2012 london olympics.com

I'm taking a break until I decide where I want to go with this blog. I need to think about the direction I want it to take. Thanks for stopping by.

2012 London Olympics| The Joy of Relaxation

I have to come to realise - we are a nation of people who are over-stressed and tense. We are constantly on the alert for the latest news, and most of the time that is not good news. I find that, because of this, we seem to be looking for all the bad that is going on. I am not sure if this is to justify why we achieve the results we do. I know, sometimes, the results we do achieve are not worth too much. 

Athletes are constantly under pressure to perform better and this will put a lot of tension on them - especially now that the 2012 London Olympics approaches.

People are taking more and more tablets for headaches and for tension. I know a lot of people are trying to take the more natural remedies, but we are still taking them. This is because of the pressure we are putting on ourselves with the need to achieve and succeed. The fear of money shortage, the fear of criticism and ill health are all fighting each other for the top place in our lives.

There is a way to overcome all of this and to put it into perspective, with a simple technique - Relaxation. Most people do not know how to relax. They will say they relax watching TV or walking the dog. Now of these are rrelaxation. Relaxation means putting your body in a state of total relaxation and giving your mind a holiday at the same time.

You need to find a quite spot to sit and close your eyes. While breathing slowly and deeply start at the top of your head and tell yourself to relax. Feel it happen. Move slowly down throughout your whole body. You should, by the time you reach your toes, feel like a limp warm face cloth. It must be an absolute effort to lift an arm. This should take around 5 minutes. Then give your mind it's holiday. Picture a tranquil spot like a deserted beach or a walk in a rain forest or sitting by a lake. Picture everything you can see and make sure you include all the natural sounds. If you hear real noises, try to make them blend into the natural sound so your mind does not move to current things.   Do this for about 5 minutes and you will find both your body and mind will have had a well earned rest. Before you get up, repeat to yourself, with as much feeling as possible about 5 times, “Relaxed body, Relaxed mind” If you can, do this at least twice day for 10 days.

You will feel a different person and ready for the day's challenges. If you feel you are getting stressed, then repeat to yourself breathing slowly and deeply “Relaxed mind, Relaxed body”. You will find you can handle things a lot better.

I know that with my training with weights, the more I relax the better I train. I am sure this will do the same for the athletes that will be taking part in the 2012 London Olympics.

2012 London Olympics| Relaxation

Nothing worthwhile has ever been achieved when we are up tight and fighting with life to get what it is that we want. The minute we allow ourselves to believe that we have to attack to get results, we put ourselves under a lot of stress. We then try to force a result and that never works. Imagine an Olympic hurdler who did not relax with the jumps and tried to force them - they would never be fluid and smooth over the jumps.

Our 2012 Olympic Swimmers learn how to relax on the side of the pool so their bodies can put in the best effort. I can remember when I swam, the best results I have ever achieved were when I was relaxed and not trying too hard but just let it happen.

If our athletes prepare now, not just with the training to get fit, but how to be mentally prepared and to be relaxed for the 2012 London Olympics, we are going to be in for a real show and some great results.

Learning how to put the mind and body into a relaxed state is one of the best things we can do. It allows us to be connected with ourselves. I think sometimes we can go overboard with techniques and they then start to consume our lives. Putting it into perspective and in moderation, I have learned how to relax properly and what a change in my life.  I am training better then I have ever trained. I am achieving results in life that I often only dreamed about. I feel at peace with myself. I too am going in for a big competition in bodybuilding, and much like our 2012 London Olympic athletes, it is stressful. I have doubts and I want to do well. Being able to relax just for 10 minutes twice a day has changed my whole outlook, and I am now achieving with ease.

2012 London Olympics| Intentions

There is an old saying – “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. This saying is true today of people in life. “The road to failure is full of people with good intentions”.

We have the London Olympics coming up in 2012 and I am sure there are many young sports people that have the intention of taking part in these Olympics. Unfortunately intentions are not going to be enough. It takes a lot more in life than just intentions. It takes commitment. A commitment that you are going to give it your all. You are going to have to make certain sacrifices where others will be enjoying themselves and you will not. These sacrifices will mean your time and most important your energy. It is all very well to have good intentions but you have to have a plan to carry those intentions out.

Once you set the target you have to carry the load. You cannot give up. You have to see it through. I sincerely hope that our 2012 Olympic athletes do not have only good intentions for London, but have a commitment and a plan to get them the medals.

For all those struggling in these difficult times, forget about all the good intentions and start taking action. Take that action right now, today. There is always a reason to delay. Make the commitment to follow through and then go for it.

2012 London Olympics| Basics

I had a chance to watch the International Rugby this weekend. I saw South Africa give England a lesson on how to play rugby. England suffered one of their biggest defeats ever against a supposedly fatigued team. The whole secret behind the South African win was doing the basics well.

I have seen here in England that the media has a lot of influence over the people and how they think and do things. They talked certain players up before the game to make them bigger than the game. That is normally a recipe for disaster as it proved again this weekend. The reporter than went on an all-out attack on the England Manager, Martin Johnson. This does not help. The reporter is not a solution to the problem - he is the problem.

Doing the basics well will win in any situation. The sports men and women training for the 2012 London Olympics need to learn to just do the basics well. There is no need to over-elaborate with the training. They need to make themselves immune to the media because, in the build up to the 2012 London Olympics, some are going to shine in competitions that they enter. This is the exact ammunition the media wants because it will then go overboard, building the sports person up. Then one small failure and that is it. The sports person will be slammed with the full venom of the media. Confidence that has taken months to build up is damaged in one article.

The 2012 Olympics in London has the potential to produce some unbelievable results provided we just stick to the basics. Do what you know very well and you will get the results. Ignore the media because they have moved away from reporting on events to rather giving personal opinions on what they believe. That is always dangerous and extremely harmful.

Remember DO THE BASICS well and this will be a memorable 2012 London Olympics.

2012 London Olympics| Willpower

All my life I have wanted to train. I have trained for a few months and then lay off for around 6 months to a year, and then go back to training. Each time I use what most people consider to be the only way to get results - WILLPOWER - gritted teeth and sheer willpower to achieve anything in life. If this was right, then why have I always failed - by doing it for a while and then stopping? If willpower worked, surely I would have started and not stopped?

I am sure there are many of our 2012 London Olympic sportspeople using this same strategy. Using great willpower to turn out to train every day.

The best and most efficient way is to see the end result in your mind - then, believe that is who you are, mentally. When your self-image is in line with what you are doing, you are congruent.

I changed from using to willpower to using mind power. MUCH BETTER. I first decided why I wanted to train, and what was going to be the reward and result for me. When I realised it was worth it, I did not then turn to willpower. I put the pictures of the end result and how much I was enjoying this right now in the present, even though it had not happened. I made it happen in my mind.

Now I do not need willpower because I believe I already have the result. I just have not physically taken possession of it - so it is a pleasure to train every day.

Think of overweight people. If they believed in their minds that they were thin, why would they diet ? They would just eat right and not set themselves up for failure with willpower.

I really hope our 2012 London Olympic athletes use this same method and see themselves wearing the gold right now - then the training will be a breeze.

2012 London Olympics| Even the Bad times are Good

We always seem to look at what is not happening in our lives, rather than looking at what is happening. As much as there are people going through a very tough time, there are those that are doing very well. The 2012 London Olympics is going ahead and there is a lot of preparation that is required. There is still a lot of building that has to take place, not to mention all the other industries that will benefit form this mammoth project. It was very interesting to see some of the figures given out on who is doing what.

London 2012 business benefits:
• 801 contractors have won work supplying the ODA worth over £3.5bn in total.
• Over two thirds (68 per cent) are small and medium sized.*
• Just under half (46 per cent) are based outside of London.
• More than one in ten (12 per cent) is based in the Olympic Park Host Boroughs.
• 98 per cent are based in the UK.

This is fantastic news for these companies. While we keep being told how bad everything is, here are companies that are doing very well and having a good time right now. There are all the companies that will supply those who have won contracts with raw material - so these are not the only ones to benefit the list will go on and on.

When we, as a nation, believe that even the bad times are good, we will turn this current crisis around. The 2012 London Olympics prove that life goes on regardless of current circumstances.

2012 London Olympics| Blame

It is quite interesting how we all want to blame someone or something. I see Tessa Jowell recently saying that if they had any idea of this recession, they would not have put in the bid for the 2012 London Olympics. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The media is having a field day with suggestions everything is going wrong including the project being way over budget.

All of these things might be true and correct, but the decision has been made and now it is time to make the most of it. Not keep blaming anyone and everyone. If there was no recession, it would have been the best decision ever.

If everyone stopped fault finding and took responsibility for what they are doing, this would be a different place and the result would be a lot better.

You even see it with the athletes (some of them - not all) who blamed team mates for failing. When you are part of a team you all stand up and be counted. As a nation, it does not matter who his right and who is wrong. It is far more important to realise what is right, and then go for it. If we all stood up and tried to make this work, I am sure it will have a far better outcome. It is not going to please everyone but then that is the case with most decisions. They never do.

Lets all stop blaming and complaining and get on with the task on hand - to make this 2012 London Olympics one to remember and not for the negatives but for the positives.

2012 London Olympics| Baggage

Imagine if the 2012 London Olympic 100m sprinters decided to run with a kit bag on their back, industrial steel toe cap boots, and a dress suit. They would come last by a long way. Why? Well you cannot compete effectively if you are carrying baggage. You need to put down all the excess baggage and run as light as possible.
Swimmers at the 2012 London Olympics will shave all the hair off their body or will wear specially designed swim suites that allow no resistance in the water.  Even the slightest bit of resistance will affect the finish time of the race.

How much baggage are our athletes carrying around mentally? How much baggage are we carrying around?

The current times are certainly not allowing us to think positively. There is so much doom and gloom being forecast for now and the foreseeable future. Strip off the excess baggage and run lighter by getting involved with an antidote for the negative information we are being fed. We can do this by listening and getting involved with positive information. There is no way to beat this - you have to fight fire with fire.

I do not care what positive information you use but use something. Why would anyone just sit back and allow others to dictate how we should think and how we should feel. If they are going to field a top side at the 2012 London Olympics they need to start the conditioning right now. There is no time to delay. If you want to get some results I suggest you too start your conditioning now.

2012 London Olympics| Who Packed your Parachute

Charles Plumb was a pilot and fought in Vietnam. He was shot down and spent 6 years as a prisoner of war. When he returned to the USA he was publicised as one would expect. He went for a meal and a man came up to him and said “You are Charles Plumb who was shot down over Vietnam”. He asked how the man knew and the man said I packed your parachute. Plumb go to thinking about what happened and how he needed an emotional parachute, a courage parachute, a mental parachute and all the other parachutes to get him through his ordeal.

How many people had packed these parachutes for him that he did not even know.

Our athletes are going to need a great many parachutes to get them through the 2012 London Olympics. It is a tough competition that is going to take a lot of strength and character from each sports person.

We need to think of what parachutes we can pack for them. It might be a good time to think of all the parachutes that have been packed for you by others. It might be a good time to have real gratitude that you are around, no matter what your circumstances are.

Let us really support our 2012 London Olympic athletes even if it is just in thought.