“I never lose either I win or I learn” Connor McGregor once said. And a week on from the European Championship Final i feel that this statement has never held greater significance. In life the power that can be attributed to the mind is one of frightening proportions. More often than not its strength or weakness is the barrier between riches and poverty, success and failure, recovery or condemnation. Our mind is almost akin to the Bifrost to use a maxim from Norse Mythology, and it has the power to be able to transform us to wherever we imagine.
Should we imagine a hellish reality full of missed opportunities, anguish and torment then within a flash it takes us to this dystopia keeping us suppressed in mediocrity without any hope for return. But if we imagine Valhalla with its golden castles glittering in all their glory projecting the grandeur and might to which we have come to associate with Valhalla’s magnificence. Then just like how Heimdal transports Thor all over the nine realms so too will our mind take us to our happy place. A destination were we will be met by prosperity’s grace and warm embrace as we catapult ourselves time and again past all the illusions that fear represents.
This is why to achieve decisive outcomes one must always carry an abundance mindset. For through it we are able to dream of what never was and achieve what others might’ve thought to be impossible. This i believe is the biggest asset of the arbiter of the English National Team Gareth Southgate. A man who like many of us has leaped into the barrel of defeat on numerous occasions at the biggest stage but emerged stronger and more determined to succeed.
Imagine being thrust into the frenzy of Wembley Stadium and all the razzmatazz associated with its fabled turf. A cauldron filled with over 100 000 men and women whose voices serve as the sounding board for all the nerves carried by an entire nation. Carrying an expectation of almost divine lock proportions the shrieks and chants of their cheers continue to add to the weight of pressure already on your shoulders amidst the turbulence of a massive semi final. You yourself know that you are not traditionally classified as a penalty kick taker, but amidst this inferno you are still able to muster up the courage to step up to the spot and dare to do so. This is the very symbol of a man with an abundance mindset, a mind that sees no challenge as insurmountable. A mind that wills men and women out of their comfort zone to dare to try things that they might not be normally accustomed to.
And even if one does not succeed, through the thick outer shell to which said mindset covers an individual you will always be able to pick yourself up and get up and get going. For you know that the circle of life can wheel back and give you another opportunity to be able to rectify your error. “The key to abundance is meeting limited circumstances with unlimited thoughts” as Marianne Williamson once wrote and carrying this mind of abundance Gareth has continued to strive for the heights, through a sterling premier league career and into even more turbulence as a manager at the highest level.
Despite more semi-final heartbreak, in 2018 and 2019 he has slowly come back making his team stronger than ever. Transferring his abundance mindset to the young lions who in generations past would have been thought to have had no shot at being able to succeed in this life. Gareth has created a team to which a nation can be proud of. Personified by the guts and character shown by Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukhayo Saka as they stepped up to the plate without fear nor second thoughts. “One never loses either they win or they learn” and much like their arbiter these brave young lions too will soon arise from the ashes of defeat bigger and better than ever.