Achievers

You can’t beat me at cricket, but you might have a chance at rugby. Join my mini-league “Lee’s League” and see if you have what it takes to bowl over my side “Brett’s Best”. (more…)

We’ve had some thought-provoking comments about the value of self-belief and the reality of self-doubt in the comments following the ‘believe in yourself’" post.  In Brett Lee’s exclusive ‘achievers’ video interview, Australia’s #1 bowler says career lows are inevitable and the key is to stay positive.   

"There’s times when you’re down and there’s times when you’re up and that’s what sport is all about and that’s why we love it," he says.  "If you are continually at a high all the time you wouldn’t be challenging yourself, and it wouldn’t be a great game."

Brett’s strategy is to stay as ‘even’ as possible, not rising too high with the highs, and not falling too far with the lows … I guess that’s what makes him so consistent when he is playing cricket and in his line of work consistency brings success.

If you want to watch Brett’s interview in full (and download it to play later), go to Brett’s achievers page and select the video extra file.

And tell our achiever’s community what you think about Brett’s ‘even keel’ strategy, would it work for you?

Patience is not the first quality or attribute you’d associate with top-level performance especially when it comes to sport, but Australia Network Achiever Brett Lee says patience is what underpinned his man of the match performance in this week’s Australia vs Sri Lanka cricket test match in Brisbane.

Knowing that he’d done the hard work in training and being patient enough to stick to his game plan paid on-field dividends for Brett and in this need it now can’t wait for tomorrow world perhaps we can all take a lesson from that. 

When has patience paid off for you?

If you find yourself having a conversation with yourself in your head then it may be time to find a mentor. Why would you need one in the first place though? Well, in my experience there is one very good reason - they provide support and stimulate and encourage your ideas. It’s a well known fact that even Albert Einstein had mentors - friends like mathematician, Michelangelo Besso and his wife, Mileva Maric offered stimulation and critique that led to his theory of relativity. 

When Brett Lee is asked about his mentors he lists his older brother and his father.  Brett like most of us looks to those close to him for guidance and advice, but mentors can also be people you’ve just met.  I’ve had a mentor for the past 6 months and she’s been great at kicking me out of my comfort zone when I’m procrastinating about something.

See if your workplace offers any formal mentoring programs, if not, ask your local industry organisation or search the internet in your area to see what you can find.  Above all ask others around you, ‘who is your mentor?’ the answers may be surprising!