Leaving a legacy in life, is always leading by example. The footballers who truly shine and leave responsible lasting marks on the planet understand the importance and link of health and performance. The pinnacles of training must include the food we consume, sleep, hydration, thoughts/belief system, breathing patterns and movement.

Without these vital pinnacles of training, absorbing a true integrated holistic health system, footballers will shorten their careers.

Team wisdom does not have a: ‘Us verses them mentality’.

Instead it oozes ‘Let’s all be a part, grow and contribute’.

Health and happiness is what we all truly desire at a subconscious level.

A coach will only tell you what to do, where as  mentor will take a mother/father archetype position and implore life coaching and support so the athlete> This enables the athlete to change their programming for the better. A great mentor will coach the athletes goals in their best interest by using their intuition. Good intuition can only come from a place of spiritual health and wisdom.

Critical thinking teaches us how to think, instead of what to think.

Mike Tysons mentor Cus D’Amato

Tyson grew up poor and had a rough upbringing that included more than 30 arrests before he was 13 years old.  Cus D’Amato was able to become a father figure, a mentor, and a boxing trainer that helped Tyson become the youngest boxer to ever become heavyweight champion of the world. Tyson was locked up in a juvenile detention centre for him to meet Cus D’Amato. Tyson was locked up at the Tryon School for Boys where he met Bobby Stewart, a counsellor who helped some of the juveniles with their boxing skills. He would spar with them and Tyson wanted to be a part of that. After some good behaviour, Stewart let Tyson box. After seeing Tyson’s talent, Stewart notified Cus D’Amato, who brought him on board.

Tyson was released from the Tryon School for Boys, he moved in with Cus D’Amato. They developed a strong bond, one that went beyond boxing. He became Tyson’s legal guardian after Tyson’s mother died. He was the father Tyson never had.

D’Amato was the only person to strike fear in Tyson. He was also the only one to keep him under control – the one to criticize him constructively. “I was petrified when I was alone with him,” Tyson wrote in his autobiography. “If he called me – ‘Mike, I need to talk to you’ – I didn’t feel good going over to him. That’s when he’d start giving me his detailed criticisms of my fights. People see the public celebrations of my sensational knockouts but they don’t hear Cus talking to me alone after the fight.”

D’Amato died when Tyson was 19 years old. Tyson was 11-0 as a professional fighter. They needed each other. Tyson gave credit to D’Amato for turning his life around. D’Amato once said that being able to develop a young, talented fighter like Tyson, “makes me excited, makes me feel like a young fella,” he said in the

New York Times.

 

For any coach/mentor or teacher to be successful they must always remain a student. Learning and listening to the footballers point of view enables us to grow.

‘We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility’. Rabindranath Tagore

Bibliography

Paul Chek media

Mike Tyson media and history