Get Your Hopes Up : by Glen A Gerreyn by Dee Teal

Contents Foreword Preface Acknowledgements Introduction

22 24 26 29

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY

Glory Days

Dreams Fade

Another Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Story

X-treme

Step One: Find It

Step Two: Form It

Step Three: Face It

Step Four: Fight for It

Step Five: Fill It

Step Six: Focus It

A Dream Achieved

: CHAPTER 2 PURPOSE DRIVEN

Purpose

Yellow Brick Road

Myth of Mankind

Decades of Influence

1960s: Earnest Effort

1970s: Shifting Values

1980s: Denial

1990s: Hopelessness

2000s: Despair

Finding the Balance

Purpose

The Flea Circus

Passion

Price Tag

Vision

Parable of the Talents

101

Action Steps

104

: CHAPTER 3 REALITY CHECK

125

Paradigms

126

Four-Minute Mile

127

Distorted Perceptions

130

Reality

134

Forming Beliefs

138

The Matrix

144

A Matter of Attitude

147

Wilma Rudolph

148

History versus Destiny

151

Lone Survivor

154

ABC of Success

157

Are All Dreams Valid?

160

Action Steps

161

: CHAPTER 4 POWER TALK

167

Words

168

Self -Talk

173

The 7%–38%–55% Rule

177

Motion

183

Beyond Words

185

Gossip

187

Personal Motto

187

Action Steps

189

: CHAPTER 5 DREAM BANDITS

191

Your Dream

192

Realistic and Achievable

195

Unrealistic and Achievable

198

Unrealistic and Unachievable

200

Dream Bandits

203

Dream Bandit Alert: People

203

Dream Bandit Alert: Life

210

Dream Bandit Alert: Time

213

Dream Bandit Alert: You

216

Action Steps

219

Tomorrow

221

Afterword

226

Special Thanks

229

Glossary

230

Endnotes

232

Bibliography

238

About the Author

242

Oxygen Factory

246

Foreword A number of years ago I was sitting in a large, darkened auditorium filled to capacity with nearly 2,000 teenagers from all walks of life. Privileged to walk alongside teenagers on a daily basis, I am constantly looking for what grabs their attention, what matters to them and what they allow to impact on their world. I had heard of this conference for teenagers, and being wildly over-age, donned the sunglasses, pulled down the cap, and snuck into the back row. In such a setting, one would quite reasonably expect, at the very least, some degree of restlessness, low-grade chatting, and random movements as kids move from friend to friend, wandering outside, sending and answering countless text messages. Instead I was struck by an unusual silence, by the rapt attention and engagement these young adults had with the speaker. The auditorium was suspended, silent, focused. They were held for over an hour, captured by Glenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s words, gripped by his message. I have since watched him do this to similar effect, in day-long presentations and workshops, including his signature Get Your Hopes Up seminar. Glen Gerreyn is an extraordinary communicator, clearly motivated by a passion for his message of hope for every child, for every teenager, and for every adult. In an age where cynicism is synonymous with maturity, Glen taps into the secret hopes and dreams of young people, validates who they are and who they are called to be, and then teaches constructive, responsible and practical steps to completing the journey â&#x20AC;&#x201C; steps that rely on taking responsibility, being brave and courageous, working hard, developing self-discipline, deciding to be full of hope, and being purpose-driven. It flies in the face of contemporary culture, yet Glen delivers a message that teenagers are insatiably hungry to hear.

The teenage years are so powerful in determining who a person becomes. It is all too easy to let go of hope, to be scared of trying just in case you fail, and of letting others inform and define your limitations. I highly recommend Glenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book to you, and indeed his seminar programmes, as a means of hearing another voice, another way of doing life, another way of deciding what you will do and who you will become. This book is about hope â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an earthy, grounded, pragmatic hope that if tapped and allowed to flourish, will give you wings to fly. Enjoy. Dr. Briony Scott

Preface ‘Get Your Hopes Up’ is my message that I am offering to you. It is part of me. It has pervaded my existence for the last decade. I have delivered this full-day motivational seminar an estimated 2,000 times to teenagers, parents, teachers, professional and amateur athletes as well as prominent members of the business community. I could deliver it 20,000 more times and would never tire of it, for it is impossible to tire of something that transforms and empowers an individual. To see awareness dawn in a face as its owner realises a new truth about themself is remarkable. Having that as part of my working day is a privilege. Regardless of age, race and status, the ‘Get Your Hopes Up’ audience response is overwhelmingly the same ... “Thank you.” Thank you for your honesty. Thank you for opening up my eyes to my talents and capacity. Thank you for showing me I am bigger than any obstacle and that I can overcome. Thank you for your passion. Thank you for your belief. Thank you for your enthusiasm.

One Year 10 student from North Sydney, NSW said: “Your enthusiasm is contagious! I hope it is an incurable disease.” That is my deepest desire. I desperately want everyone throughout the world to be struck down with severe symptoms of enthusiasm, passion and hope for life so that we are forever changed. I want passion and positivity to be epidemic. I want our thoughts, words and actions to be infected with purpose and power. Depression, eating disorders, drug abuse and other ailments will no longer rule and ruin the lives of young people. Hope will have us in a vice. It will dominate

every channel, every station, every morning edition. Every program, album and publication will deliver the gift of hope. HOPE will reign! Such ideas may seem ridiculous ... but not impossible. May you join others who have gone before you, and begin to live your life with a greater level of hope and expectancy. My prayer is that in reading this book you allow a new day to dawn in your life.

HISTORY “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” Albert Einstein

GET YOUR HOPES UP

GLORY DAYS I still remember the intoxicating nectar of victory. The first running race I won was back in 1987 as a fourteen-year-old in Year 9. It was during a period in my life where I was really trying to figure out who I was, where I fitted in and what was life’s intention for Glen Gerreyn. I was born in Sri Lanka, a tropical island south of India. I lived in its capital city, Colombo, for just three months before my parents migrated to Australia. We landed in Melbourne in 1974. After a holiday in Queensland where my Dad experienced the hot sun again – a climate more like Sri Lanka’s – he packed up once more and we moved to Redcliffe, a small city with a population of 50,000 people located 35 minutes north of Brisbane. Growing up on the Redcliffe peninsula, I experienced almost all the different kinds of schools the Queensland education system had to offer – both a public and a Catholic coeducational primary school, a Catholic boys high school and, for my final two years, a public coeducational high school. As a young kid I lacked mental strength. In fact, you could say there was nothing tough about me. In my early primary school years I was your typical skinny Sri Lankan brown kid with no early indicators of prowess in any particular area – except I did have rhythm. This proved to be a real gift as rhythm plays a significant role in sprinting. l loved to dance and I had a passion to become somebody even if I didn’t know how to pursue that passion. I admit to dreams of grandeur from a young age. When I was about twelve years old, I began to display a flair for athletics. I loved to run and I raced every time I got an opportunity. Adrian and I used to compete together. He was the most popular guy in school and my toughest competition. He was tall and strong with beautiful technique and an unbeatable stride. He was one of those frustratingly talented people with a natural affinity for sport – any sport. Every time he and I raced I was relegated to second place while Adrian collected those coveted blue ribbons for first place. At that time, I didn’t possess the strong competitive edge I developed later in high school. I found I was content with coming second because, prior to that, I had struggled to even place. 34

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY I remember a cool morning in August 1987. We were on the athletics field at De La Salle College in Redcliffe for the final of the 100 metre sprint, which is considered the ‘glamour’ event of track. The combination of raw speed, basic animal instinct, and a drive to win compels men and women to strive to win this event. Everyone can run, but the question is, how fast can you go? At world-class level, this race is won and lost in less than ten seconds. We were lining up for the Under Fourteen A Final. The year before I had come in third behind Andrew (another gifted athlete) and, you guessed it, Adrian. These two sprinters could have made their mark in any sport, from basketball to rugby, from cricket to swimming or even tennis. Unlike them I had done no special training in the lead up to the event and didn’t even have a coach, so I was far from being the favourite. Still anything can happen in a 100 metre sprint – a bad start, a stumble or a stutter and it’s all over. Also, something had transformed my body that year. I guess it was the onset of puberty forcing a sudden rush of hormones through my system. I had noticed a large amount of fluff growing just above my top lip and on my chin, strange things were happening to my voice and pimples added to my “winter of discontent”.1 There were positives though – a sudden interest in girls, for one. Lining up for the start I remember feeling under-prepared and completely outclassed. In short, I was terrified. Adrian and Andrew were both big solid guys for fourteen-year-olds. Out of the two hundred boys in our year Andrew had the most athletic frame. He looked like Hercules. They both exuded confidence and most of the girls at the Catholic girls school down the road had their eye on them. In fact, they were dating the two most beautiful girls from that school. As I took my mark, realisation struck. This race had not yet been run. The winner could be anyone. It could be me. What if it was me? This was the ‘A final’. We had all made it through the preliminary rounds. We had fought for and won our right to be here. In truth, we were lining up as equals. It came down to a question of who wanted it most. Who harboured the relentless thirst for victory? Me. I did! This was my quest – my talent. I asked myself: was this what I was destined for? Is sprinting my purpose, my passion, my path? I had grown up attending church and recognised early that God gives us all gifts 35

GET YOUR HOPES UP

and talents to use for our benefit and His glory. I wanted so much to be the fastest. To have the title of the Under Fourteen Schoolboy Champion of De La Salle College. Not exactly a world-recognised accolade, but it was what I wanted. That title could, would, define me. The fastest fourteen year old. That would make me significant. I was hungry to make this race my own. The gun went off. I pounced. I had never been a great starter. Andrew instantly took the lead but I wasn’t too far behind. A close second was actually a great position for me to be in early in the race. As we hit the 50 metre mark I started to wind up. The speed felt good, natural, easy, thrilling. Running flat out I was exhilarated. I felt alive. At the 75 metre mark I suddenly took the lead, I could hardly believe it. It felt so strange to be in the lead with nobody to follow. What an amazing paradox of unfamiliarity and elation. Now I had no-one to rely on but myself. Striding out on my own, I pushed harder and harder, all the time my mind reeling because there was no-one around me. I was forging ahead on my own and I could already see the finish line. I wanted it. In that moment I wanted it more than anything I had ever wanted before. As I leaned forward, stretching, straining, heaving to cross the line, I was overcome with emotion. Elation. Relief. Triumph. I did it. It was me! My first win! It was an unspoken tradition in my all-boys school to keep emotions suppressed. I did my best to remain controlled and maintain the pretence that it was ‘just another day at the track’. I don’t think the other boys could believe it. They must have been as shocked as I was. I had a sheepish grin on my face as though I had just stolen something from someone. But it felt so good. I walked up, shook hands with my competitors then went and sat in my School House area on the field and waited for my next event. My recorded handheld time was 11.98 seconds on grass – a new school record! The win had a profound effect on my life. It solidified a change in me. The thrill of being the very best, no matter how fleeting, stayed with me. To want something so much, to visualise it so clearly, to devote all your energy toward its accomplishment and then to have it pay off was indescribable. I was filled with a new hope – a belief that I was forging a new path.

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY A hope that I was creating a new vision for my future. Like any teenager struggling with identity and purpose I was plagued by feelings of insecurity and isolation. I knew the sting of rejection and abandonment. I was subject to the daily pressures of schoolwork and family. I experienced persistent anxiety about failure, a stress that was compounded by typical hormonal changes. There were many times when I felt I couldn’t cope. Winning that 100 metre final negated all that. I no longer felt like a helpless little ‘Lanka-boy’. I had proven myself and proven my worth. I could see new doors opening for me. I felt invincible. That win rearranged my perspective. It ignited real passion in me for the first time. I believe that PASSION for your PURPOSE will EMPOWER you to OVERCOME limitation, EXCEED expectation and CONFRONT challenges. The more spectacular the vision, the greater your power to deal with life’s inevitable obstacles. π OBSTACLES ARE THOSE FRIGHTFUL THINGS YOU SEE WHEN YOU TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE GOAL HENRY FORD π My next event was the sprint double – a highly unlikely feat due to my general lack of fitness and preparedness. As we lined up for the 200 metre event I felt a tremendous knot in my stomach. I was under pressure to perform. Winning the 100 metre had ranked me as the favourite. All eyes were on me. A wave of nausea and fear swept over me. Standing in lane 8, waiting to start, I mentally traced my steps through the race. Racing in this lane meant that I wouldn’t be able to see the other competitors so the pace was up to me. I visualised every step, taking into account my handicap, a shaky start, and the distance I had to catch up. My race plan was to take it easy for the first 50 metres, running at about 80%, leaving me enough fuel to finish the next 100 metres. Then I would accelerate using the torque I created off the bend to force myself into the straight. The only thing left was to run hard and hopefully find myself in a favourable position.

GET YOUR HOPES UP

Running out in lane 8 forced me to run my own race. I began to accelerate a little too early but I revelled in the sense of power as I ricocheted off the curve and hit the straight with muscle. To my utter surprise I was in front off the bend. I was so excited I dug deep and found my last untapped strength. I crossed the line with my trademark dip. I was clearly in front. My next breath of oxygen felt like I had opened my lungs for the very first time. I have heard people talk about the rebirth experience – those ‘white light’ moments where you feel ‘in a new zone’. In that moment I understood it completely. Winning those two events helped me identify the reason I was on this planet. π BUT I WILL FOREVER CARRY THE FEELING OF VICTORY AND IT WILL SERVE ME IN WHATEVER I DO. I HAVE SEEN WHAT IS POSSIBLE AND WHAT CAN HAPPEN WITH THE JOINING OF SPIRIT AND BODY. I HAVE SEEN WITH AMAZING CLARITY THE CAPABILITY OF ONE PERSON PERFORMING WITH FOCUS, EFFICIENCY AND FURY, WITH THE CONFIDENCE OF SOMEONE WHO HAS WORKED AS HARD AS THEY POSSIBLY CAN. I HAVE LOOKED THE DRAGON IN THE EYES AND I HAVE LAID HIM OUT FLAT. MICHAEL JOHNSON π In my quest to score as many points as possible for my House I competed in as many events as I could that day; long jump, discus, hurdles, high jump and the 400 metre sprint. Whoever created the 400 metre event obviously enjoyed pain. Lactic acid fills your legs, causing your body to scream as you push it to its limits – to the threshold of unconsciousness. It is amazing what you will put yourself through to score more points for your House! This day had already been the greatest of my life, but now I felt an insatiable desire for more. As I prepared for the 400 metre start I felt an overwhelming sense of purpose fill my soul. This was who I was. This was why I was on the planet. This path would lead me to greatness. As the gun sounded I raced with a new level of confidence and assurance that this was providence. I felt the wind in my hair (yes, I used to have some), the refreshing crispness of a Queensland winter on my skin and the electrifying force of speed.

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY I finished the race in first place, completing the impossible sprint triple. Only in my imagination had I ever envisioned a day like that. I rode home feeling a little taller, perhaps wiser and much stronger. The air was cleaner and the sun shone brighter. It was as if a light had appeared out of the darkness and for that day at least the darkness did not overcome it. 2 From that day on, there was a dramatic change in my world. My new sagacity brought my purpose into focus. I determined that day to make the most of this gift of speed. Like Mercury, the Roman god known for his speed, I would wield my talents for good, not evil. I set out on a mission to maximise and use the raw skill I had discovered. The grace and fervour with which you move when you discover your lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purpose is truly astonishing. I firmly believe that nothing satisfies the human spirit more than discerning its purpose. My purpose I believed, was to be the fastest man on the planet. During the off-season for athletics I would turn into a recluse and become invisible, hoping to go undetected. However, as soon as the athletic season dawned I would emerge like a bear from his winter hibernation, hungry and ready to pounce. I sensed the change in the climate, the planets realigning, spiralling galaxies assembling in giant vortexes and suspending their movement as I stepped out onto the track! I felt a constant surge of air streaming behind me pushing me towards the goal I had set myself â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the ultimate prize, to don the green and gold as a member of the Australian Commonwealth and Olympic Games Teams. I wrote down what I would need to do, step-by-step, to achieve my goal. What personal best times I would have to achieve and by when. I kept a training journal. I read every available piece of information I could find on sprinting. I watched video footage of Olympic and World Champion sprinters. I collected photos and posters of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest sprinters and covered my bedroom walls. I sought to emulate the way they walked, the way they talked and how they conducted themselves in interviews. I was late discovering my ability to sprint, so I immersed myself in the sport to make up for lost time. I trained six days a week and competed on the seventh. I wanted to chisel and sculpt my body into a refined sprinting machine.

GET YOUR HOPES UP

I wanted this with all my heart. Nothing gave me more pleasure than running at full speed. Nothing (I thought) could keep me from this pursuit. My training sessions were tough. For someone who had never trained at any level before it was going to be a steep learning curve. I was gifted at the high school level but to compete at the regional, state and national levels was going to be difficult. Not only would I be among a larger pool of competitors but there were heats, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals to run. I had to develop the endurance to keep pushing the envelope to get me through to the next round. Towards the end of the 1988 athletic season I found a great coach. Chris was a qualified schoolteacher from England. He was training a squad of middle-distance runners on a grass track about six kilometres from my home. I knew him by reputation and I wanted his expertise. I went down to the track to ask if he would consider coaching me. Chris, seeing my obvious passion and not wanting to discourage me, said, “Let’s see how you go after a week of training.” I didn’t know then that he had already heard of me. In fact, he had been training other local sprinters to try and beat me! He was keen to work with me and see if he could turn this flyweight youngster into a real sprint champion. At the end of the first week he agreed to coach me, and we formed a great mentoring relationship. For a sprinter, my form and shape were weak. I needed to beef up and improve my technique. Raw talent was not going to get me to the goal I had planted in my heart. So I humbly devoted myself to a master of the track and committed to the daily grind of training. Chris understood the mind-set of a sprinter. He knew I had to get myself into shape; not just physically but also psychologically. My first few sessions were light basic drills and short sprints with lots of recovery time. As the track season was drawing to a close I readied myself to settle back and hibernate in my cave. But, Chris had other plans. He was going to use the next six months to condition my body for endurance, strength, power and speed. He carved my off-season up into phases, systematically breaking down each segment of the race. Chris had me around the track sprinting the straights and jogging the curves. I soon found myself out of breath and legs burning and the pain lasted from session to session. These sessions were then coupled with a five kilometre run at five am and a three kilometre run in the afternoon where every 40

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY bend in the track posed a challenge for my psyche. Chris was moulding me into a professional athlete. Next came the power and strength sessions which made my previous training seem like a walk in the park. They included hill sprints and four 400 metre sprints with just five minutes recovery. Each 400 metres had to be run in under 60 seconds. Because of my relentless determination I constantly stretched and increased my capacity. I could often be found vomiting and dry retching after each session. Looking back now I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help wondering if this was a precursor to the physical problems I was soon to experience. I had less than two years training to accomplish my target, which was to become the fastest schoolboy in Queensland. The goal at the time seemed ridiculous considering I had never made it to a state event, let alone a final. During the winter months we used to train on a grass track in an area called Deception Bay. In those days the local council would not maintain the track so we were running on grass that was up to our knees and we would emerge from training, not just wet, but saturated and covered in mud. Added to that was the exhaustion of the sessions which left me gasping for breath. I would walk through the front door at home looking less like a sprinter returning from training and more like a solider returning from battle. In any event I was a picture of mud, sweat and tears. Nothing hardened me mentally more than those sessions. I would often walk away angry that my coach made me train in such horrible conditions, while he stood under an umbrella with a stopwatch. I never liked to be told what to do. I now know that sometimes you must bend your will for the greater good. Lying in bed after those sessions I was so grateful, because I had pushed myself further than I imagined I could. This was made possible only because I had a great coach and mentor. Chris quickly realised that the more emotion he evoked in me, the harder I would run. The more ferocious I became, the stronger the presence I would exert on the track. I learnt how to dominate my lane and possess and channel all my strength, converting it into applied power. Towards the end of Year 12, at seventeen years of age, as I was entering my final track season as a schoolboy I finally began to feel like a professional sprinter. Physically I had bulked up both from training and 41

GET YOUR HOPES UP

puberty. More importantly, my mind was clear on my tasks. I carried myself like an athlete. I had an air of confidence about me and took on a self-assured saunter. The track was my kingdom. This was my last year, my last opportunity. Time was limited so I needed to give it all I had. After the gruelling off-season training I was eager to get out and compete. My first goal was to go through the school, zone and regional carnivals unbeaten in the 100, 200 and 400 metre events. Something I had never done before. I then aimed to come home with a gold medal at the State Titles and compete in a final at the Nationals. The fact I had never even made a state final before did not dissuade me. I wanted this with all my heart. Just because something has not been done before, did not mean it could not be done. So with that philosophy I embarked on a journey that I believed would see me ticking off each of those targets one by one. I knew that if I disciplined myself every day and took incremental steps, my dreams would become reality. At training I would visualise each session leading me closer to my aspirations. Chris presented the training schedule for the coming months detailing how we would taper off to attain my main and specific goal of a state gold medal. Seeing the plan written out prompted me to write a plan for myself that would propel me towards an Olympic gold medal. Here it is ... My Seven Year Plan s 3TATE 'OLD -EDAL .ATIONAL &INAL s .ATIONAL 'OLD -EDAL s )!!& 7ORLD *UNIORS &INAL 3EOUL +OREA s 7ORLD #HAMPIONSHIPS &INAL s #OMMONWEALTH 'AMES &INAL s 7ORLD #HAMPIONSHIPS &INAL s /LYMPIC 'AMES 'OLD -EDAL !TLANTA

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY School athletic carnivals have always enthralled me. Competing against my peers for House glory is a fond memory. After securing my events I was always eager to compete in other events just for extra points for my house. In my final year, having been awarded the position of House Captain I was keen to give my best effort. Winning my three pet events enhanced my self-confidence. I was eager to take it further at the zone carnival. In the lead-up to the zones I was starting to feel anxious. I started worrying about my competitors. I knew who I was competing against at my school carnival because I saw them every day. I knew who was training and who wasn’t. But now the pool was getting bigger and many unknown factors entered the equation. Who would I be racing against and would they steal my spot? It was here I learnt about focus. The only thing I could control was my lane. I couldn’t allow the unknown to sap my confidence. Why worry about elements beyond my control? So, at each training session I concerned myself, not with my sprint squad buddies, but with my lane. I was like a horse with blinkers on. The more I focused, the better I ran. At both the zone and regional carnivals I went through undefeated. My plan was coming together. As I began to prepare for the state carnival I sustained an injury at one of my training sessions. While working on my starts I felt a slight pull in my groin. Bitterly disappointed, I immediately stopped training and went straight home to put some ice on it. The State Titles were only two weeks away and I wondered how I was I going to train in the lead-up with this injury? Fortunately, after a few days it began to feel better. Feeling strong and fuelled with excitement I completed my last few training sessions strongly and waited for the big weekend to arrive – the weekend of the Queensland All Schools State Athletics Championships. A balmy day greeted us at QEII stadium (now ANZ stadium). The one hour bus trip always made you feel a little stiff and tired but a light walk around the stadium soon loosened the muscles and blew the cobwebs away. I had many heats, quarterfinals and semifinals to run because I was competing in all three sprint events. 43

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With each qualifier I felt my groin injury act up more and by the time the finals came around the pain was constant. I didn’t know what to do. Chris advised me to drop out of two finals and just give one a good go. After much deliberation I decided just to run the 400 metre even though my personal bests would have been good enough to win all three. So with discomfort in my groin I faced up to the challenge of winning the 400 metre. This was it – circumstances had conspired to leave me with only one chance to step closer to Olympic glory. We would soon find out if I was good enough. My personal best for the 400 was 50.12 seconds but I had seldom been pushed and never had the stakes been higher. With an injury I wasn’t sure if a personal best time was going to be within my reach. Prior to the race Chris grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and said, “This is it son, leave nothing in the tank, tear up the track.” Then he walked away. I was perplexed but his strategy worked and got me fired up. I was so emotionally charged that I momentarily forgot about the injury. I walked into my lane with a fresh focus and purpose. I was not going to die wondering. If I was really gifted as an athlete this would be on this stage that I would prove it. With fire in my belly I was determined to make this state final mine. Taking off from the blocks I made my presence felt. My intention was to catch any person in front of me within the first 50 metres and then be out in front at the 200 metre mark. As the lactic acid started to flow I pulled out every ounce of power and speed I had and ran flat out. I ended up crossing the line 10 metres in front of my closest competitor in a time of 49.19 seconds, a new personal best and a state gold medal. Elation, ecstasy and euphoria ... call it what you will but now I knew who I was, I would never let it go. Glen Gerreyn, Athletics Champion. Step one fulfilled.

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY DREAMS FADE By the end of Year 12, my personal bests were 10.60 seconds for the 100 metre, 21.81 seconds for the 200 metre and 48.00 seconds flat for the 400 metre event. Those times qualified me for the World Junior Titles in 1991 which were to be contested in Seoul (Korea). I was on track for my dream. Through the next year I ran at numerous carnivals including the National Titles in Hobart, making the national final in the 200 and 400 metre events. My confidence and love of running grew. I felt unstoppable. However, shortly after returning from Hobart, my health seemed to decline and I began feeling sick a lot of the time. I noticed small drops of blood every time I went to the toilet and was experiencing stabbing pains in my stomach. Because of the pain I was finding it hard to digest and keep food down. I started to lose weight and in a scarily short time my athletic frame seemed to fade and my muscle tone disappeared. I became anaemic, scrawny and clearly off colour. I looked so drawn that when I looked in the mirror I seemed to be turning white! In case you didn’t notice my picture on the cover, I am a dark-skinned brother so that was not at all a healthy state for me. I dragged myself to the doctors to find out why. After a series of tests I was confronted with some very bad news. The diagnosis was not good. As the doctor spoke to me, two phrases echoed in my head –‘incurable disease’ and ‘no more running’. The basic story was that I had somehow contracted a disease known as Ulcerative Colitis. “Ulcerative colitis is a chronic disease in which the large intestine becomes inflamed and ulcerated, either pitted or eroded, leading to flare-ups which are bouts of bloody diarrhoea, abdominal cramps and fever”3 My condition was initially diagnosed as chronic and one of the cures was to have surgery that would include attaching a colostomy bag to my body. Through a small opening in my abdomen my doctor suggested he attach a pouch in which I would go to the toilet. It sounded like the ultimate BYO portaloo, but not something that appealed to me. I would have to change this pouch a number of times throughout the day. I was dumbfounded that this was the medical profession’s best option

GET YOUR HOPES UP

for the rest of my life, perhaps 70 years or more! The diagnosis left me confused and frustrated as I struggled to comprehend how I could have acquired this debilitating disease. As the days and weeks passed, my dreams of running greatness faded from consciousness. My recent qualifying for the World Junior Titles was now irrelevant. No longer an option. Now I had to focus on survival. Daily I fought to cope with the worsening pain and symptoms. Because I refused to have the colostomy bag fitted I was unable to work, in fact, I was rarely able to leave home. The doctors put me on sickness benefits and then a disability pension, which gave me $80 a fortnight to live on. From that point on I was confined to an existence of pain management, rather than living a full, happy and healthy life. All my dreams, hopes and ambitions were shattered in what seemed like the blink of an eye. One minute I was breaking the tape as a State Champion, the next I was writhing in pain on my bed and visiting the toilet up to 40 times a day. I spiralled down into a pit of hopelessness and despair. I felt alone, afraid and numb. It was not the type of illness you could openly discuss with others because of the embarrassing symptoms and solution. I even wanted to hide my new reality from the members my family so my mum and dad were unaware of the full extent of my illness. That was wrong, but I wanted to get through it on my own. I was humiliated by what was happening to me. I went into hiding and remained locked up “in a prison I couldn’t feel, smell or touch. A prison of my mind.”4 As teenagers we often feel like we are invincible – bulletproof. I know I did. I was on track to achieving my dream. I imagined that nothing could get in my way and nothing would stop me. But then everything seemed lost. I was taking sixteen prescription tablets a day to control the colitis symptoms and restore my health and physical condition. I was so disappointed that my dream to run for Australia, a dream which seemed within reach, had now been snatched away. I used to listen to people talk about their dreams and implore their listeners to never give up. I knew I had not given up but what happens when your body gives up? I decided that if this was what happens to dreams, to hard work and to realistic goals then I quit! I was never going to dream again. It was just too hard. Apathy overtook me. No-one had ever told me what to do when your dreams don’t come true. I was stuck.

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY So much of my identity was wrapped up in athletics. Everyone around me knew me as Glen Gerreyn, ‘the sprinter’. I had waited so long to find my talent. The pieces of my life had started to take shape but were now in disarray. It was as if the gods were teasing me. When I spoke to family and friends the first thing they would always ask me about was my running. But now what? Who was I? Where was I going? Meaninglessness flooded my soul and gripped me for the next five years. For a total of 1,825 days (or 43,800 hours or 2,628,000 minutes) I wandered aimlessly – doing nothing, achieving nothing, learning nothing. I had become a victim of my illness, wasting my life. My mother and father divorced when I was fifteen years of age and at that time I was living with my mother. Each day was the same. In fact, each day seemed worse than the one before. But then, one day, everything changed. ANOTHER MAN’S STORY π I ALWAYS KNEW THAT SOMEDAY I WOULD ONCE AGAIN FEEL THE GRASS UNDER MY FEET AND WALK IN THE SUNSHINE AS A FREE MAN. NELSON MANDELA π A friend brought me a book, entitled Long Walk to Freedom.5 It is the autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Initially I was put off by its size (768 pages) but with not much else to do I started reading. Page by page the Mandela saga captivated me. I was so inspired by this man’s story. Nelson Mandela, as a young man, was passionate about gaining the same opportunities for black people in South Africa that the white people enjoyed. The existing inequality sickened and enraged him and he devoted himself to changing it. For his passionate stance this man was imprisoned for 27 years! That is 9,855 days or 236,520 hours or 14,191,200 minutes. After his release he went on to become the President of South Africa. Mandela was trapped in a physical prison for a length of time unimaginable to us. Holding onto his dream for 27 years is an unimaginable feat. Some of us can lose hope after 27 hours. Others after 27 days and probably the rest would be hopeless after 27 weeks. But he held on for 27 YEARS. At the end of that time he emerged, not full of bitterness, hate and resignation, but with passion, focus and enormous dreams. With that as my

GET YOUR HOPES UP

inspiration I thought maybe I could try to change my life. Maybe I could achieve my dreams after all. As a 22-year-old, they might not be the same dreams as those I had as a 17-year-old, but I could reshape my dreams to push me into doing something new with my life. Now instead of apathy and meaninglessness, it was inspiration flooding my soul. Around the same time I came across an ancient prophecy that many people believe to be the words of God to his people. It says: Ď&#x20AC; FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU, PLANS FOR GOOD AND NOT FOR EVIL, PLANS TO GIVE YOU A FUTURE AND A HOPE6 Ď&#x20AC; I felt like the lights had been switched back on. I rediscovered hope. So, inspired by another manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story, I began to write down my new goals and dreams. I wrote down a list of all I would do if I knew I could not fail. Given my physical state at the time, some of my new goals seemed ludicrous. When I formulated these goals I was suffering with abdominal pain 24/7. I felt weak and light-headed and I weighed a tiny 55 kg. I was receiving $80 a fortnight on a disability pension because I was unable to work. I was broken physically and emotionally, and I was in a financial straight jacket. As I got started I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t specify goals based on my current situation. I wrote with a brighter picture in mind. I was not going to let mere thoughts of impossibility stop my flow of inspiration.

My health and fitness goals included; s "ENCH PRESS KG s 3QUAT KG s 'IVE UP POTATO CHIPS AND SOFT DRINK s /NLY EAT JUNK FOOD ONE DAY A WEEK 3UNDAY WOULD BE THE ONLY DAY ) ATE fast food. My financial goals included; s %ARN OVER ANNUALLY

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY s 'IVE AWAY OF WHAT ) EARNED s %DUCATE MYSELF IN THE STOCK MARKET SO ) COULD BEGIN TO TRADE SHARES My professional goals included; s 2UNNING MY OWN BUSINESS WITH A SPECIlC NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES s %XPAND MY BUSINESS INTO lVE COUNTRIES My educational goals included; s #OMPLETE A TERTIARY DEGREE s 2EAD ONE BOOK EVERY WEEK Goals relating to travel, recreation, family and friends and my spiritual life, were all included on the list. The final category on my list was in the area of community service. I wanted to set goals that were outwardly focused where I could help those around me. This process took over two hours as I let my imagination run wild with possibilities. In the end I had over 100 goals that were to act as a catalyst to help me turn my life around. X-TREME One of the community service goals on my list was to build and establish a centre for young people. I wanted to build a â&#x20AC;&#x153;House of Hopeâ&#x20AC;? and make a positive difference in my local community. As soon as I recorded this goal something within me leaped and I knew this was something I should begin work on immediately. I started to ponder what this youth centre would look like. Who would it cater to? What facilities and services would it offer? Where would it be? The idea became a consuming passion. But how could I make this happen? Where would I start? I remembered, as a schoolboy athlete, Chris, my coach, taught me a lesson about setting goals.

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He would say, “When you set a goal and write it down, you can’t just expect that goal to magically happen. You have to take action by taking small steps until you have achieved it.” So I determined that I was not going to just sit around and wish my dream into reality. I was going to make it happen. Step One: FIND IT I drove around the City of Redcliffe hunting for a suitable location to transform into my youth centre. I was not even sure what I was looking for when I stumbled across an abandoned warehouse. The front door was locked so I walked around the back of the building and found a damaged rear entry that I was able to sneak through. As I stood inside the empty shell I felt an incredible sense of purpose and enthusiasm rise up inside me. My mind took flight with ideas of how this space could become my youth centre. I was suddenly awakened to possibilities I had not previously contemplated. Having been deserted for almost two years the warehouse was in a pretty decrepit state and had little visual appeal. In its previous incarnation the sounds of indoor cricket had emerged from its walls with budding social cricketers coming weekly for competitions. All that remained now of its cricket years were remnants of the artificial grass that once covered the floor. Cobwebs hung low in every corner and crevice, and pigeons had made the warehouse their home. In short, it was a mess! In the middle of the floor was a large piece of metal partly covering a FOR LEASE sign. The advertisement was way past its use-by date but I copied down the Real Estate Agent’s phone number. They put me in touch with the owners, as their involvement with the property had long since ended. Step Two: FORM IT The next step in achieving my goal was to find out how much the warehouse would cost to rent. I learnt from the owners that, yes, I could rent it, but it would cost me $1,500 per week.

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY At that time I had no money. Well, that’s a slight exaggeration. I had $2 left in my wallet from the fortnightly disability pension – clearly well short of the amount needed to secure this location for my youth centre. With my current earning capacity, $1,500 for one week, let alone every week of the year, was an impossibility. When the phone call ended I felt I had hit a brick wall. I was disappointed and totally disillusioned. My parents were also stretched for cash. When they divorced they divided all their assets and liabilities equally and struggled daily to support my brother, sister and me on the wage of a diesel mechanic and a factory worker. I couldn’t ask them to help me finance my project. No bank would lend me money because I was on a disability pension. While I continued to suffer the symptoms of my illness I couldn’t get a full-time job and still have time to achieve my dream. I felt like I had failed before even accomplishing the second step in my goal. I was flattened by the whole experience – another of my dreams had just hit the canvas. But before the referee could count me out ... I had an idea! An insane thought came into my mind. I reasoned that at this point in my life I had nothing to lose. Someone with nothing to lose can be unstoppable. They can become a great force for good or mischief, depending on their inclinations. This led me to another crazy idea. Why don’t I ask the owners if they will give me the building for free! I know this seems absurd, preposterous, outlandish and outright ridiculous but I had nothing to lose. I rang to arrange a meeting so I could present my proposal. They agreed to meet me, no doubt hoping that I had come up with the money they, quite reasonably, wanted for leasing their property. When I look back now at this conversation I realise I must have seemed like a nut. But that is irrelevant. We can’t live our lives always worrying about other people’s perception of us. I began with these words:

GET YOUR HOPES UP

“I have a dream! I want to turn your old abandoned warehouse into a youth centre. I’ll be honest with you. I don’t have any money. I’m on a disability pension and I come from a dysfunctional family, but, I was wondering if out of the kindness of your heart, you would consider giving me your building ... for free?” And then I smiled. They looked at me as if I had just escaped from the monkey enclosure at the zoo. They walked outside in silence. When they returned they said: “Listen kid, we don’t know why we are doing this, but we like that you have a dream and that you are passionate and enthusiastic about it. What we are going to do is to give you this building for free for six months. You have six months, rent free, to create your youth centre. As far as we’re concerned the building is yours for that time and we don’t believe it’s necessary to tie you to a lease. We just want you to make your dream happen. We’ll talk again after six months to decide where we go from here.” So from one Greek and one Australian gentleman I was handed the keys to my future youth centre and got to keep my $2! I wanted to leap over the desk and kiss them, but in my best boys school tradition, I kept my cool. I thanked them and went straight back down to the warehouse – now my warehouse. Step Three: FACE IT On a second look it was obvious it was in worse condition than my dream-filled gaze had taken in on my first inspection. The hard work had to begin right now! I had no money to pay for cleaners or repairmen to fix the doors, windows and beams. From floor to ceiling the place needed repairs and a good spring clean. With that, I did what anybody else who is without funds would do, I called my mates, my boys, my homies, my peeps, my dogs and told them to come down, one and all, to help me out. About thirty of my friends came and I put them straight to work.

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY We ripped up the old indoor cricket grass, repaired the windows, replaced hinges on doors, cleaned up the cobwebs, shot the pigeons, washed the place inside out and slapped on some paint. Now all I had was four walls and a concrete floor. I had my YOUTH CENTRE. Step Four: FIGHT FOR IT Visualise a huge empty space like an aircraft hanger. Imagine a hall as big as three basketball courts. You are imagining my youth centre. My project now was to fill it with the young people of Redcliffe. But to do that, I had to give them an incentive to come. Games? Music? Equipment? Entertainment? All these cost money so I set out to raise funds. I had heard somewhere that big companies may donate money to good causes, so I compiled a list of 114 of the largest companies I could think of to appeal to for support. Companies like Qantas, Nike, Adidas, Quicksilver, Everlast, Lonsdale, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Billabong. I sent each a letter asking them to help by donating money or equipment to my youth centre. I was a 22-year-old full of faith and optimism. Expectantly I sat at home waiting for the post to arrive with cheques from these companies. I was sure they would jump at the chance to join me in building a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;House of Hopeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for the teenagers of Redcliffe. I soon discovered though, that ignorance is bliss.7 Within days of sending out these requests, responses started to arrive. With my heart pounding out of my chest I opened the first response which read: Dear Mr. Gerreyn, Thank you for your recent letter seeking assistance. Budget restrictions presently in place prevent our participation at this time. But I was not deterred by one negative response. I had expected some of the 114 companies to be unable to assist me, which is why I sent so many. From 114 requests I was sure to get some positive responses.

GET YOUR HOPES UP

I opened up the next letter and it said: Dear Mr. Gerreyn, Thank you for your recent letter seeking assistance. Budget restrictions presently in place prevent our participation at this time. Third response ... the same. Fourth response ... the same. Eighty seventh response ... the same. In the end all 114 companies I initially wrote to replied saying, sorry but budget restrictions ... blah, blah, blah. But I did not stop there. I continued to send out proposals and you will be pleased to learn that with my 115th proposal, a businessman said, “Yes”, and gave me $100! I thought: great! With that $100 I went to Kmart and purchased a basketball ring with a tin rim and plastic backboard. I bolted it to the steel pole in the middle of the warehouse. So now I had four walls, a concrete floor, pole in the middle, basketball hoop and that was my youth centre. Step Five: FILL IT In my mum’s beat-up Datsun 200B I drove to every skate park, shopping centre and high school where young people gathered and announced that there was this awesome youth centre just opened up in Redcliffe. “You have to come down and hang out.” From this initial very simple advertising attempt I had 70 young people the first day. We played everything from basketball on the now crooked, basketball hoop (my assembly skills left much to be desired), and touch football with the basketball, because we didn’t have a real football, and cricket using some trash cans as wickets. All this time my stereo played current hits like Gangsta’s Paradise 8, California Love 9 and the Macarena 10. That first night the kids stayed till 11pm.

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY You may wonder how such a basic set-up could attract so many young people and hold their interest for so long? Today, with the World Wide Web, such a feat seems impossible as teenagers often have an array of gadgets, sounds and images flooding their mind simultaneously. Yet it happened, largely because when I was growing up in Redcliffe, the youth of the wider area had nothing to do. In fact some called the place ‘Deadcliffe’. Another favourite label was the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’ because it was the only hole above ground. There was absolutely nothing for young people to do. Thankfully, Redcliffe has since changed. Very quickly I understood that my method of writing proposals was unfruitful and too time consuming. I needed a considerable influx of resources and I needed to create awareness in the local community about what I was attempting to achieve, and quickly! Step Six: FOCUS IT Greater community awareness would help me overcome my shortage of resources. So why not host a community youth event? Once again the familiar lack of finances reared its ugly head, but I wasn’t going to let it hold me back. From doing two years of accounting studies in high school, I had learnt that you can put things on credit. Armed with that knowledge I approached a local printer. They agreed to print 10,000 flyers and posters on 30-day terms. Staging, lighting and a DJ were the next items on my hit list and, fortunately, I was able to make the same arrangement with these local business people. With equipment and printing organised I went home to calculate the budget. I needed to identify what I would do with all the money raised for the youth centre. [Note to self: ALWAYS DO YOUR BUDGET FIRST!] To my bewilderment, I worked out that to be able to pay all these accounts within the 30 days, I needed 250 young people to attend my first event at the youth centre. I didn’t even know 250 people of any age, let alone 250 young people who would be willing to buy a ticket to an event in a centre they had never heard of, from a guy they had never seen, who was on a disability pension because of an illness that sent him to the bathroom up to 40 times a day. I had to admit, things had looked better!

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I had two choices; 1. Run the event at a loss, hand back the keys of the warehouse to the owners and spend five years paying off all these debts. 2. Give it everything I had and build this “House of Hope” for the young people of Redcliffe. This moment of decision reminded me of my time on the track just before winning my first athletic event. I felt surrounded by the same sense of destiny. Option 2 was my favoured option. I advertised everywhere I could. I put posters in schools, in shops, in toilet blocks, at traffic lights (back when that was legal). My waking hours were focused on inviting (well, persuading) people to come to the X-treme Youth and Community Centre for our inaugural Youth Event. The day of the event dawned and I had not sold one ticket. All I could hope was that the teens would turn up at the door at 7.30pm to purchase them. Describing my physical state as stressed would be an understatement of giant proportions. I was climbing the walls, sweating like a marathon runner and visiting the bathroom more than ever because anxiety exacerbated my already fragile condition. I was resigned to maybe 100 teenagers turning up. At least that would reduce my debt repayment plan to just two and half years. At 4pm that afternoon I was busy setting up, cleaning and sweeping the floors. The suppliers had almost completed their sound and lighting checks, and the youth centre looked vastly different to a few hours earlier. While taking out some garbage just after 4pm, to my surprise, I noticed approximately 30 teenagers already in line to buy their tickets. That was a terrific sign. Now all I needed was another 220 and I would be able to pay all my bills! At 6pm I walked back outside and there were, what I now estimated to be, about 1,000 kids lining up. I was amazed. From 7.30pm when we opened up the gates, we checked in just short of 2,500 people to the dance party. Wow! Paying my bills and fitting out the youth centre was taken care of by a margin I had never imagined. My concern now shifted to another area – logistics. I had prepared for a maximum of 250 teenagers walking through the doors. My mum was stationed in the

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY canteen, my sister was collecting money at the door and my brother was the security team! But now we had ten times the number of expected patrons. I was freaking out! With this number of teenagers I had to get on the phone and call the police, fire brigade and ambulance services and all the local security personnel to come and help me keep order. It was a result that defied belief. The success of the event received front page coverage in the local newspapers. The Redcliffe and Bayside Herald featured full colour photos of the students at the dance party and headlines like: “X-treme Success. Redcliffe shook off its Deadcliffe moniker for thousands of teenagers as X-treme Youth Centre staged the biggest dance party seen on the Peninsula.”11 Community awareness was greatly increased by the success of our event. In the following week I received a letter of support from a local businessman commending me on my endeavours and celebrating my vision for the youth centre. Accompanying his letter was a cheque for $10,000 with which we were able to put down basketball court flooring. I received a government grant for $20,000 to start a gymnasium. Within three years, I had over 800 club members. Sony PlayStation donated four 68 centimetre televisions and four PlayStations, plus new games on a regular basis for visitors to the centre to enjoy. Other local businesses generously donated billiard and table tennis tables. The centre was given computers with which we started the city’s first Internet café. A $40,000 government grant was provided to build a motivational training room. I was raising money at such a rate I was able to look beyond the walls of the youth centre and start a food program to help disadvantaged families in the local area. Initially we kicked off this venture by approaching our local bakery and asking them what they did with the unsold bread at the end of the day. Instead of just throwing it away, we arranged to collect and distribute it to the needy families. That program was later funded by the federal government and distributed over 10,000 food parcels in the city.

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A DREAM ACHIEVED After building a youth centre with $2 in my pocket and starting a food program which distributed over 10,000 food parcels to needy families in and around the local area, I was awarded Young Australian of the Year in 1998, for Community Service in Queensland. Then schools began asking me to come and tell my story to their students. As a logical progression Oxygen Factory was created in 2004 and today my focus is on motivating and empowering students to live with passion and make their dreams a reality, despite the inevitable obstacles that will hinder their progress. The audiences are diverse; from high school year groups to corporate executives, from 1st XV rugby teams to athletic and swimming squads, from rowing teams to teams of school leaders, from teachers to parent groups, from professional musicians in Sydney to a rugby academy in South Auckland. But for all, the message I deliver is the same â&#x20AC;&#x201C; HOPE. A day filled with hope has the potential to enhance your life. Daily we experience hardship. We see death, sickness, greed, hate, betrayal, and fear. The list goes on. These things are inevitable and inescapable in the world we live in. But we also experience life, health, generosity, love, kindness and peace. This list goes on too. These good things can become the daily reality if we choose to pursue them. Each week I receive emails and letters from students, teachers, corporate executives, staff or people that know others who have experienced the Get Your Hopes Up Seminar for themselves. Their words convey to me how the principles I share have enabled them to accomplish feats beyond what they previously believed possible. I believe the Get Your Hopes Up Seminar can change you, just as it has changed others in many areas of their lives. Let me share some testimonials with you.

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY Music “On Thursday 8th of December, I had my grade eight piano exam. It is very hard to pass this exam. However, after I heard your inspiring talk, I was encouraged and given the initiative to do my best. My teacher and everyone around me including my family were just telling me to pass. My teacher often told me I could fail. In the Get Your Hopes Up Seminar I was told to aim high and maybe hit low, but never aim low and hit lower. So I put in my best effort and did not settle for second best. I achieved perfection and I got honours in my exam. I got an A and no-one could believe how excellent it was and my report was outstanding!! Thank you for helping me get the best out of myself.” Claudia – Year 10, North Parramatta, NSW.

HSC “You told our Year 12 grade to write down our dreams over and over again until they were absolutely out of this world. One of my dreams was that I would get a UAI of 90%. I thought this mark was impossible but I included it as one of my dreams because I could only treat it exactly as a dream, something to me, that seemed so far out of my reach. When the UAI marks came out I expected maximum 83% and I knew it would be amazing if I were to receive a UAI of 85%! “Well I got a UAI of 90.10%!!! I couldn’t believe the moments between writing my dream on paper and the actual reality of my dream coming true. I just wanted to say thank you for activating the ability for me to achieve my dreams. It was always in me but dormant and trapped under doubt and disbelief.” Luana – Year 12, Manly, NSW.

Selective Schools “This year was my last year applying for selective schools, but this year I was somewhat more ambitious about getting in and I remembered what you had told me. I applied to various selective schools including the State’s top school and many more. I studied all Year 11 and 12 Math before I sat the exams. As a result I obtained 59

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a place at James Ruse High, the top state selective school in NSW. “I remembered what you had said in the Get Your Hopes Up Seminar, I applied it to my life and it did work. Thank you.” Edward – Year 10, Ryde, NSW. Career “I’m currently in my first year of university, heading towards a career in teaching and development work, and enjoying a life filled with wonderful family and friends. I’m telling you this because I partly attribute my current happiness to the work you do for Australian youth. I still clearly remember when you came and spoke to my Year 10 class three years ago. You brought us closer together as a group, challenged us as individuals and opened our eyes to our potential. Partly because of your words that day in 2003 and your continuing advice and encouragement through the Oxygen Uptake emails, I’m living out my dreams and will be forever grateful for the inspiration you provided.” Karl – Year 12, Leeton, NSW. Ranking “Well your words have driven me, and I am reaping the benefits. Last year in Year 11, I was ranked 23rd amongst all the students in my year. Well thanks to your words of inspiration and guidance on the Get Your Hopes Up Seminar I tried harder, believed in myself and used the techniques you showed us and I came 3rd! Thank you. What you do is inspiring.” Lia – Year 12, Dee Why, NSW. Motor Sport “Before you came to school I was aiming to race V8 Supercars which seemed to be the easy task. But when you told us in the Get Your Hopes Up Seminar to aim high it totally changed my perception of my life and what I should be doing with it – to live on purpose. After that I was totally focused on getting support to get to Formula 1 which at the time I didn’t know is like finding funding to go to Mars! However only a month after you came to our school I was approached by 60

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY two very wealthy businessmen who wanted to support me to get to Formula 1. It almost felt like I knew it would happen and fully expected it to happen. It was only about three weeks later that I realised that no-one has ever got this level of support at this stage in their career, and it’s at the stage that most people fall off anyway from a lack of funding as it costs around $140,000 per year. They now pay for everything! This is something that just doesn’t happen in motor sport. Thanks again for your help, like I said before, none of this would have happened without you.” Kristian – Year 11, Ryde, NSW. Badminton “I have chosen to email you today because today, a team of six (with five of them being Year 11s who attended your talk) from our school, participated in the GBAS Badminton Schools Carnival Competition (an annual competition for Sydney schools). When we entered last year, we came 2nd. We lost to the defending champions. However, this year (today), we came 1st! We had to play a total of 20 games all together (and I had to play eight of them) but although it was hard work physically, we were determined not to give up psychologically. “My friend and I also practiced the technique of ‘visualisation’ that you taught us at the Get Your Hopes Up Seminar before the competition. And during the competition, we used the word ‘focus’ and used positive thinking. Thus, we were able to develop a good ‘success matrix’ and convinced each other, through positive encouragement that we were capable of doing it. “So on behalf of our team of six, I’d like to thank you for all the great advice! You have indeed changed our lives not just on the badminton courts but in everything! Thank you once again. I hope all your other talks will continue to inspire people and to allow them to push themselves beyond what they think are their ‘limits’.” Natalie – Year 11, Cheltenham, NSW. Everything “At the beginning of 2006 you came to my school as part of our prefect training. Of all the people in my life who have tried to inspire me to great things, such as my parents, brothers, friends, teachers, motivational speakers, you have without 61

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a doubt been the most successful. Your workshop that day is one of the most amazing days in my short eighteen years. I remember you said to us that, even if we only remember one story, one quote, after today that our lives will change forever. I even remember the analogy you used to illustrate this was a jet flying from Melbourne to LA. If the pilot changes course by one degree, their destination will change by hundreds of miles. I wrote everything I could down that day and tried to cement every story into my memory. At the beginning of Year 12 it was my aim to get an entry score in the 90s, preferably around 95, which is the requirement to get into my dream course, Commerce at Melbourne University. Before your workshop I was very doubtful. As soon as I got home after listening to you speak I printed off the number 97 in size 72 font and stuck it on my whiteboard and above the door in my room. I chose 97 just in case my course entry score went up. This score seemed almost impossible at the time but I wanted to prove myself wrong. Another goal of Year 12 was, as a house captain, to win the House Cup. “Throughout the year there were many times when I doubted myself, like when my English marks weren’t that great or when another House took out both House swimming and athletics, the biggest House events of the year, yielding the most points. At this stage not only did I think it was impossible to win the Cup as no House has ever lost after winning both swimming and athletics, I was beginning to aim for a lower entry score, I didn’t think I could ever do it. Thankfully your weekly newsletters kept me focused. “Twelve months on I can tell you that I got an entry score of 97.35. I have just finished the first week of Commerce at Melbourne University, and my house won the House Cup. There are so many other things I achieved last year that I never thought possible, among them, winning the Australian School Sports Snowboard Championship, and together with my year level raising $25,000 in the annual Year 12 charity concert, to build a school in Bangladesh, smashing the record by $7,000. Thanks to you, nothing is impossible in my mind anymore. Thank you for everything, you have truly made a huge difference in my life, keep up the incredible work.” Felicity – Year 12, Ivanhoe, VIC.

: CHAPTER 1 HISTORY You will see these testimonials plus many, many others on our website. www.oxygenfactory.com.au

LET’S GET STARTED Hearing others’ stories gives us hope. Hope that our lives aren’t over yet. Hope that tomorrow can be better than today. The best thing about sharing my message in this book is that I am not restricted by bells and timetables. I have been able to squeeze every drop I can out of myself to share something that can change your tomorrow. I know Get Your Hopes Up works. This message of ‘Hope’ has changed my life and the lives of many others. May it do the same for you.