After helping England win the world rugby union cup in 2003, Jonny Wilkinson is often asked to do promotional work. As usual, he over delivers and treats others the way he would like to be treated.
For example, he does not like to disappoint kids who have come to one of his kicking clinics. He teaches them the way he would like to have been taught.
He remembers how a golfing instructor 'took a little time out just to confuse him and then walked away.' Jonny had been looking forward to the session even if the instructor had not.
When Jonny teaches, he takes all the time he needs to teach the kids properly. He appreciates the effort that they and their parents have made to attend the clinic and will not send them home disappointed or confused.
Jonny does not use his voluntary activities as an excuse for cutting back on his training 'even if it means an evening kicking session alone on the local football pitch.'
He practices his kicks for six days a week for at least an hour and a quarter. There is no limit to the maximum:
"I can't rest until I have tamed the devil in my head and if that means kicking until all hours, then it just has to be done."
At the end of each session, Jonny takes six kicks at goal from different positions. If the kicks do not go over correctly, he has to start the whole sequence again. It once took him five hours to get all six over.
He realizes that he may be overtraining but he has to end his training feeling satisfied. He even accepts the boredom of having to fetch the balls he has kicked as part of his training:
"For quite a lot of the time, I train alone at Kingston Park. I think having to go and fetch the stray balls that have bounced into the stand in order to repeat the exercise adds mental toughness."
I am surprised that Jonny has not included cleaning the toilets as part of his training. That would certainly increase his mental strength!
Jonny's concept of the fact that doing boring chores can increase your mental toughness is a very useful one. It gives the chores we all face daily the power and the importance of developing our discipline, toughness and character.
Many of us do not understand the importance of the little choices we make every single day. We do not realize that they are a means of strengthening our will power and creating an unstoppable character.
Instead of thinking: "I have to do the boring chore of cleaning my room," one could think: "I am cleaning my room and at the same time making myself mentally tough and more likely to achieve great things in the future."
As a bonus, the room gets cleaned as well!
Jonny makes full use of the power of self-talk and takes care over what he allows into his mind as he trains. Your own words to yourself can make a huge difference to what you can achieve.
Words of praise can boost your confidence. Words of criticism, so long as they are accompanied with words which tell you how to improve, are acceptable.
Recently one of my younger students gained seven A+'s at his grading. His sister was very disappointed that she had only been awarded seven A's. I made a point of telling her that she could easily match her brother, if she yelled more and looked more ferocious!
In matches, Jonny tells himself that he is doing well. This increases his self-confidence and helps him to do his best. I tell my martial arts students at a grading to 'speak' positively to themselves.
Positive affirmations, even if they are lies or half truths, like 'I am swift and powerful' can relax and encourage the students to do better than they other wise would. Sometimes, the lying affirmations can become the truth.
One of Jonny's coaches, Dave Alred, taught him how to be his own coach by understanding the mechanics of what he was doing. Jonny would find this knowledge to be invaluable:
"I know I will make mistakes but I also know why, so I can put things right."
Like Alred and many successful people, Jonny is willing to learn from any source. He improves his focus and energy when kicking by using a yoga technique called centering. This allows him to channel his inner energy from a core point just behind his navel:
"I concentrate on the energy surging down my left leg and into my left foot. This creates an explosive contact with the ball."
Jonny also learns explosive power and defensive footwork from doing some boxing training and he learns evasive footwork from some of the great soccer players like Kevin Keegan.
One of his sporting heroes is Walter Peyton from American Football.
Some might say that Jonny's way of training is more suited to an individual rather than a team sport. But Jonny sees his kicks as part of a process involving many members of the team.
Without the cooperation of several members of the team he would not have received the ball at the right time and place to kick the drop goal than won the 2003 world cup.
Part of his motivation for going the extra mile is his 'reluctance to let down' his team-mates. He pleases them by kicking goals that many would describe as 'impossible'. He enjoys it when his fellow players chuckle as he flattens an opponent with a ferocious tackle.
However, Jonny, although he is the number one goal kicker, still has to do the fitness and weight training that the other team members do. His competitive spirit comes into this:
"When it comes to conditioning, there is no escape from the basics of running and lifting weights, but I try to train more efficiently and often in a different way to other players to gain an edge. There are so many good young players coming through that to stay still I have to keep moving ahead."
Competition for places is a key part of English rugby. There are so many solid English rugby players that every player needs to look over his shoulder at the competition. In August 2007, England beat Wales by a huge score of 62 - 5 in a 'friendly' international.
Jonny played in the match against Wales and was even praised by a Welshman as a 'phenomenal kicker'. He also achieved one of his listed aims by improving his kicks into touch. One was described as 'fantastic'. Another was 'brilliant'. His footwork was evasive and effective.
At one point he made a crunching tackle. 'He can still do that as well', exclaimed one commentator. He made a try with a clever kick which completed the hammering of the Welsh team. Another commentator said: "He had an awesome game."
Jonny gives everything in his intense training sessions with his coach, Blackie. He does not 'relish' the thought of training but knows he has to do it and how good he will feel afterwards. He also enjoys the feeling of having made progress.
He puts himself through the pain barrier and feels like he is going to be sick as he 'flogs himself' onward:
"The secret of dealing with the pain is not to look to the end of the exercise but to concentrate on what you are doing at that precise moment. If you let your mind think of the torture ahead it will try to persuade you that you cannot face it."
This is great advice. If you are writing a book just concentrate on the sentence you are writing now. If you are walking just think about the next step.
Jonny prefers not to know when a session will end. This way he cannot pace himself and is more likely to go at it 'hammer and tongs' from the start. His mental toughness will grow and grow.
Jonny does not respect players who play well for England but do not make a similar effort when they play for their clubs. He believes you should give your best efforts for both club and country.
A major secret behind Jonny's success is that he writes his goals down:
"Winning the world cup fulfilled a promise I made to myself when I was ten. Most children write out Christmas lists for Santa - I wrote out a list of goals I wanted to achieve as a rugby player."
Many years later after the world cup win and a major operation he wrote a new list of short term goals in his black book. They covered his club, international rugby and his life. One goal was to make himself the fittest player in world rugby.
One of his long term goals is: "To win the World Cup again with England and be a major influence in the side that does it."
Although I am partly Scottish and partly English, I sincerely hope he succeeds this autumn.
The above success 'secrets' are only secrets to those who have not read about them or experienced them but they are still worth thinking about again and again:
When you are teaching others anything, take all the time you need to teach them thoroughly. Don't leave them confused. Overdeliver on your promises and 'love your neighbour as yourself'.
Don't use your good deeds as an excuse to cut back on your training or whatever you need to practice.
Use the boring and apparently trivial daily tasks to build your will power and mental toughness.
Use self talk like positive affirmations to build your confidence.
Learn about what you are doing in depth so that you can become your own coach.
Be willing to learn from any source. Don't close your mind to other sports or activities.
Don't let down the members of your team. Value their contributions.
Competition with others can bring out the best in you.
If your training is painful, just concentrate on each task as you do it. Don't think about how long it will take or when the pain will end! The enjoyment will come more from the results of your training than the actual training itself.
Give your best efforts all the time and not just on special occasions.
Write out your goals list before your 'Santa list'.
John Watson has just written a brand new ebook on 'How To Reach Your Goals Now By Ditching Your Excuses' which describes how to deal effectively with the excuses which prevent many of us from achieving our dreams. You will find it at: motivationtoday.com/howtoreachyourgoalsnow.php motivationtoday.com/howtoreachyourgoalsnow.php
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