My first dream was to play rugby for Australia, but I fell short. At my best, I played A grade rugby in three states and had some junior state representative honours. My second dream was to serve in the Special Air Service Regiment. I didn’t get there. Deep down, I knew I had the talent and physical capacity to make my dreams a reality, and I knew the missing link was mental. I had many successes both personally and professionally, successes that people would only ever dream of, but I wanted to experience more.

After I hung up ‘my boots’ for the last time, I became obsessed with uncovering the mental toughness secrets of the great. Following my retirement from the army my research started in 1997, I spent every free moment meeting with and conducting interviews with champions, reading their books and studying everything I could get my hands on about the psychology of peak performance.

I was obsessed. This book is the result of my 10-year obsession. When I started to implement the ideas in this book, my whole life changed. It wasn’t overnight, but sometimes it seemed like it. There’s no magic here, just practical thought processes, habits and philosophies drawn from the great. Buy the book >

This book contains no theories. Every secret comes straight from the voices of experience, either my own or those of the great. This book is loaded with ideas you can implement immediately. Some will be familiar, others new. All of them have the power to catapult your results, no matter how high you’re flying.

This is a no-holds-barred book and at times you may find yourself slightly offended. I constantly compare ‘average people’ (good) with the ‘great’. These terms are used to get your attention and make you ask, “Which one am I?”

It’s been said that in order to master a subject teach it. Now that you know a little of my story, you know this is true for me. After 10 years of studying and coaching people throughout the world I can honestly tell you that many times I still think like a complete amateur, operating out of the same average thinking that I ridicule. After all these years, my mental toughness growth is still a work in progress.

The good news is that mental toughness is a skill that can be learned, and the tougher you get, the bigger you’ll dream and the more fulfilling your life will be.