Looking back at the World Cup that finished last week...

Stephen Donald has just lived out his fantasy, and if not his own then certainly that of  thousands of rugby-loving folk. If you missed it, he was the Kiwis fourth-choice stand-off at the start of the tournament and not even worthy of a place at pre-tournament training. On Sunday 23rd October, following injuries to all the three guys ranked ahead of him, he came on for his first World Cup match and scored the points that won the trophy for the All Blacks; not what he envisaged when he was fishing for whitebait on the Waikato River a fortnight ago, ignoring calls from the team management!

Maybe your own fantasies could come true as well. What would be your ultimate miracle come true? What are the chances that it comes to pass? Even Stephen Donald would probably have said 'nil' and laughed at you a month ago. Lets have a look at a few lessons from the World Cup and see what you could be doing differently.

First of all, is it physically possible, and if it's not is there some chance that it becomes feasible one day in your future? Technology moves so fast these days that our children will be able to do things we can't even dream of; its too far-fetched.

Then you need to recognise what it is that you want and make a decision; a decision to follow your dream and turn it into reality. If you never turn in the right direction to focus on your dream, it simply won't happen. Stephen Donald didn't end up at Eden Park by chance - he'd made a decision to devote his life to playing and training for rugby games.

Finally you need to ask if it is within your control or are you trusting to luck (although hopefully not injuries to others)? If your dreams aren't reliant on other people or particular circumstances then go for it and chase them down.

Yes, unforeseen events may get in our way or we might get it a bit wrong and not achieve our ultimate dream. However, people are right when they say, "If you aim for the stars you'll probably get to the moon at least".

What's the first smallest step you could be taking towards fulfilling a long-held fantasy?

I slipped on the ice on Sunday - vicious nasty black stuff formed from the layer of sleet the previous night. A comic book fall - my legs went out from under me and I landed on my back. On the steps. Really rather painful and I probably should have gone to A&E rather than getting on a plane to Germany, but work beckoned. Thankfully this week I am only running outdoor team building sessions which doesn't need a huge physical input from me otherwise I would be in a spot of bother owing to my enforced movement impairment.

It has made me think though, particularly following a conversation I had with some older ladies about their inability to do crafts now that the arthritis has taken hold. What will we do if and when we lose the ability to do the things we love?

Have you stopped to consider it or are you, like me, guilty of thinking that you will simply be as able as you are now until suddenly you get hit by a bus? I don't want to think of my faculties failing - who does - but in the back of my mind there has always been the thought that one day I will not be able to do outdoor activities at my current level. As for planning round that, I seem to have done nothing.

When is the right time to start planning for that moment, given that the timescale is completely unknown? When I'm 40 or 50 or 60? Or now, whilst it has impinged on my conscious and has become much more of a possible reality? I know that if I wait until I am better again, I will lose the impetus and that probable picture will fade from memory.

Change is never easy and the first step in managing it is to accept it as a reality and let go of the former things. Only after that can we reprogramme and move into the new beginnings. What stage have you got to in your future thinking?

"Education is nothing but a diminishing lie"
Lindsay and I were chatting to a friend recently and the subject of education came up for discussion. In the last few weeks this has been a recurring topic, particularly the idea of teachers contradicting themselves as you go further through the system. They used to introduce a concept in the early years using such a simplified model that in later years they had to admit that they lied to you to help you understand; "Welcome to the new model" (but is that accurate either?)

That then made me think about becoming more self-aware. Is that also a diminishing lie? I think there are many people in this world who want to be something or someone that they are not. "But we can all pretend, can't we?". Pretending is not the end of the world so long as we are completely aware that it is a little piece of fantasy that we have introduced for a short space of time. In a healthy sense we can call it imagination and we encourage it in children and people in creative jobs - although its surely a good thing in anyone, but that's a story for another post.

However if we continually live in the fantasy world it becomes unhealthy and we call it delusion. This is one of the reasons it is so important to become more aware of who we really are and lessen the lies that we tell ourselves. Sometimes that will hurt - we don't want to hear the bad news. Or alternatively, we know inside what the issue is and how to rectify it and that is the bit that will be hard work. So we lie to ourselves to avoid dealing with the issue. But until we deal with it, like any conflict scenario, it will always be with us blocking our path.

But...there are some people whom we would generally describe as bashful who never really recognise the talents that they have. I watched some of Masterchef professional last night - down to the final three, making desserts for the famous pastry chef, Pierre Hermé. Afterwards, he commented to one finalist that her offering was so good he could have sold it in his own establishment. Her reaction to that, she said, was to gain confidence in her own abilities. To which I thought, if she is in the Masterchef Professional final she must have a wee bit of cookery talent. Presumably she knows it deep down otherwise she wouldn't have entered the competition, but I know of lots of other people who are completely blind to their skills. It frustrates me sometimes to see them willfully ignoring the potential that they have but are not using.

Self awareness is not just about seeing how we match up alongside the competition - that can make us proud or despondent. Instead it is about ignoring the lies and objectively looking at what our weaknesses and strengths are, working on the first but revelling in the other. Let's continue to 'diminish the lie'.