Authentic Achievements With Special Guest Simon Hartley
🎙️ Welcome to the Authentic Achievements Podcast: Episode 32 – “Championing Success with Simon Hartley”** Get ready for an extraordinary episode of the Authentic Achievements Podcast as we delve into the captivating journey of a globally respected sports psychology consultant and performance coach, Simon Hartley. For over 25 years, Simon has been a driving force behind the success of gold medallists, world record holders, world champions, top-ranked professional athletes, Olympians, and championship-winning teams. In this week’s episode, Simon shares his incredible experiences working with some of the world’s most elite athletes and extends his expertise beyond the sports arena. With a career spanning two decades, Simon has seamlessly applied the principles of sports psychology to diverse fields such as business, education, healthcare, and the charity sector. Listeners can expect to gain valuable insights into the mindset and strategies that contribute to achieving greatness, whether on the field, in the boardroom, or in life. Simon’s wisdom transcends the boundaries of traditional success, emphasizing the importance of teamwork, leadership, and hiring exceptional individuals. Host Kim-adele Randall guides the conversation through Simon’s wealth of knowledge, drawing out actionable advice and inspiring stories that will leave you motivated to chase your dreams with renewed vigour.
With ten published books, including titles like “Stronger Together; How Great Teams Work” and “Hire Great People,” Simon Hartley has become a go-to authority on achieving excellence. But the journey doesn’t stop there – Simon’s influence extends globally as an award-winning international professional speaker, delivering impactful keynotes that resonate with audiences worldwide.
Tune in to this week’s episode to discover how Simon Hartley’s world-class principles can propel you towards authentic achievements, no matter your field or endeavour.
Visit www.be-world-class.com to learn more about Simon and his transformative work.
🚀 Subscribe now and join us on this inspiring journey toward greatness! Remember, your dreams are within reach, and this episode of Authentic Achievements is here to guide you every step of the way. #authenticachievements #podcast
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Transcript:
0:00[Music]
0:06[Applause]
0:08hello and welcome to this episode of
0:11authentic achievements where I’ve got
0:13the absolute delight and privilege to be
0:14joined by a good friend Simon Harley
0:17Simon is a globally respected sports
0:20psychology consultant and performance
0:22coach with over 25 years experience
0:25Simon worked with gold medalists world
0:27record holders world champions top five
0:29World ranked professional athletes
0:31Olympians and championship winning teams
0:34since 2011 Simons published 10 books
0:37including stronger together how great
0:39teams work and hire great people and
0:42during the last 20 years Simons applied
0:44the principles of sports psychology to
0:47business Education Health Care and the
0:49charity sector which has included
0:51projects with some of the world’s
0:52leading corporations pudding’s excited
0:55that you Simon and most Executives he’s
0:58also an award-winning International
1:00professional speaker delivering Keynotes
1:02throughout the world and I’ve had the
1:03privilege of hearing you speak and I can
1:06tell to everybody watching it is nothing
1:08short of insightful and impactful so
1:10Simon thank you so much for joining us
1:13and welcome oh my pleasure well you know
1:16I always love our conversations so uh
1:18I’m very much looking forward to this I
1:20actually thought it might have been
1:21dizzy that was barking in the background
1:22so I’m very pleased to
1:25know that it’s not just me that has that
1:27challenge oh I know they seem to it on
1:30timing don’t they that’s like the minute
1:32that you need them to just please be
1:34quiet they try and save you from either
1:36the wind or the post please don’t do
1:39that so if we hear Dy pudding I’m sure
1:42will will want to say hello back um but
1:45thank you so much for coming along and
1:46likewise I always so enjoy our
1:49conversations and we so looking forward
1:51to being able to have this one with you
1:53today so can you start by sharing with
1:55us please a little bit about your
1:58journey yeah absolutely well lots of
2:00people ask me how did you get into the
2:02field of sports psychology because it’s
2:04not it’s not your mainstream profession
2:06is it it’s quite Niche um and the honest
2:09answer is uh it all started when I
2:11failed some exams um so in combination I
2:14failed a flying aptitude test because I
2:16wanted to be a pilot as a kid so I
2:18failed my flying aptitude test I was
2:20told that of the three options that you
2:23have when you when you take an aptitude
2:25test uh option one is if you’re really
2:27great at coordination you can become a
2:28pilot if if you’re not that good at it
2:31but you’re not disastrous you could sit
2:33in either the back seat or the side seat
2:35so you could be a navigator or an
2:36observer and if you’re total garbage you
2:39could be an air traffic controller and
2:40that’s what they offered me and quite I
2:44thought one of those you know round
2:46screens where the where the little blips
2:48are uh on a radar screen I just thought
2:51I can’t do that so my aspirations to fly
2:55died at that point um and because they
2:58died I also failed maths and physics at
3:00a level um I mean spectacularly failed
3:03them as well I I actually got an
3:05ungraded in maths which is you know it’s
3:08a b CDE e and then ungraded for those
3:10who don’t need a mark and so I got
3:13ungraded in maths and an e in physics so
3:16I had to think again and um it took me
3:20sort of a summer to get over that punch
3:23in the Solar flexus uh solar flexus and
3:26figure out that it would be a good idea
3:28to study what I really enjoyed and what
3:30I was interested in and maybe that could
3:33lead somewhere so I went back to college
3:35and did Sports studies a level in a year
3:39decided that that was it worked for me I
3:41came out I got an A grade um went on to
3:43University studied Sport Science and I
3:47actually went into sports science
3:48expecting to come out as a physiologist
3:50or a biomechanist and psychology just
3:53grabbed me you know it just intrigued me
3:56um my lecture at the time used to ask
3:59some very powerful questions like um so
4:02how does somebody’s mind work when
4:04they’re faced with X Y or Zed what
4:07actually goes on in their heads you know
4:08if a if a football is taking a penalty
4:10kick in the World Cup final what’s
4:13actually going on in their head and I
4:14thought what a brilliant question I have
4:16no idea but I’d love to know and um and
4:19that’s really what took me down the path
4:20of sport psychology so I love
4:26that the just working out how the brain
4:29works is yeah I as you know we could
4:32talk about that for hours could be
4:33because I think that’s fascinating what
4:35I love about your story is sometimes um
4:37life throws us a plot twist doesn’t it
4:39you know we think we know where we’re
4:41going we know where we’re heading you
4:42know you’re going to be a pilot and you
4:44can be a passenger um so you’ve got to
4:48you’ve kind of got to rethink but
4:50actually that rethinking allowed you to
4:52take something that you’re passionate
4:53about and turn that into your profession
4:57which is such a great story story
4:59because so often when we hit with the
5:02challenge we think that actually that’s
5:16just um yeah that’s a difficult one I
5:19mean there there are all sorts of
5:21different levels
5:23to the the kinds of achievements we have
5:25in life and what we’re proud of so there
5:28are lots that it sounds a bit cliche but
5:31as a parent you know I I I see what my
5:33kids achieve and I I feel a sense of
5:35Pride that in some way I’ve had a small
5:37part to play in that but within within
5:40my profession I guess there were there
5:42were two that are very very different
5:43ends of the spectrum so there was
5:45athlete I worked with many many years
5:46ago one of the first that I worked with
5:49who when we started off was absolutely
5:52nowhere in the world um not even in the
5:54top four in the City of Newcastle he was
5:56a swimmer and he went on to become a d a
6:00double Olympian a double Commonwealth
6:02Champion um uh he was seventh fastest in
6:05history when he finished his career and
6:09that Journey over it was probably about
6:11seven years that we were working
6:13together and the transformation that I
6:15saw him achieve was huge that in fact
6:18one of the conversations that we had
6:20years afterwards really cemented
6:23probably why I do what I do and he said
6:26he was very he was proud of all his
6:28achievements in swimming the gold medals
6:30and the records and all that sort of
6:31stuff and representing team GB but he
6:33said he was proudest of who he had
6:35become through that Journey the person
6:38that he’d become the characteristics
6:40that he’d developed and and I thought
6:43well that that’s actually why I do what
6:44I do the medals are great for an athlete
6:48but actually you’re working with a
6:49person a human being and and my purpose
6:52is to help them become the kind of
6:55person they want to be and not just
6:57achieve what they want to achieve but
6:58become the person that they’re proud of
7:00so so that was one that really hit me at
7:04a very different end of the spectrum I
7:06had a conversation once with um a junior
7:09athlete and so I worked with the senior
7:12Olympic programs and some of the Junior
7:14programs she was a think 14 at the time
7:17um we were doing a sports IE session
7:19together and she said to me that well
7:21she told me that she was considering
7:23taking her own life and that put me in a
7:27a very unique position I hadn’t been in
7:29that position before never had one of
7:30those conversations especially with
7:31somebody who was potentially as
7:34vulnerable as she was so just to get her
7:38and and you know I needed to bring in a
7:40clinical Psy it was you know outside of
7:42my area of expertise as a sports
7:44psychologist but just helping her turn
7:46around um and find a reason to live
7:49again um was another thing that I can
7:52look back on and say you know I I I can
7:54genuinely feel proud of that moment um
7:57so there were all sorts there in all
7:58sorts of different guises but I guess I
8:01mean my current view of success my
8:04current definition of success is being
8:06proud of who I am not what I do or what
8:10I’ve attained or achieved but who I am
8:12so I suppose ultimately my greatest
8:15pride is being able to look in the
8:17mirror and say I like
8:19you yeah I I love that and yeah I wrote
8:24something just just last week that was
8:25like success isn’t about what we have
8:27it’s about the impact that we make and I
8:29think that is about the who we are and
8:31you know as your achievements just were
8:34Testament to it it’s the impact you had
8:37on helping people become who they’re
8:39supposed to become and for that young
8:44girl be being who you are allowed her to
8:49have a safe space to be able to share
8:51how she was feeling because she chose
8:54you to tell that to and that really is
8:56about who you are and how you show up in
8:58the world isn’t it that people can can
9:01feel that they can share share something
9:03which really is them their most
9:05vulnerable and I can see why you’re
9:08proud of that because it is we do have
9:10to be proud we have
9:12to and I’ve always said you as a girl
9:16I’ve yet to meet a girl that can put
9:17mascara on without looking in the mirror
9:19um if anyone has tips please let me know
9:22but I don’t know how to do that um so I
9:24know every day I’m going to at least
9:25have to look at myself quite intently
9:27and I need to ensure that I’m not
9:29appalled by what I see and that’s about
9:32who you are and and how you’ve been with
9:34people I think um and you’re right that
9:37really is um a great measure of success
9:40is was I you was I
9:43kind was I honest and did I leave them
9:47with a feeling of increase and that is
9:50what I’ve seen you do in in kind of when
9:52you’re working and in every conversation
9:54um that we have and that I’ve seen you
9:56in it’s it’s that making sure that
9:58people leave feeling the best version of
10:01themselves because you’ve given them
10:03your time yeah and and honestly I think
10:06many people don’t even look for those
10:08things so it’s not that there’s nothing
10:10that could give them that sense of Pride
10:12that the evidence is all around them but
10:14they’re not looking at it and uh so when
10:17we tap into that when we actively look
10:19for that stuff we start to see reasons
10:21why we really could be proud of ourself
10:23I mean how many people genuinely ask
10:26themselves a question are you kind are
10:29are you generous um what impact do you
10:32have on the people around you is the
10:33world a better place for having you in
10:34it because I I think honestly if most
10:37people ask those questions they’d end up
10:38concluding that they are kind they are
10:41thoughtful they are generous the world
10:42is actually a better place the people
10:44around them appreciate the fact that
10:46they’re in their life I love that and
10:49it’s true we it’s we don’t often ask
10:52those parts myself and scholet we’ve got
10:54a little family mission statement um
10:56which is to live a life of passionate
10:58curiosity
10:59and to pass our thoughts words and deeds
11:01through the lenses of is it kind is it
11:04honest and does it add value and if it
11:06doesn’t hit all three don’t do it we had
11:10to do that very consciously um before
11:14doing that you didn’t ask those
11:16questions and and that’s when you get in
11:17those moments of Doubt isn’t it that say
11:20maybe I’m maybe I make no impact maybe
11:23nobody would notice if I was here or I
11:25wasn’t here not in a ego way but in a um
11:29just feeling like we make a difference
11:32whatever that difference is I think I
11:34think you’re right if we could get
11:35people to ask themselves that more
11:38regularly we’d see an improvement in how
11:41confident people are feeling about
11:42themselves because we do make an impact
11:45some people’s lives in everybody we meet
11:47don’t we as we in the conversations that
11:49we have yeah and I think when I when I
11:53look at what those foundations for
11:55happiness are being happy with yourself
11:58I think is is one of the primary
12:00foundations and it’s very difficult to
12:02be happy with anything whether it’s a
12:05moment in time whether it’s an
12:07experience if we’re not genuinely happy
12:09with ourself um I also I looked at some
12:12research into this um there’s a there’s
12:14a YouTube um I think it might be a TED
12:17Talk even and the the essence of it
12:20essentially is that happiness comes from
12:21our relationships and I thought yes I I
12:24can see that absolutely and if if I look
12:26even further the number one relationship
12:28we have in life is with oursel so if
12:31that relationship’s not solid it’s
12:33difficult to create a foundation for
12:35happiness that’s so true because you
12:37know whether we like it or not we are
12:39the one person guaranteed to be with us
12:42at Birth and with us at death we don’t
12:44you don’t get to run away from yourself
12:45that you’re there for the Long Haul
12:47aren’t you have you got any tips that
12:49you could share with us about how do you
12:53how do you find that path to happiness
12:55with yourself if you haven’t got it
12:57currently
12:59yeah the realization I I have come to um
13:04is that there are three strands I call
13:06them inter and strands of rope um three
13:09things that that all feed each other and
13:12one of them is knowing yourself another
13:15is liking yourself being proud of
13:17yourself and the other one is being
13:18yourself and it’s very difficult to do
13:21any one without the other
13:22two so if you’re not being yourself you
13:25can’t ever know yourself because you’ll
13:27only ever know the actor as it were you
13:30know character that you’re trying to
13:31play so so you have to be yourself in
13:34know in order to know yourself if you
13:36don’t know yourself how can you ever
13:37like yourself if you didn’t like
13:40yourself why would you want to be
13:42yourself so the loop of infinity isn’t
13:46it has no start and no end that’s it
13:48absolutely um so we we have to do
13:51these I think for me the start point was
13:55knowing myself actually reflecting on
13:59who I am in the full understanding that
14:03I am not perfect I will not see
14:05Perfection and that’s okay because
14:07nobody ever is and nobody ever has been
14:10so if I’m happy with who I am which
14:14includes all of the you know sort of
14:16gnarly bits and I can
14:20also almost like come to come to a point
14:23of comfort knowing that I can work on
14:25those bits I can improve those bits so
14:29years and years ago um I had a couple of
14:31moments where I looked at myself and I
14:33thought I could be more generous I could
14:37be more patient I could be more tolerant
14:39if I was more patient tolerant and
14:42generous I would probably like myself
14:43more so why don’t I just work on those
14:47bits and uh and it simultaneously a
14:50couple of things happen you you develop
14:51the characteristics so you do start to
14:55like yourself more because you are more
14:57generous but you the the double wammy
15:00benefit is you see yourself as a more
15:02generous person as well as being more
15:05generous so so now when I look at the
15:07mirror I see somebody who is more
15:09generous than they were and it still
15:11doesn’t mean I’m perfect it still
15:12doesn’t mean that I’m ultimately always
15:15generous in every situation but but I
15:17know that I’m better than I was five
15:19years ago or 10 years ago and I’m a bit
15:22more patient and a bit more tolerant as
15:24well so you know that that’s how I’ve
15:27sort of worked on
15:29happiness with
15:30myself I love that because you’ve given
15:32yourself permission to um acknowledge
15:36the
15:36imperfections but then make choices to
15:39improve them so we’re not you’re not
15:41saying oh I’m just get and we are all
15:43perfectly imperfect um but because our
15:46imperfection I think is our Perfection
15:48but we can then look at it and say yeah
15:51but I don’t like that bit so I’m going
15:53to make a choice to work on it to to to
15:56improve it to to see if I can make it a
15:58little bit better it might still not be
16:00great but it’ll be better than it was
16:02the day before and yeah I kind of see
16:04that so much from my little girl H is
16:06you she’ll she’ll come back and I think
16:08we we teach people often to to do things
16:10in absolute so she’ll come back and she
16:12be like I’m not very good at coloring
16:14with me and like oh you’re not living
16:16well let’s let’s have a lot let’s think
16:17about that how good she coloring today
16:20vers yesterday and she went well it’s
16:22better okay and how much better is it
16:25was it yesterday than it was last month
16:27and she went a lot M and how about last
16:30year she went oh my goodness it we look
16:32at the I said how do you feel about
16:34coloring now she goes I’m quite good M
16:36I’m I was like you’re getting better
16:37that’s all we can do is keep trying um
16:40and we get to choose I think and and you
16:42always demonstrate this so beautifully
16:44we get to choose whether we’re going to
16:46get stuck on the fact we can’t do it yet
16:48or we’re going to work on how can I
16:51learn to do it or to do it better or to
16:54feel that kind of feeling of
16:57increase yeah and we that’s piece is
17:02there a lesson that you’ve that you’ve
17:04gone through where where it’s helped you
17:06to kind
17:06of develop that desire to keep
17:10trying uh I suppose there’s there’s a
17:13whole series of them um the life
17:17experience has taught me that if you try
17:21anything you’ve never done before you’re
17:22going to fail um you won’t do it
17:25perfectly first time that’s okay um
17:28nobody ever does so if you can learn
17:31from it and go again that’s great um
17:34I’ve I’ve learned that this whole thing
17:38life is definitely a journey not a
17:40destination um if we get too caught up
17:43in the little destinations I think we
17:45end up feeling unfulfilled it’s it’s
17:47kind of
17:48vacuous so so if we invest in the
17:51journey bit and understand the journey
17:54that’s great and then we start to
17:56realize that we could ask who we are but
18:00equally we could realize that who we are
18:02now is just part of the journey to who
18:03we are becoming so who am I
18:06becoming um
18:10there’s I’m much much happier outside of
18:13my comfort zone now than I have ever
18:15been because I know that I’m not
18:19expecting myself to be perfect at
18:21something or do it do it right first
18:23time um I I I think I can understand
18:26where people’s Hang-Ups come from around
18:28that you know if I think back to my days
18:30at school there were right answers and
18:32wrong answers you know there was there
18:34was winning and losing there was success
18:36and failure the world loves these these
18:39Black and Whites don’t they the
18:40absolutes but the truth is we all always
18:43operate somewhere in between um and and
18:46if we if we understand that bit and
18:47embrace that bit I think it does give us
18:50permission to learn as we go to take on
18:53things that we’ve never done before um
18:55be comfortable outside of our comfort
18:57zone I was was reflecting this morning
18:59with a group that I was working with
19:00that um I I see two sides of the risk
19:04coin now so there’s a risk to doing
19:06something yes absolutely one of the
19:08risks is you could fail how big a risk
19:11that is is part of perception you know
19:13maybe it isn’t that big a risk after all
19:15failing but but there’s a risk either
19:18side there’s a risk of doing it yes and
19:20it might go wrong there’s equally a risk
19:22of not doing it and that risk of not
19:25doing it is that you never get out your
19:27some your comfort zone uh you never try
19:29new things you never explore your
19:31potential you never push yourself um
19:34that’s a
19:35risk uh you could just stay stuck that’s
19:38a risk too there’s a there’s a whole
19:41gamut of of experiences in life that
19:43you’ll never experience if you don’t get
19:47outside the comfort zone that’s the risk
19:49and so if you understand there’s a risk
19:51to doing something and not doing
19:52something then you might find that the
19:55risk of not doing it is greater than
19:56doing it giving it a go and maybe
19:58screwing up tripping over whatever I
20:01love that it’s so true there there is
20:03there is always a risk of not doing as
20:04much as there is a risk of doing or a
20:06cost of not doing as much as there is a
20:07cost of doing um but we don’t always
20:10look at that because we get ourselves
20:11stuck on the the one we’ve seen rather
20:15than having a view to go we live in a
20:17world of polarity so the equal and
20:20opposite will also be true so if there’s
20:22a risk of this there’s the opposite risk
20:24if we do nothing so it’s really about
20:27getting fortable with the uncomfortable
20:29would that be a fair summary yeah um
20:33making it more normal to be outside of
20:36our comfort zone uh I mean before we
20:38started this you were talking about um
20:40uh having a flying lesson or or one that
20:42you recommended uh to to your brother I
20:45I started learning to fly 18 months ago
20:48and obviously I wanted to do it as a kid
20:50um didn’t so a few years ago I thought
20:54that sounds fun though I mean I may not
20:56have done it professionally but still
20:58love to learn to fly and my wife bought
21:00me a trial flying lesson for my birthday
21:04um I did it I loved it at the time I
21:06said to her this will be the most
21:08expensive present you’ve ever bought for
21:09me because I’ve now got the bug and off
21:12I go and so I’m sort of 18 months in now
21:16and everything that I’ve done so far has
21:19been outside of my comfort zone there’s
21:21not been a single thing that I’ve done
21:22Learning to Fly which has been
21:24comfortable familiar normal and that’s
21:27part of the attraction
21:29I I love that I’ll be honest I’ve only
21:31ever done it once somebody bought it me
21:33for for a birthday many years ago and so
21:35I feel the everything out of your
21:37comfort zone I remember when they said
21:39you can land it and I was like no I
21:42can’t I feel yes you can but obious
21:45they’re there with you but it it was it
21:47was the most exhilarating and the most
21:50nerve-wracking and scary
21:52because when you think about that fear
21:54you know the fear that all go horribly
21:56wrong it’s very great
21:58um Simon I could literally chat to you
22:00all day but I am very conscious of time
22:03um could you you’ve already shared so
22:05much with us but if you if you could go
22:08back and give your younger self a piece
22:11of advice what would it be uh the the
22:14one piece of advice that I think is more
22:17valuable than any other is take your own
22:20advice because there’s so much wisdom
22:23that spills out of everybody’s mouth if
22:25we just took our own advice and did what
22:27we’ve advised other people to do we
22:29would be
22:30amazing I love that that is so true the
22:33amount of times I find myself telling
22:35clients something and in the back of my
22:36head going good advice Kim you might
22:39want to take that but we don’t do we we
22:42we don’t share that Simon it’s been a
22:45joy as always we’ll have to get you back
22:47because I know we’ve only scratched the
22:49surface I will make sure that obviously
22:51all the details of how people can get in
22:53touch with you are in the notes below um
22:56but if people do want to reach out
22:58what’s the best way uh probably through
23:01Linkedin I would imagine yeah drop me a
23:03LinkedIn connection that’d be great
23:05fantastic thank you again Simon so very
23:08much those details of how to get in
23:10touch with Simon and his LinkedIn will
23:12be in the notes below and we look
23:13forward to seeing you next time thanks
23:16for joining
23:22us