In a sporting context, Professor Tim Noakes talks about “belief” as the most important factor in the careers of athletes. His direct quote to me was, “What you truly believe in your mind and heart will happen, will actually happen.”

Extraordinary that thinking, and focus, as opposed to science and technology, coupled with genetics, is what Noakes, as a scientist, has as his number one.

Along with that, the “mind’s eye” as it is often referred to, seems to have a different memory system to just what we see through our two windows on the world. It does away with the positive and negative, and sees just the outcomes that you project.

I remember Pete Sampras in an interview, doing the math.

His theory was that if he wanted to get fifty big aces in a game, he would serve twenty-five in practice, and “dream twenty-five” - because his internal recollection would then be perfect, one hundred percent.

There are different factors that can play a part in a game - fatigue, opponents, weather, crowd and a host of others. I am not debating that. What I am saying is that if your “future recollection” or projection of what will happen is better, then so will the result be.

Your body is driven by your internal memory of what to do when the chips are down, you are in the moment, and aces 45/46/47 come through. According to Sampras’ theory, it’s because you’ve seen them before.

Many of us know what it’s like to stand over a putt on the golf course, sometimes with as little as pride riding on it – and if you talk yourself into all the things that can go wrong, they invariably do.

Don’t miss! Don’t miss! Don’t miss!

With an unconscious mind that can’t determine between positive and negative, all it will hear is “Miss! Miss! Miss!”

It’s the basics of “the yips” explained: your inner voice is giving you all the wrong advice, because it is highlighting how much is riding on the shot, not the small bodily movements you need to perfect to make it straight and true.

It’s a concept that has many followers, if you break down the actual messages of motivational speakers, writers and philosophers who talk about positive thoughts and positive results.

Covey, Gibran, Coelho, Robbins - they all talk to millions of people each year, and help them to see a clear picture of their future, and what they want to achieve.