I think I’ve just about recovered. As I settled down with a glass of wine in front of the TV at 2.00 o’clock yesterday I‘m sure that I hadn’t fully anticipated how exhausting and emotionally charged my lazy Sunday afternoon was going to be. I played every stroke. I fought every rally. I experienced the glow of genuine personal achievement with every unplayable ace I (sorry, I mean ‘he’) delivered, and I fought hard to keep myself calm and focused each and every time our gladiator hit a frustratingly simple drop shot into the net. When Murray eventually won through, after Novak Djokovic’s brave and stubborn refusal to concede defeat in that last game, I felt the pride rise in my chest  – as surely my efforts had somehow contributed to this historic victory. And I wondered if I would ever see a more perfect example of the power and impact of our beliefs played out in front of me?

Before yesterday’s match, and despite a hugely partisan crowd, the bookmakers Paddy Power made top seed Djokovic 8/13 favourite win, and were offering odds of 11/8 for a Murray victory. Most of the experts agreed that if both men played at their best Noval Djokovic would win. I can’t imagine how heavily the burden of the hopes and expectations of the nation would have felt on Murray’s shoulders I have no idea what odds you could have got on him winning in straight sets.

As someone who makes their living from studying and understanding human behaviour I don’t believe I have ever before witnessed a sporting event where two equally matched opponents visibly switched back and forth so abruptly from believing, feeling and knowing that they can win, to allowing the possibility of defeat to creep into their minds. Both men in turn lost a string of matches in a row as the self-doubt and fear flooded their bodies with cortisols and stress hormones that tightened up their muscles and choked the instinctive, unconscious flow of their game. You could feel the energy, belief and willpower of the Centre Court crowd ebb and flow with them as the drama of the afternoon unfolded.

Andrew Murray didn’t win yesterday because he possessed superior skill, technique, experience or strength. He won because, on the day, he had a better strategy in overcoming the self-doubt. Maybe getting off to such a fantastic start in the first set gave him a psychological advantage. Perhaps the vision and sense of destiny that his brilliant coach Ivan Lendl has instilled in him was what made all the difference. Certainly the massed positive vibrations of the crowd (both in SW19 and like me, at home in their armchairs),willing him on, will have played a part. Yesterday Andrew Murray did a better and quicker job of re-establishing, what we refer to within The Charisma Model Programme as a ‘growth mindset’.

This morning, almost by way of a waking thought, I was reminded of a poem from my schooldays, and with such a wonderful example of the power of belief fresh in the National consciousness, I thought it would be a good day to share it.

                                                                                          If you think you are beaten, you are; 

                                                                                          if you think you dare not, you don’t;

                                                                                     if you’d like to win, but you think you can’t,

it’s almost certain you won’t. 

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost,

for out in the world you find

success begins with a person’s will.

It’s all in the state of the mind.

 If you think you’re outclassed, you are;

you’ve got to think high to rise;

you’ve got to be sure of yourself before

you can ever win the prize.

Think big and your deeds will grow;

think small and you’ll fall behind;

think that you can and you will.

It’s all in the state of the mind.

Life’s battles don’t always go

to the stronger or faster person:

but sooner or later the person who wins

is the person who thinks he can.

Walter D. Wintle