Making the Most of Our own Belief Systems

I love the Olympics with its mixture of minority sports that you never think of at any other time to stories of individual heroism, or even tiny little factoids about individual competitors. For example it gives me disproportionate pleasure to know that Christine Ohuruogu is the world's fastest linguist – yes she has a linguistics degree and her final year dissertation was on swear words. That was before I saw her race and then the way she won gold just made it better.

The story that has fascinated me most is the dominance of the GB cycle team not only because it is a story of individual prowess but also because it is an example of how to create a structure and environment for success. In every aspect they have been the most organised and professional team, with full attention paid to every detail (There is a good summary of the programme for success here and a full chronology of the pathway from the shambolic to the supreme here.).

I have been particularly interested in the role of the psychiatrist Steve Peters. Most of the people who help athletes with their mental approach call themselves sports psychologists but Peters is different as his background is forensic psychiatry and he has worked at Rampton Hospital. I don't know if that makes a difference but his practice seems to be rooted in the one-to- one approach of psychiatry. He does not offers an easy formula for success; there are no tips for a quick fix, instead he works to build a foundation of understanding so the the athletes knows how their minds work. This can take 12 months and is followed by understanding how other people think and then communication.

A good article about this works with the cycling team was published in the Guardian in May. This quote gives the practical basis of his approach:

"You walk in with a belief system, ideas, behaviour that you apply to sport. Some people can do very well, but most of us aren't sure how to use the equipment. I say 'This is how your mind works, this is how you get strength in certain areas, this is how to build up on the weak points, this is the skills base you need'."

The thing is that you do not have to be Chris Hoy or Victoria Pendleton for this to be appropriate - it applies to all of us plodding along, trying to get the best from our running. We all need to know how we gain strength and ways to combat our weaknesses. The knowledge that this is a skill that can be learnt is tremendously encouraging. Similarly the underlying philosophy of the cycling set-up can encourage everybody:

Where the British cycling team has broken new ground is in taking a bottom-up, athlete-centred approach, and here Peters has been key. "The athlete has to own their own programme," he says. "They formulate what they are doing." Rather than the coach telling the cyclist how he or she should be training, the athlete is strongly encouraged to take the coach's advice and take the final decision according to rules that have been previously agreed on, with the coach viewed more as an expert adviser. Commitment, ownership, responsibility and personal excellence are the watchwords, and again the nuance is important. "We would like excellence. What we ask for is personal excellence, which is very different."

So many of the people out there running on the roads and certainly all the people who write the blogs I read have that quality. They are taking responsibility for themselves and aiming for personal excellence, with their own criteria of what excellence means . We might not have all the resources at our disposal, no team of supporting experts but by exchanging experiences we can gain strength. If someone does something that sounds good we can try to apply it ourselves. In this respect its a bit like this quote from George Sheehan:

My advice to these advisors would be. "Do not tell me what to do, tell me what you do. Do not tell me what is good for me, tell me what is good for you. If, at the same time you reveal the you in me, if you become a mirror to my inner self, then you have made a listener and a friend."