In 1963, a young boxer called Cassius Clay recorded a spoken word album declaring himself the greatest. He hadn’t won the world title yet. That fight was still six months away, against a champion nobody expected him to beat. He said the words before he’d proven a single one of them. Then he went and made them true.
I learned my own, considerably less glamorous version of that lesson in my first season in professional rugby, and it started with a page 3 poster stuck to a whiteboard with my name written underneath it.
In this episode I’ll tell you what I did in the split second after I saw it, why I decided to build my own perception rather than wait for anyone to hand me a fair one, and the one honest caveat I’d add now about where that instinct can tip into something less healthy if you let it.
This is the last episode of Season 1, so I’m leaving you with the lesson that’s shaped how I operate more than any other. Say it before you’re sure of it. Then go and make it true.
One lesson from sport. One story from me. One thing you can take away and use today.
Press play. I’ll see you in there.
I’m taking a break on the podcast for the summer, but I will be back with Season 2 in September.
If there’s a story you’d like dragged out of the archive, or a topic I haven’t touched on yet, let me know in the comments.
I read every single one.
