with themselves.

The lesson?

Don’t always listen to your mind until you have given something enough time to judge it over. We generalize far too quickly and if we are not careful we end up forming negative beliefs about things in our lives that just don’t make sense. Worse still is that these beliefs can hold us back for many years without us even realising.

Where have you been guilty of this?

And how are you going to turn it around?

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

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

If you enjoyed this article then you will love my book which is full of more great strategies to help you become the best you can be. Check it out and get OPTIMIZED!

Response – Ability

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What does the word responsibility mean to you?

For me, it means how you respond to the events in your life. And it is your response that then determines your results.

For example:

You try something. It doesn’t work out. Do you try again? Do you give up? Do you become more determined to succeed? Or do you dwell in the disappointment?

Your Response – ability will determine every result in your life.

How would you rate your ability to respond to the events that happen in your life?

Realising that your response is your choice is the first step to improve your response-ability.

How can you start doing that?

Quit moaning about the weather, the economy, other people, your job, your circumstances – this is a virus that will just keep you stuck in a negative mindset. If you want to lead a successful life you cannot be spending any of your time focusing on the negative aspects of life – least of all constantly banging on about them!

Successful people are quick to find and implement a solution.

Bad weather? I better wrap up warm and wear an even bigger smile today.

Bad economy? I better do a better job then.

People in your life are dragging you down? Tell them to quit moaning, lose them or inspire them by being a super positive influence.

You get the idea.

Now go and implement. Nothing changes until you do.

Inspiring you to be the best you can be,

Martin Robert Hall

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

Did you enjoy this blog? The subject was taken from a sub-chapter in my book. My book is full of great methods like this to help take your life to a whole new level. Don’t think – Order it!

Life Lessons from Elite Sport – Part Four

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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.

 

Never Never NEVER Give Up

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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

Life Lessons from Elite Sport – Part Three

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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.

Organize to OPTIMIZE

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Are you an organized person?

Do you prepare fully for each day ahead?

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.

Life lessons from Elite Sport – Part Two

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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.

 

Life lessons from Elite Sport – Part One

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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.

Belief vs Action: Which is more important?

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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.