Success coaching and inspired actions (2)

The men who have done big things are those who are not afraid to attempt big things” (B.C. Forbes).

There are many people all over the world that have become famous for doing something new and different. One of such people is Mike Horn, a South African-born Swiss explorer and adventurer, who became famous in 2001 after completing a solo journey around the equator without motorised transport. This was the first solo circumnavigation of the world around the Equator – unaided and with no engine-driven support. And, in 2004 he completed a two-year, 3-month solo circumnavigation of the Arctic Circle.

In another world-first, Mike Horn set off on a 60-day voyage in 2006 on skis without dogs or motorised transportation, moving on foot to the North Pole, walking in total darkness during winter and on paper-thin ice. Mike Horn has done several other incredible things and performed such unimaginable feats that his knowledge and experience have been courted around the world by many, especially international sports coaches.

For example, Mike Horn uses his experiences to motivate sportsmen, such as the motivational sessions he conducted for the Indian Cricket Team, which was desperate to win the 2011 Cricket World Cup as hosts. They achieved the feat and members of the Indian Cricket Team acknowledged Horn’s motivational work. The South African cricket team, which in the summer of 2012 came up against England, the then number one ranked team also called on the services of Mike Horn. The South African team dominated England, a feat not seen in a decade and with the victory became the number one ranked team. He was also hired by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team for their 2014 Cricket (IPL) campaign, eventually winning the IPL-7 Title.

The latest in line to benefit from Horn’s expertise was the 2014 World Cup winning German football team. The entire squad went on a sailing trip with Mike Horn in June 2014 during their preparations for the World Cup and came out a rejuvenated side. Germany captain Philipp Lahm was impressed, saying it was “incredible what the human body can achieve”. A lot of people have asked the question: “What drives Mike Horn and challenges him?”

To the question, he answers that he learned to challenge himself from a very young age, but that it was the army that taught him about survival. “I hate war but I think it prepared me for what I do today,” he said, remembering his days in the military service when he was sent to Angola and first witnessed death. “I was only an 18-year-old kid when I discovered one will do anything to stay alive”. For Mike Horn, life is for the living, and the experience of life must not be taken lightly. Confronting challenges and coming on top is the message that Mike Horn imparts to people all over the world.

We all cannot become as adventurous as Mike Horn. But, in our own thinking, we can be just like Mike Horn in believing that we can be different; that we can achieve something great; that we can do something new; that we can make a difference; that we can facilitate desirable change; that we can perform beyond our expectations. It is all about having the right mindset and a positive belief system. There are fewer ways to achieve this than through success and performance coaching.

Definitely, being positively different is neither easy nor cheap. As a matter of fact, being different and unique will cost you a lot – it will cost all of you! And, depending on how you look at it, or how you believe it, the path to your success can be either simple or difficult. If you believe that you can achieve success in an endeavour, you just might. But if you believe that you cannot achieve success in the endeavour, you never will. This is because your thinking will always have an impact on your performance.

That is why a lot of what coaches do in facilitating goal achievement and supporting the achievement of a client’s success in a particular task is essentially changing the inner realities to influence thinking patterns. All of coaching is about changing the mindset and belief systems.  The role of the coach in this regard is to assist the client to experience something different something new.

One major power of coaching is its potential and ability to help a person to understand how thinking gears and thinking processes influence behaviour and performance. Performance coaching in particular is anchored on enhancing creative thinking as a leverage and power to compel and influence change.

Emmanuel Imevbere