When you find yourself at a loose end with nothing immediate to do, ask yourself: What am I practicing?The reason is, because whatever it is you are practicing – is what you are going to get good at. Scrolling on your phone? You’ll get good at that. Not going to gym? You’ll get good at that too. Procrastinating? You’ll become good at putting things off. Smoking? Cancer beckons ….

Nike’s Just Do It is a good motto – but I say a better variation is Do It Now. Whenever you are faced with anything that must be done – do it now. Why wait?

A close friend who is indestructible when it comes to gyming, cycling, running or anything requiring physical effort, when asked how he motivates himself, answers, “I just say to myself, ‘Come on big boy’”. And he is amazingly successful in everything he does. It seems it doesn’t matter what you use to get yourself going – just find something that works for you.

As a reserve mantra I sometimes get into the habit of saying, Every day, in every way I am getting better and better.  I call it a reserve mantra as a change from, What am I practicing. Interestingly, when I do it – for a long while after, I feel energised … not sure of the mechanics, but it does make me feel better about things.