***************************************************
    The Great Gordino Newsletter - Issue 270 - Mon 20th Dec 2004
    ***************************************************

    Hi There,

    I hope all is well where you are.
    Last week I talked about how the small changes in image can
    make a big change in perception.
    I talked about being flexible with your methods, and featured an
    impressive goal achievement story.
    If you missed any of them, no need to go all Scrooge-like, just
    read them at the main archives link above!

    Today the film 'Armageddon' is showing on TV.
    I used the film as the start point for some writing in my book,
    and have featured it in the newsletter.
    I'm not going to put it in again today, but if you fancy reading it,
    here's the link:
    Transform Your Life in 21 Days!

    Instead I want to talk about Craig Johnston today.
    He's a sporting success story, but I want to concentrate on his
    life leading up to, and after his sporting success.

    Right then, here we go...

    Born in 1960, as a child he saw an English football team play a
    game in a pre-season tour, and decided that he wanted to be a
    footballer.
    Nothing particularly unusual there, but Johnston wrote to the
    team and asked if he could come for a trial!

    In fact he wrote to all the big teams in England, saying that he
    would pay his own air fare if he could just come over and have a
    trial.
    All the clubs wrote back and said 'er, no thanks', except the
    team he had seen play that pe-season game, Middlesborough.

    His parents sold their house so that he could go over for the trial.
    I'll say that again, as it shows huge support - his parents sold
    their house so that he could go to England.

    On the day of the trial, it didn't go well, and the manager told
    him he was a 'useless kangaroo who could get back on the first
    plane to Australia.'

    In tears both in the dressing room and back at his digs, he
    spoke to his parents on the phone.
    They were so enthusiastic, that he couldn't tell them the truth,
    and told them that he had been asked to stay on for 6 months.

    Pretty good so far, eh?
    A tale of goal achievement, taking action, and yet not meeting
    success.

    Here's where the story gets even *more* interesting...

    The next day, he took a ball outside, and started to kick it
    against a wall.
    He drew circles at various spots on the wall, and spent hour after
    hour, day after day, kicking and kicking until he could hit any
    circle he wanted, from different distances.

    He went and begged Middlesborough for another chance, and
    guess what?
    He got in the team, and went on to be a crucial player for them.

    3 years later, at 20, he signed for Liverpool, who were at the
    time the biggest club in the country, and one of the biggest in
    Europe.

    He played for them for 7 years, winning everything it was
    possible to win, until he retired at 27.

    Why did he retire?
    Well his sister had been in an accident, and needed full-time
    care, so he chose to spend his time looking after her.

    Still interesting?
    Using practice and dedication to make the most of his talents to
    get to the top, and then being able to prioritise his life.

    Back in Australia, a local youth team asked him for advice, and
    when he tried to tell them how to swerve a ball, they told him
    they couldn't get grip on the ball because they were wearing
    leather boots, not rubber ones.

    This comment, made somewhat sarcastically, switched a
    lightbulb on in Craig's head, and he went home, took the rubber
    face off a table tennis bat and strapped it to the boot, which now
    gave much better grip, particularly in the wet.

    Another path was made for him, and he spent 18 months
    developing the boot, which he called The Predator.
    No previous experience of design or chemical knowledge, he
    ploughed on through trial and error, being turned down by all the
    big sports manufacturers.
    Eventually in 1992 he convinced Adidas to support the project,
    and in 1994, the boot was finally made available.

    The boot had a classic marketing angle - it was simply sold as
    the boot which could make anyone play better, and became the
    biggest selling boot globally.

    The boot was being worn by the biggest players in the game,
    and soon became a fashionable 'must have' boot, with a price
    tag to match.
    This went against what Craig had in mind, so he left the project
    in 1998.

    For his next project (and it's no surpise that there *was* a next
    project!), he returned to the training scheme he had devised all
    those years ago against the wall to make himself a better
    player, and refined it into a set of training targets
    called 'Supaskills', and persuaded football's international body
    that it was helpful for underdeveloped communities.

    He still hasn't made a fortune from this one yet, but in the
    program, he said he felt passionate about what he was doing,
    he had been broke and been a millionaire, but was happy
    because what he did made a difference to people's lives.

    Oh, and by the way he is developing another boot.
    This time it's called The Pig, and will be a cheap strap-on to
    avoid the high prices, and is being developed with Adidas'
    competitors, Reebok.

    Wow, what a story!
    Very inspirational, the man is an example to anyone.

    He used his belief in himself, put in good old fashioned hard
    work to get what he wanted, and was able, and still is, to give
    back to others.

    Ok, thats it for today, and here's the thought - are you putting
    in the effort, or are you expecting results to just fall into your
    lap?

    'Til Wednesday,
    Health and Happiness,
    Gordon
    email me at gordon@gordonbryan.com - you'll have to copy and paste
    thanks to the idiot online spammers!



    
    Get my book here!


    

    Main Archive Page                 Newsletter Home Page