What happened to England in the world cup rugby final? I have a theory about this and I share it with you now.
As England fans hauled themselves out of bed to view the early morning cup-final kick-off beamed around the UK from Yokohama most believed their team just needed to turn up on the pitch to easily carry off the most coveted trophy in world rugby. As the fervent faithful gathered at rugby clubs and pubs for their early morning pints, full English breakfasts and sporting bonhomie the atmosphere was slightly tense but entirely optimistic. We were going to win. Of course we were. Any other outcome was impossible to imagine after our complete semi-final demolition of the mighty all blacks, the current champions and universally considered best team in the world. If we could beat them so comprehensively then our opponents in the final, South Africa didn’t stand a chance. After all, they lost to New Zealand in the group stages earlier in the tournament. But if sport teaches us anything at all it is the total fallacy of the equation that if A beats B and B beats C then A must beat C. No mate. It doesn’t work like that at all. There would be no point in bothering to play some of the games if it was true. By half time the bacon butties were causing acute indigestion and the milk was curdling in the tea. England were losing and no team that had been losing at half time in the world cup final had ever come back to win. And neither did England. But why? They played so well in the semi-final and yet were beaten easily in the final. I hate to sound like a bighead but I wasn’t entirely surprised. I felt it coming for two main reasons. First, most players and fans were talking as if our win was a foregone conclusion. Never a good thing in top sport.
After the semi-final everyone was confident and buoyant, that’s okay, but they totally underestimated the quality, toughness and determination of the springboks who had crept their way unexpectedly into the final. However, the bottle green boys also had an extra motivation. The chance to heal a divided nation. Their black captain, Siya Kolosi, who had clawed his way from township slums to become leader of this elite sports team in a country that places such huge value on the importance of sport, particularly rugby, was an inspirational boost. He wanted to inspire every kid in South Africa. This provided a motivational element felt by all his players which is something that can’t really be coached. It is an intrinsic belief. But there was another, more crucial element that can most certainly be coached and which was possibly an oversight by the England coaching team. The team had peaked in the semi-final and didn’t have enough left in the tank to compete in the final. They were drained. What England did to New Zealand in the semi, South Africa did to England in the final. Started quickly, took the initiative, gained control, scored early and retained the momentum. England struggled to get on terms, particularly in the scrum, because they had played their final a week too early. When coaching teams or individual athletes you don’t want them to peak in the first round or any other round. You want them to peak in the final. If they don’t make it to the final then you shake hands with your opponents, examine everything that happened and make the changes needed to bring about a better outcome next time. But if you peak too early you’re unlikely to win. The team that wins is usually the team that peaks in the final. In this case South Africa without a doubt. But if you consider the unifying and positive effect this victory will have on the rainbow nation, a country scarred badly by historical racial hatred, we shouldn’t be too disappointed.
‘Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.’
Many people have an underlying feeling that something is missing in their lives. When questioned closely it emerges that what they want most is happiness but they allow stress, anxiety and the pressing ‘responsibilities’ of modern life to avoid getting it. On a level of one to ten how happy are you? Maybe you feel that happiness is some abstract concept that may exist sometime in the future. But the mantra is clear. There’s no need to wait, you can be happy now because by using Peter Gilmour’s simple yet potent methods for just a few minutes every day you will feel better, function better, be happier and improve every aspect of your life.
Peter is passionate in his desire to pass on these rapid techniques to his audiences in order to create a happier, healthier world. He offers the chance for anyone to learn these amazing secrets at his popular seminars held around the UK and abroad throughout the year. At his How to be Happy event, Peter Gilmour shows you how to be happy now. These are not lectures but humorous, vibrant, interactive events including interesting anecdotes, videos & demonstrations. At the event you will learn ten simple, potent techniques you can take away and use every day to feel better, function better and feel happier so that your life improves in every way.
If you want to revitalise and re-energise your life keep an eye on these pages for events near you or arrange for Peter to visit your club, business or any other gathering of interested people anywhere in the UK or abroad.
On 6th May 1954 Roger Bannister stepped out onto a running track in Oxford in an attempt to break the record for running the mile. The previous record had stood at 4.01.4 for nine years during which many great athletes had tried and failed to break this daunting record to the point where it was generally considered beyond the capacity of any human being to achieve Because of that it had become known as the four-minute mile barrier. Indeed, scientific opinion of the time warned that if you were foolhardy enough to attempt such a feat your heart might explode in the process. But banister and other athletes, in particular his great rival the Australian John Landy, were convinced it was possible and each was determined to be the first.
On that day Bannister made history and re-defined what was possible. He fell exhausted through the finishing tape in a record time of 3.59.4 and his great, almost superhuman effort was hailed as one of the finest moments ever in the history of athletics.
Curiously however, in the following twelve months, a number of other athletes managed to run the mile in under four minutes and John Landy broke the record by a full second only one month after Bannister What does this tell us?
It’s all about belief. Bannister had such great belief in his ability to succeed in his goal of breaking the four-minute barrier that he was able to overwhelm scientific opinion of the time and make the impossible possible. But it was only when he had achieved it that others knew and believed it was possible and that they could do it too.
The moral of the story, like so many of the most wonderful things in life, is very simple. If you believe you can win you have a chance of winning. If you don’t believe you can win you probably won’t. So Peter Gilmour’s advice to ambitious athletes is to practice believing and his method has many techniques, sessions, tricks and triggers to help you do exactly that and work towards the Bannister model of unconquerable belief.
By the way, the record for the mile currently stands at 3.43.13 more than a quarter of a minute faster than Bannister and that was achieved by Hicham el Guerrouj in Rome in 1999.
Hypnosis is a state of deep relaxation during which it is possible to communicate with the sub-conscious mind and replace negative ideas with positive suggestions. The sub-conscious mind is where behaviour patterns are created. The process is perfectly safe, enjoyable and effective. The hypnotic state is a pleasant experience and most people find it similar to daydreaming. It doesn’t control your mind or change your character but is highly motivating and very often life-changing.
Hypnotherapy has many applications and is a suitable treatment for such issues as stopping smoking, losing weight, boosting confidence, building self-esteem, boosting energy, relaxation, removing fears, phobias & habits, stress relief, pain relief, anxiety relief, calming exam and driving test nerves, business motivation, managing anger and depression, removing addictions, controlling IBS symptoms, defeating dyslexia, improving concentration etc, etc. Apart from the use of hypnosis for sports motivational purposes, many of these applications are useful to athletes with personal issues to resolve.
Hypnosis is sometimes described as an altered state or a state of intense focus. It is a state with which we are all familiar as we experience such states many times during the course of a day particularly when waking in the morning or drifting off to sleep at night because it is the state in between being asleep and awake. A universally familiar hypnotic state is when driving and not being aware of the passage of time. Arriving somewhere without being able to remember how you got there. Some find it frightening but it’s perfectly safe because the sub-conscious mind contains the blue-print of how to drive your car from many repeated applications so when the conscious mind drifts into an altered state wandering wherever it will, the subconscious mind automatically takes over and drives the car for you. Should anything happen that requires the driver’s attention such as traffic lights changing or the brake lights of the car in front lighting up then the driver simply snaps into conscious awareness and is able to deal with the situation normally.
Hypnotherapy is not the same as stage hypnosis and subjects are never required to do anything embarrassing, reveal any private information or do anything they don’t want to do. During Hypnotherapy the subject is always in control and aware of everything that happens. You can’t get stuck in a trance and can leave it at will. Even if the Therapist left the room and never returned you’d simply come round by yourself in a few moments or just drift off into a restful sleep.
It is the same with self-hypnosis, the self-induced state that Peter Gilmour teaches and encourages his clients to use regularly. Should anything happen that requires your immediate attention during a session you simply snap into conscious awareness and can deal with it normally.
During Hetro-Hypnosis (that means with a Hypnotist facilitating the session) the subject is seated, fully-clothed in a comfortable chair or lying prone on the floor (often more convenient with group sessions) listening the sound of the therapist’s voice with a background of soothing music. It is sometimes necessary to respond with finger movements, nods of the head or speech. There is usually no need for physical contact however with the subject’s permission the therapist may on certain occasions shake hands, press lightly on the subject’s forehead, touch the subject’s shoulder or hand or pull or lift their arm.
People turning up for their first Hypnotherapy session are sometimes a little apprehensive because they have no idea what’s going to happen, what it will or should feel like and most likely might have seen some daft stage hypnosis somewhere. So they can be concerned about losing control, making a fool of themselves, acting like a chicken, or getting stuck in a trance. Such anxieties are completely baseless. Stage hypnosis is purely for entertainment whereas Hypnotherapy is exactly what the word implies, using Hypnosis for therapy and is carried out by competent, qualified practitioners who are bound by the ethics and regulations of the profession. Accordingly therefore, people are never apprehensive for their second session because they have already discovered that it’s relaxing, enjoyable, highly motivational and generally beneficial and can’t wait to get on with it.
Indeed, nothing bad can happen to you. Only good things happen with Hypnotherapy.
Are there any side effects? Yes, you feel great, at the height of your powers and if you play sport your performance level improves.
Sports Hypnosis has been used for many years with top performing athletes.
The first known use was with Russian gymnasts and weight-lifters in the fifties.
The Brazilian National football team that won the World Cup in Sweden in 1958 used hypnosis for team bonding.
Wigan Athletic used a Hypnotherapist in its first season in the Premiership when they were favourites for relegation but reached the League Cup Final and almost qualified for Europe.
Other clubs that have used Hypnosis are Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Stoke City, Ipswich Town, Swindon Town, Swansea City, Birmingham City, Sheffield United, Bristol Rovers, Bristol City, Cheltenham Town, Hereford United, Arsenal, Fulham, Portsmouth, Barnsley, Reading and Colchester United.
England cricket captain Mike Brearley, athlete Iwan Thomas and golfers Ian Woosnam and Nick Faldo were all known to use Sports Hypnosis.
Boxers Frank Bruno, Nigel Benn and Steve Collins used Hypnosis before many successful fights.
The Formula 1 racing driver Michael Shumacher used Hypnosis to enhance his extraordinary abilities.
Amongst other high-profile athletes who have used Hypnosis are ASP Tour surfer Russell Winter and Beijing Olympic Champions Vince Hancock (Olympic Skeet) and Steve Hooker (Pole Vault).
There are countless other examples but more recently Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Lewis Hamilton, David Beckham and Michael Jordan are all known users of hypnotic techniques for performance enhancement and these are just the most well-known amongst many others.
If you ask any serious athlete to what extent their mental state affects their performances they all tell you a huge amount usually 70, 80 or 90%. Nobody says less than 50%. But if you then ask them what they do to prepare their minds for competition most of them say nothing at all. This is a crazy paradox because if athletes believe their mental state is so important for their performance level then logic suggests they should be spending as much time working on their minds as their bodies. But although these legions of ambitious athletes torture themselves with long hours of physical hard slog in the gym or pool, court or field in order to crank up their bodies to peak performance level they do little if anything to condition their minds for competition. The mental side of things is almost completely neglected and many athletes only seek help for mental issues when something goes seriously wrong such as a dramatic loss of form or a crisis of confidence (or both). But you need to be mentally strong to make it as a successful athlete and the world is littered with the broken dreams of talented individuals who lacked the mental strength to achieve the success expected of them. The truth of course is that mental training is crucial and should form an integral part of the training programme of any athlete who is genuinely interested in success because all the time and effort practicing and getting physically fit is wasted without the mental strength to be mentally strong and confident at vital moments of competition. Deep down they know this.
The truth of course is that:
You don’t go to the gym once and declare yourself fit. You build up fitness over a period and maintain it regularly with continuous exercise. The same applies to mental strength but it is amazing how many athletes think that a single session of mental training will get their minds ‘sorted out’. Whilst you certainly experience a very significant benefit from the first session it is only a beginning and using mind-strengthening methods as a regular part of your training schedule will transport you into new realms of achievement beyond your wildest dreams. In fact, it should be continually stated until indelibly emblazoned on the mind of all athletes and coaches that a programme of mental training should be undertaken by all athletes of any level every day to get their minds in top mental shape in the same way as they undertake physical training every day to get their bodies in top physical shape. There, I’ve said it again. integral part of the programme of any who is genuinely interested in for mental issues when something goes seriously wrong such as a dramatic loss of form or a
So being in top mental shape requires regular mental training just as being in top physical shape requires regular physical training. But also, just as athletes perform a physical warm-up routine prior to competition, they need a mental warm-up to drive out all negative thoughts and leave them feeling strong, confident and powerful with only positive thoughts flowing through their minds.
Few, however, are aware of even the most fundamental techniques for conditioning their minds in this way and labour under the illusion that wearing some special underwear, having the same breakfast on match day or listening to their favourite pop music will transport them to world-class heights. If you think it helps then do it but these superstitions are mere kids-stuff compared to proper mental training methods. Athletes are not always assisted much by coaches, many of whom fail to recognise the importance of mental training. Many tend to hide behind the ludicrous idea that you’re either born with mental strength or you’ll never have it. In fact, mental strength can be manufactured and built up in any willing athlete until they are positively overflowing with confidence, belief and winning feelings.
It is the great broken link that any athlete must fix without delay if they wish to stay in contention with their more progressive rivals and it is exactly what Peter Gilmour’s methods are designed for – the opportunity to be truly in the zone and experience that beautiful state at will. The optimum state for competition is to be nice and relaxed with the correct amount of positive tension which is a kind of excitement. When you achieve the correct balance you enter the zone. When you’re in the zone you switch over to auto-pilot and your mind and body click into harmony. Everything is right, everything is perfect and you achieve remarkable results. Everything flows easily and effortlessly and you feel a surge of purpose and strength. You feel amazing and at that fantastic moment your performance skyrockets and you go further than you have ever gone before. That is what these methods do for you. Not only do they improve the athlete’s performance level and help them achieve their full potential but it is absolutely certain that they cannot achieve their full potential without them. You don’t get this even with the best silk underwear.
So what is mental strength? Where does it come from? How do you get it?Why is it that some players perform at a consistently high level in training but cannot reproduce the same standard in matches? These are questions that mystify players, athletes and coaching professionals but the answers are actually quite simple and for the benefit of doubt, here they are:
Mental strength is a mix of four ingredients – confidence, belief, motivation & focus
It comes from inside you
You get it by following Peter Gilmour’s mental training methods
Please listen carefully. This is not rubbish or hit-or-miss or mumbo-jumbo. If you carry out these methods, and they are not difficult, you will raise your performance level without any doubt whatsoever because this is scientific and always works. Very often the effect is rapid and dramatic and sometimes it is more subtle but there is always a significant improvement right from the start. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll win every time but it does mean you’ll have a better chance of winning every time. That’s what it’s all about – Inspired performance. World-class performance. World-class happiness. If you want this then call Peter Gilmour now on 07831 699624
