03 Mar 2020 09:48:35
As a sports psychologist I sometimes get to meet some interesting people.

About 6 months ago I sat down and had a chat with former NHL player and genuine hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and what interested me was how his mentality echoed another great sportsman I know (Roberto Baggio)

For context in case your not a hockey fan, Gretzky was the pele of hockey. A player só talented and driven that he singled out an area of the rink which he called his "office" he would often predict how many goals he would score, where he would score from in pré game conferences. And then go and do it, even with everyone knowing what he was doing and where.

During my chat with him I asked him what drove him after so many goals and trophies. His reply was a bit unexpected. He said he was never driven by goals or trophies. Never driven by winning or losing. He was driven by one thing only - always improve.

He said the goals, wins and trophies were a side effect of his true (and only) aim in the sport - to always be better than he was in the last game.

I thought two things were interesting about this, 1 that he had quite a holistic view of the sport and his role in it and 2 that he only ever judged himself based on his previous game. Not his history. Not the trophies. Not the awards. Always the last game he played.

I think this says a lot about why he was the greatest hockey player in history, why won so much. And why he was one of (if not the) most consistently brilliant performers of all time, despite everyone gunning for him and knowing exactly where he would be on the ice.

1.) 03 Mar 2020
03 Mar 2020 10:45:42
Thank you for sharing that insight, Nevada. I think i can definitly see similarities with C Ronaldo's approach. He just seems to be obsessed with getting better and better every year.

Red Sandman.

2.) 03 Mar 2020
03 Mar 2020 10:47:28
Great stuff!

3.) 03 Mar 2020
03 Mar 2020 13:36:04
Thanks for this Nevada, I always like hearing about sporting greats, and Gretzky was one of the greatest ever.

4.) 03 Mar 2020
03 Mar 2020 13:41:56
Great story Nevada, and also extremely jealous that you had the opportunity to meet the great one!

5.) 03 Mar 2020
03 Mar 2020 17:26:37
I didn't realise there were other hockey fans here. I'm glad I shared the story as initially I wasn't going to since I didn't think there were other hockey fans.

I've been quite lucky that my career now and my former career has plugged me into some interesting circles, Gretzky I met at a coaching event. Bobby (Baggio) I've known for a while when I worked in Italy as a fashion show coordinator.

6.) 03 Mar 2020
03 Mar 2020 19:45:22
Great stuff, Nevada. I'm not a Sports Psychologist or anything but I have read interviews of great athletes about what drove them to being great in their fields and that driving force varies from athlete to athlete or coach to coach.

For example, Tom Brady's fuel for his fire was that till this day, he was the 2nd choice QB t a guy called John Navarre (who he thought he was better than) and as a result, many teams passed on him in the NFL Draft cos they thought he was not good enuff. That till this day, hurt him so bad that he has been playing with that chip of his shoulder ever since.

Take Jurgen Klopp, our very own. I watched an old interview of him (in German with English subtitles) in 2015 just after he came to us where he talked about how his father instilled the ultra competitive spine he possesses whenever they played Tennis or Football. There was then this quote that never left me by Klopp, "It is not your fear of failure that makes you successful. It is your will to win". His will to win is unbreakable.

This is where I knew that Klopp was NO joke and not to be messed with. Underrate or or dismiss him at your peril. You may beat him today and/ or tmrw BUT he will keep coming back at you till he wins. Just ask City.

7.) 03 Mar 2020
03 Mar 2020 22:01:50
Red Sandman I crossed paths with Ronaldo once in Miami and I wanted to have a chat but sadly I was there on business so I didn't have the time.