GAME CHANGER NUMBER FIVE : CONQUER. NEVER FIGHT.

13 January 2025, Monday

I came. I saw. I conquered – Julius Caesar, 46 BC

Hi, I’m Coach Rob Opie, and the subject of this week’s COACHING NEWSLETTER is

Conquer. Never Fight

Extreme challenge comes to all of us at some time in our lives .

Our mettle gets tested, and it’s at times like these that it’s best to take heed of what the great champions of life know, do and do not do to overcome some of life’s greatest challenges.

In this week’s coaching newsletter , I share some of the strategies and tactics of the great Everest explorers , and take you inside the game plan of an athlete who has experienced the ultimate highs of ”conquering ” and ultimate lows of ” fighting’ , namely Lance Armstrong .

There’s lots that we can learn from those who have gone before – and the most unlikely of champions.

Sustained Success in life comes far easier to those who choose to:

Conquer. Never fight.

I will be sharing with you a CHAMPION’S MODEL – on how to conquer any ‘mountain’ which may stand in front of you right now.

It’s the stuff of champions all packaged for you in a potent CHAMPION’S MODEL .

It’s the stuff that they not do not teach at Harvard. The stuff which you cannot Google.

The great champions of Business , Sport and Life all love to push the limits of human endurance.

They willingly go into zones of human extremity to explore what the human mind and human body can do .

They are all explorers .

And none come better than the early Everest explorers . ( before it became the commercial operation which it is today )

Everest stands 8 848m (29 029 feet) , and for those who climb to its summit, enter what is commonly dubbed ‘the death zone’ above 8000 m.

It’s a zone where ‘helicopters do not fly’; as it is here that the air is too thin for rescue missions. It’s a zone where it’s all about man versus mountain – and taking full responsibility.

You could die in each climb and that meant you were responsible for yourself. We were real mountaineers: careful, aware and even afraid. By climbing mountains we were not learning how big we were. We were finding out how breakable, how weak and how full of FEAR we are. You can only get this if you expose yourself to high danger. I have always said that a mountain without danger is not a mountain. Reinhold Messner

Many years ago the great British explorer, George Mallory, who was later to die on the mountain, was asked why he wanted to climb Everest

Because its there

In recent years the mountain has been commercialized , but even today it still tragically takes lives, as recreational climbers pile on the commercial pressure to be on the mountain.

But, every great Everest Champion knows that :

Nobody bullies Everest.

You cannot fight the mountain. Those that fight the mountain – will often die on the mountain.

Everest teaches us about life .

What is the use of climbing Mount Everest? If you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why we go. What we get from this adventure is sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. George Mallory

Make no mistake, the great everest explorers have refined strategies and tactics to conquer, never fight – the world’s highest mountain.

CONQUERING VERSUS FIGHTING ?

Conquering means coming from a position of strength. Fighting means coming from a position of weakness.

Conquering means coming with a HIGHER LEVEL GAME PLAN.Fighting means coming with a LOWER LEVEL GAME PLAN

Whether the mountain is EVEREST , or in Lance Armstrong’s case, an even greater mountain called CANCER, the great champions choose

To conquer. Never fight.

Lance Armstrong got it humanly wrong in his quest to push the human limits in cycling , but when it comes to conquering cancer – he is seen as a hero by millions of Cancer Champions around the globe .

In his book “It’s not about the bike ” he selflessly shared what he called ”his gift” to fellow cancer patients.

Sadly, the wisdom he shared , remains esoteric.

But, from it comes a potent model on how to conquer anything in life – any ”mountain” in life .

In this newsletter I will share with you his potent CHAMPIONS MODEL – and REFRAME IT – so that it can be used by YOU to conquer any of the professional or personal ”mountains ” in your life .’

Lance Armstrong’s model had four all important table legs. They were : MOTIVATION , KNOWLEDGE , SUPPORT & HOPE

With them in place, he conquered cancer – and he remains cancer free to this day .

NB: If you would like to find out more about the non- profit work we do at THE GAME PLAN in order to help and assist those who want to conquer cancer – and download the two FREE eBooks which I have written on the subject , please visit our cancer resource site at : CANCER CHAMPIONS

Ok , now let’s overlay Lance Armstrong’s CHAMPIONS’s MODEL , on that of the great Everest champions . In other words:

Let’s take it to the next level. Let’s power it up

One soon discovers that common denominators do exist, and they guide us as to how the great champions ”conquer ”.

No matter what ” mountain” stands in front of you right now – in your professional and /or personal life – IF you apply the CHAMPIONS’s MODEL , as shared with YOU below , the power will be in your hands ”to conquer” anything.

Here we go :

HOW TO CONQUER .

If you want to conquer anything in life, make sure you have the following FOUR TABLE LEGS OF THE CHAMPION’S TABLE aligned and balanced .

Each leg of the Champion’s Table is of equal importance.

TABLE LEG NUMBER ONE:THE RIGHT MINDSET: ”The Power of Human Choice ”

Lance Armstrong called the first leg MOTIVATION . We prefer to call it MINDSET. Having the right mindset.

Mindset is a human choice.

People who choose ”to fight” have an inherent mindset of VICTIM. It’s a subtle form of self sabotage.

The great champions choose”to conquer ” .

They adopt the mindset of VICTOR.

One’s best made plans – one’s strategies and tactics in life – will prove meaningless unless you possess the right mindset.

Choose right up front. Commit 100 % to conquer . And cut out all forms of doubt.

If you want to swim the English Channel – you must leave your doubt on the beach in Dover : Lewis Pugh

NUMBER TWO: THE RIGHT KNOWLEDGE ‘The Power of Human Awareness ”

A big part of my success has been wave knowledge : Kelly Slater : 11 times world surfing Champion

The human race has evolved from the survival of the fittest to that of the survival of the smartest .

Great Champions go in prepared knowing that Everest can provide every conceivable challenge from altitude sickness, to lack of oxygen, to time cut offs , to adverse weather and cold, to high winds , to mind plays , to physical exhaustion, to climbing hazards , to slippery ice , to frost bite and on and on .

An Everest Champion enters the ” death zone ”above 8000 meters with very high levels of awareness.

They come from a position of strength, which is bolstered by acquiring right knowledge.

NUMBER THRRE: THE RIGHT SUPPORT ‘The Power of Human Collective ”

Nothing great is ever achieved alone.

The great Champions know this and build potent inner circles of trust’.

They surround themselves with believers, ensuring that they are always getting ”the right support.”

There can be nothing worse than having the wrong support – having to listen to the wrong people – who are supplying you with the wrong knowledge.

You got to hang around people who believe in you.

Lance Armstrong knew this from his cycling days where scientists have proven that:

Riding in a peloton can help you to achieve 40 % more’

It’s the power of the human collective put into action.

NUMBER FOUR : THE RIGHT GAME PLAN ‘The Power of Human Focus ”

Is your Game Plan made of the right stuff ?

Lance Armstrong called the final leg of the Champions Table : HOPE , but in reality it’s much more than that.

Hope is NOT a strategy . Hope comes from having a focused high level GAME PLAN in place .

You have to put in the hard yards to develop HOPE , and Lance Armstrong is certainly no stranger to doing that .

He had an abundance of RESOLVE ( MINDSET ) , KNOWLDEGE , SUPPORT and HOPE ( GAME PLAN )

He had all the potent P’s of Personal Branding stacked and closely aligned in his GAME PLAN TO CONQUER CANCER .

PURPOSE: Be clear on your higher purpose in life

PRIORITY: Be clear on your Big Five priorities in life .

PERFORMANCE GOALS: Be clear on your BIG THREE goals in life

The most important thing I have learnt in life is to FOCUS my energy on what is important in life : Bill Gates

Practical Tip for the week

Fighting empowers your enemy. Conquer.Never Fight.

SOME READING :

An interesting read is Shaun Tomson’s book : 12 Simple Lessons for Riding through Life.

He shares the following insight :

Never fight a rip tide – Shaun Tomson

A rip tide is a powerful current of water that sweeps even the strongest swimmer out to sea. The obvious thing to do is to fight against the rip tide. But, by trying to swim directly against it, one quickly gets into trouble and panic results.

It simply cannot be done. And people often drown. Surfers on the other hand – simply love the rip tides. They use them like ‘’ conveyer belts ‘’ to get to where they want to be – far quicker.

Mother Nature teaches us never to fight. The human smart thing to do is to acquire greater knowledge – and a greater understanding.

THE GAME CHANGERS – ROB OPIE , foreword by John Robbie

How to achieve your greatest potential in your professional and personal life

My latest book is due out 1st December. And it’s yours for Mahala . I will be taking all the feedback I get from this online programme and bolstering the book .Please do keep sending me your own stories of Insight , Innovation and Inspiration. They are greatly appreciated

In his latest book , Rob suggests that everyone can find the key to real achievement in life. Finding real purpose need not be random. It is an awesome proposal and one that must be investigated by anyone who fears being ordinary – John Robbie.

GO GREAT . AND PLEASE REMEMBER THE FREE ADDED VALUE AVAILABLE TO YOU ON THIS 11 WEEK PROGRAMME :

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Till next week , when we take an inside look at : GAME CHANGER NUMBER SIX : THE POWER IN THE PELOTON – when we explore what the TEAM means to SUCCESS :

THANK YOU CELL C : A special thank you to Jose and Doug at Team Cell C for their continued support of our GROWING SOUTH AFRICANS GREAT initiative at THE GAME PLAN .

Rob Opie is a Brand Strategist , Entrepreneur ,Speaker, Author and Performance Coach.

He helps teams and individuals to achieve their greatest potential in life.

TO BOOK ROB TO TALK AT YOUR NEXT CORPORATE TEAM EVENT , email him direct at :

robopie@thegameplan.co.za

Read more about his inspirational 2017 POWER TALK at : THE GAME CHANGERS : GOOD TO GREAT TO GREATER.

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