{"id":4,"date":"2012-08-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/olympic-fever\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T20:47:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T20:47:23","slug":"olympic-fever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/olympic-fever\/","title":{"rendered":"A Touch of Olympic Fever"},"content":{"rendered":"

I haven\u2019t really got caught up in Olympic fever, but a story caught my eye, and brought a tear to it, this morning because it reaffirms one of my strongest beliefs. Whilst this is no surprise given the way our unconscious filters in the things which fit in with our beliefs and values, as I explained briefly in a previous post<\/a>, it still feels good when it happens!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s my belief that every child has a seed of greatness in them, that if nurtured and cherished will blossom.<\/h4>\n

Not everyone will go on to be an Olympic champion, but they can go on to be the very best version of themselves and that\u2019s all any of us can hope for.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the story, taken from Sky News\u2026.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWhile 80,000 people in the London Olympic stadium held their breath, wondering if Mo Farah could become the first Brit to ever win gold in the 10,000m, one man had no doubt.<\/p>\n

Alan Watkinson, Farah\u2019s PE teacher and the man he credits with turning his life around, knew he\u2019d be a champion from the age of 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a lively kid,\u201d Alan recalls with a wry smile. \u201cHe was swinging from the goalposts and doing all sorts of crazy things in lessons but he loved PE. He loved sport, he loved to be active and that was something that needed to be harnessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farah came to south west London at the age of eight, an asylum seeker from Somalia.<\/p>\n

In a mainly white school he stood out and the language barrier didn\u2019t help matters.<\/p>\n

Farah came to the UK from Somalia as an asylum seeker when he was eight<\/p>\n

He fell behind in lessons and started to get into scrapes, but Alan spotted Mo\u2019s talent and persuaded him to try athletics.<\/p>\n

Back then, Mo was more interested in football than running, and Alan had to resort to bribes to motivate him to win competitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said if you win the English Schools (he had come ninth the year before) I\u2019ll buy you a football kit. And he did win the English Schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo before the Olympic final yesterday, I sent him a text message saying \u2018If you win I\u2019ll buy you a football kit\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hasn\u2019t sent me a text back yet so hopefully he won\u2019t expect it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Far from being just another teacher in Mo\u2019s past, Alan has stayed close friends with the long distance runner, even standing as his best man at his wedding.<\/p>\n

Watching his protege cross the line in the Olympic Stadium was an experience Alan says he will cherish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was jumping up and down and screaming. The people next to me must have thought who\u2019s this guy? What\u2019s he doing?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a remarkable feeling. From knowing him 17, 18 years ago and seeing him develop from that youth who had a few troubles at school but who was charming and good humoured \u2026 to see him go from that to the stadium in London was just \u2026 you couldn\u2019t make it up.<\/p>\n

\u201cTears were rolling down my cheeks, I don\u2019t think I even saw him go across the finish line I was so emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s gone from a mischievous child to an Olympic champion, but Mo Farah can\u2019t relax yet \u2013 he\u2019s scheduled to compete in the 5,000m final next week.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Isn\u2019t that a wonderful story!<\/h4>\n

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a teacher like Alan Watkinson. Many don\u2019t even have a friend or parent to believe in them.<\/p>\n

What I would like to say to you if you \u00a0have grown up feeling unloved, unworthy and unfulfilled is..<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s never too late!<\/h2>\n

At any moment in life we all have choices. Choices to do, say, think, feel and be what we will. It may not always be easy to make the right choice and your race may be starting way before the start line, but the past does not equal the future<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

You can build a great life despite<\/span> a poor start. <\/strong><\/p>\n

You can be so much more than you know if you will just give yourself a chance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mo Farah became an Olympic Champion with the help of his PE teacher, who saw and nourished that seed. \u00a0You can become a more brilliant version of yourself by routing out and cherishing your own shoots of brilliance.<\/p>\n

Why not start a new race today.<\/h2>\n

The race to be the ultimate you, whatever that might mean. Build yourself up and start the journey to the life of your dreams.<\/p>\n

I know it can be done because I have been fortunate enough to work with people who have changed their lives around. You can do it too!<\/p>\n

You deserve it, all you have to do is believe that, want it and be prepared to make the choices to make it happen.<\/p>\n

If you have enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and leave a comment below <\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I haven\u2019t really got caught up in Olympic fever, but a story caught my eye, and brought a tear to it, this morning because it reaffirms one of my strongest beliefs. Whilst this is no surprise given the way our unconscious filters in the things which fit in with our beliefs and values, as I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1331,"featured_media":28,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"class_list":["post-4","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beliefs","category-mindset","category-self-esteem","tag-beliefs","tag-change-your-life","tag-mo-farah","tag-motivation","tag-olympics","tag-positive-thinking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4\/revisions\/22"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/amanda-ollier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}