Michele Eray | USACK - Everyone knows about Mohammed Ali, one of the most vocal and successful boxers of all time. He came across as pretty arrogant and over-confident, but the one thing we can't deny is that he was the greatest when it came to self belief. He talked the talk, and walked the walk, but most importantly, he also did the work, which allowed him to totally believe in his ability to beat his competitors.

If you have put in the time, and prepared to the best of your ability, leaving no stone unturned in your groundwork, then you have every reason to be confident in your ability to perform.

This all starts with adopting a High Performance Attitude. Waking up every day, make the commitment to take on an approach that is directed at being as professional as possible.

First thing is to be positive! You have chosen this path, so go out there and enjoy it!

Motivation starts within, and having a positive attitude each and every day will go a long way in determining how successful you are in achieving your results in the long run. Staying motivated also takes daily effort, so have a method to continuously work at this element (starting with a positive attitude is the first step).

Then you need to take ownership of your future. Ultimately it is you that is responsible for how well you do. "Your attitude determines your aptitude"!

Taking ownership means taking responsibility for yourself. Aim to get the most out of your training, your recovery, your nutrition, and manage your body and mind to enable yourself to give out your optimum performance.

To perform consistently, you need to prepare consistently. This is the basic building block of any successful paddler.

Aiming to be consistent, firstly means committing to your coach's program and attending all the training sessions. Missing a session here and there might not seem like much at the time, but just missing one 80 minute session a week, adds up to about 64 hours in year (on a 48 week year) That's 2.5 days of training time!

Secondly, be consistent within the session. What you do in each and every training session will count towards race day. Training sessions have goals, that you should strive to achieve. Aim to be in the present, know and understand why you are doing something, and make sure you are working in that direction.

And lastly, be consistent in your approach. Assume that positive attitude every morning, and work at your motivation levels every day. Always have a solid warm up routine, and cool down, not just physically, but mentally prepare yourself as well.

Train hard, be positive and most importantly, have fun!