Visualise, Inspire and Conquer

"Dream, Believe and Achieve", David Clarke - Captain of the England Blind Football Team. This phrased was championed by David during his speech to the St Albans and Watford Chamber of Commerce last Thursday morning. Just recently, David and his team mates training and personal exploits had been well documented on the Channel 4 series, Best of British - Episode 1, which is infact getting a re-show tomorrow evening at 5pm! Check it out - I implore you. (Sunday 5pm, Ch4).

David was invited by the chamber of commerce as a guest speaker to a breakfast meeting at the Watford football club grounds. Instantly he managed to make us laugh by demonstrating some of the self confessed 'black humour' which apparently runs rampant within the paralympic GB squad. I won't tell you his party piece in this post - but if you really want to know then drop me an email.

Before I signed up for the breakfast meeting, I was not sure what David was planning to talk to us about. It was personally well received that he chose a subject which we all could do with some brushing up on - 'how to succeed'. It is a bit of a paradox really. If we all managed to concentrate and implement the lessons brought to us by successful people such as David Clarke and his ilk, then logically this would shorten our chances of achieving success through being so well prepared. Unfortunately though, this does not stack up mathematically, as there can still be only ONE winner and ONE winning team. "We were not in this game, just to be happy with reaching the finals. Winning has always been our goal", David Clarke - 5 times runner-up in the Blind Football European Championships. As David revealed to the audience his bewildering history in the European Championships, the pain was etched across his face, but hidden behind a beaming smile. The frustration was tangible to me; he paused at he end of every sentence as if to relive each and every last minute defeat. As the words fell out, I recognised this feeling. It appeared to me that by dragging the past disappointments out for everyone to see, it solidified his need to train harder and visualise his strategy with a greater accuracy.

The 3 zone coaching system used in blind football. The goalkeeper coaches the defending third of the pitch. The team manager coaches the middle third, and the final third is coached by your very own coach who is stood behind the oppositions goal. An interesting zone management strategy.

You will be forgiven for concluding that the only person (people) standing in your way to success and creative freedom are those who are 'better' than you, or 'smarter' or 'fitter' or more 'talented'. I do not believe that this is so. These people who you value in such a high regard represent only the nominal benchmarking for success. You can view these guys and girls as targets to visualise, and eventually zero in on and blast past them. The people who you must pay the most attention to and beat - day in and day out.... are yourselves.

David was trying to convey how important this is to the ladies and gentlemen that Thursday morning in a way which he seemed to know very well - by connecting with others and showing them how much he had dreamed about winning a gold medal. He wanted everyone to see that he and his team mates believe that this is what they are going to do... but what really separates the winners from the losers is of course the very real feeling of achievement which goes with owning a gold medal.

You can go through business life quite happily accepting failures, and giving up on your dreams as this world seems to be very well set-up for a balanced existence. Trust me when I say that this is not the worst thing. The worst thing is not believing that you can make it and contaminating the dreams of others as a result. I saw David as a person who is not going to take no for an answer, and I have the greatest respect for that. If the unthinkable happens, and the England squad are equally as disappointed for the 6th time in a row at the European Championships, in Turkey later this year... then you better believe that he will using his energy and momentum to train for something else, equally challenging and as deeply important to him and his family.

How can this ever be considered anything less than inspirational?

Please will you join me in wishing David and his team mates good luck in Turkey - David Clarke (Twitter)


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