Full disclosure: I am not (and have never been) a superhero. I am, however, proud to call myself Unashamedly Superhuman. More about what that term really means in Chapter 1, but for now, it's enough to know that you too can become Unashamedly Superhuman. You have the potential to be and do more. This book, more than anything, is about tapping into your potential and performing at your highest level.

Over the course of the following chapters, I want to introduce you to parts of yourself you didn't even know existed. I'm talking about your inner resources that you've always had but maybe not always accessed. Some of you might have used them in the past, but often when we tap into our superhuman side it's not by design but by necessity. What I've learned is that you do have a sense of control over when and how you access your superhuman abilities, and I'll share how as we move through this book.

These are not haphazard, chance abilities. These are abilities you can predict, determine, and turn towards any area of your life that will benefit from you being Unashamedly Superhuman. You can use your inner powers to help you achieve your greatest personal and professional goals. Sound too good to be true?

I know, I was cynical at first as well. I had always believed that I had to sacrifice my well‐being for performance. It was a simple trade‐off in my mind, as I imagine it is in yours. But then I was set a challenge to combine the two, which threw me into uncharted territory. Sink or swim. Ultimately, this resulted in me becoming better, smarter, and stronger than I ever had been before.

It turns out well‐being is a key enabler for performance and one of the keys to tapping into your superhuman abilities is to treat recovery as a performance strategy. As someone who has always been excited by performance, this lit a spark.

No magic required …

I'm in New York City. It's 9 a.m. and the first speaker is about to open the conference. I'm booked to close the event at 4 p.m. There are 2,000 delegates waiting with anticipation. The theme of the event is, “Creating Magical Results.” Fittingly, the opening speaker was a world‐famous magician. It would add a bit of spice to tell you who, but it would actually detract from the point. You'll see why shortly.

His mind‐boggling routine of misdirection and sleight of hand will set the scene for the day. How to create magical results as sales professionals. Nice analogy. Cheesy, but nice.

It was December 1998. My first ever professional engagement in the United States. Here I was watching from the side‐lines, transfixed as the master thrilled his audience with smoke and mirrors. It struck me that as I was standing behind him, at the side of the stage, surely from this advantageous perspective, I'd see something that the audience wouldn't, thus revealing what we all know, deep down, there is no magic … just strategy!

I narrowed my eyes and focused on his every move. “For my final illusion,” he said, “I will read someone's mind.” Body language can reveal a tremendous amount about the thoughts and emotions someone is experiencing, but the ability to actually read another person's thoughts, I don't think so.

So, the volunteer came on stage and we're shown the deck of cards on a huge screen via a live link camera. The volunteer, Sandy, is given the cards. She cuts them, cuts them again, and removes the top card. All the while the magician's back is turned. He couldn't have seen it. I was 10 feet (3 metres) away. Sandy pockets the selected card just to be sure.

The magic man turns around, stands opposite Sandy, and looks deep into her eyes. “Don't speak or try to help me in any way. Just think of the card and picture it in your mind … .”

Looking intently at every pore on Sandy's face he states confidently, “It's a black card.”

A pause. “It's a spade.” Another pause, “I think I've got it,” he says. No way, I'm thinking. Not possible. He commits, “Nine of Spades.”

Sandy reaches into her pocket and holds up her card for all to see. The nine of spades. The audience erupts into applause. A standing ovation follows as the magic man exits stage right. He sees me looking. He avoids eye contact as he strides past me. “That was amazing,” I enthused. No response. Not a nod, not a smile. I figured I had nothing to lose.

“How did you do the last one?” I asked. “Why do you want to know?” he replied. Still no eye contact, “You're not just curious are you?” I thought that was an unusual question, and I replied that I was really, really interested in knowing his secret.

I guess the point behind his question was that there was no point telling me how to do the trick unless I had the ability and the intention of actually doing it. I assured him I would. After some umming and ahhing he did indeed show me and now I'm going to show you. When I do, you'll say it's the best card trick you've ever seen. You'll also know that anyone can do it. No skills required. Finally, you'll know why it works 100 percent of the time.

Scan the QR code and all will be revealed. Note: Only do this if you're sure you'll do the trick to one person within the next month.

So, you now know how to do the “trick.” You know that it requires just five minutes' preparation, minimal practice, and the success rate is 100 percent.

Most important of all, you now know for sure that to create magical results you don't need luck or mysterious powers, you just need a damn good, foolproof strategy.

Inspired by the great and the good

One of the most rewarding aspects of my role as a speaker and performance consultant is the opportunity I have to work with and interview a wide range of fascinating people, all with their own take on what it takes to succeed in their given field.

From the business world, Virgin's Richard Branson comes to mind or the UK MD of Brother, Phil Jones. From the world of professional sport, Sir Chris Hoy or Olympic Hockey captain Kate Richardson‐Walsh. Ollie Phillips, voted world rugby player of the year went on to become a serial adventurer. He sailed a yacht around the world, cycled across America and got into the Guinness book of world records for hosting the most northerly rugby match. At the North Pole! Talking of adventurers, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Chris Moon had remarkable stories to tell, as did the astronauts Charlie Duke, Buzz Aldrin, and one of the UK’s first female fighter pilots and author of An Officer Not a Gentleman, Mandy Hickson. Equally, I've taken inspiration and wisdom from observing managers, leaders, and individual contributors from all walks of life, famous or otherwise.

Finally, in my search for combining high performance and well‐being, I've lost count of the numerous ‘a‐ha’ moments that I've had along the way. My mind has been blown on more occasions than I care to remember. I've attended seminars and training programmes, and immersed myself in hundreds and hundreds of hours of provocative, insightful, and inspiring long‐form podcasts. I've loved every minute; none more so than the work of Dr Michael Gervais, a published, peer‐reviewed author and recognized speaker on optimal human performance, and Steven Kotler, the New York Times bestselling author, award‐winning journalist, and the founder and executive director of the Flow Research Collective. And then there is Professor Andrew Huberman, the American neuroscientist and tenured professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. If I said he has a brain the size of a planet and knows everything about everything, I might be exaggerating, but only slightly. I'll mention him often within the pages of this book and I'll continue to turn to him as my interest in neuroscience deepens.

Enthusiastic lab rat

The insights gathered from all of the above, influenced me greatly.All, in their own way adding to the rich melting pot of principles, ideas, and techniques that I was happy to dive into. That said, the process of learning, developing and putting into practice the various tools, tips, tricks and hacks tested me greatly. Tested the limits of my abilities for sure, but also on occasion tested my patience. Nobody said ‘Superhuman’ was going to be easy. It wasn’t. It was however an enlightening journey of discovery.

This book is not just about my journey to become Unashamedly Superhuman. I invite you to set out on your own journey to achieve that same goal. Your version of Unashamedly Superhuman will undoubtedly look different to mine. At its core, this concept is about feeling strong from the inside out. None of us are perfect, but we are all capable of more than we realise. We all have better, smarter, and stronger parts inside us; all we need to know is how to access them.

Part I sets the scene and shows you just how far I've come on my own journey (as well as explaining exactly why I embarked on this particular path in the first place). If you're wondering what Unashamedly Superhuman really means, you'll find out in these first two chapters.

Part II of Unashamedly Superhuman is titled “BETTER – Tapping into Potential.”

Here, we're going to crack the code for how to gain access to some remarkable resources that will enable us to adapt to our surroundings and respond to challenges and opportunities with agility.

Part III is titled “SMARTER – Tapping into Mindset.”

In this part we look into our ability to structure our thinking in order to increase confidence and mental focus. We also focus on how to get into the zone and access that super productive state of mind where we both feel and perform at our best. Flow!

Part IV is titled “STRONGER – Tapping into Physiology.”

With the chapters in this part, we get underneath our extraordinary capabilities and discover what it takes to build successful habits that ensure we can push ourselves to the edge of our abilities whilst at the same time recover in a truly world class way.

To sum up, Unashamedly Superhuman explores the principles, ideas, and strategies that will enable you to combine two critical areas, high performance and well‐being.

Let the games begin!