Mindset performance coach Greg Meehan has worked with pro boxers, golfers and Premier League footballers

I think we all struggle with confusing our emotions,” says Greg Meehan, clad in a grey tracksuit and reclining in a sofa chair in a Monte Carlo hotel. “Anxiety and excitement are very similar in what they do to the body, so [excitement] doesn’t always feel nice! Half the time, people tell me they have really bad anxiety about something. ‘I’ve got a promotion at work, and I’ve got to present to 100 people.’ I may say, ‘How long have you worked to get to this position? Ten years? Okay, so this is exactly where you should be.’

“They may say, ‘I’m not very good at public speaking,’ and that could be anxiety, but the new role itself has to be excitement. It’s the same for an athlete: ‘You’re gonna go and fight for a world title on Saturday, and that’s what you’ve always wanted to do, so why would you have a negative thought about it? Remember, there’s nothing bad happening here.’”

Meehan is a mindset performance coach who has worked with Premier League footballers, professional golfers, and pro boxers. The east Londoner, 46, previously spent 20 years as a financial broker in the city, before his curiosity about the brain, the body, and how they work together led him through “hundreds” of books, numerous exams and multiple diplomas, and ultimately to his current career.

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