Dame Jess Ennis-Hill is one of Britain’s greatest athletes. A triple world heptathlon champion, European champion and Olympic gold medallist, she reached the absolute peak of her sport.

But behind the medals was a very different story....

We revisit this incredible conversation where Jess reveals what it was like to become Britain’s “Golden girl” ahead of London 2012, carrying the weight of huge public expectations and feeling that anything less than gold would be seen as failure.

She opens up about the injury that cost her an Olympic opportunity, returning to elite competition after becoming a mum, and the challenge of accepting that her body and training had changed.

Jess also explains how sports psychology, visualisation and blocking out the noise helped her perform when the pressure was at its highest, why having the right people around you matters, and why she ultimately believes happiness and balance are at the heart of high performance.

This is the story behind the medals, and what it really took to become an Olympic champion.

XTB 👉 To find out more and make your money work, use code HPP at: https://highpfrmc.com/XTB_HPP_AU

Vitality 👉 We've partnered with Vitality because our philosophies align perfectly: healthy habits build high performance and can lead to a healthier, longer life. Find out more about health and life insurance with Vitality: https://highpfrmc.com/vitality-hpp-au

We've sat down with hundreds of high performers. These are five sentences we've never heard a single one of them say...

"I'll start when I'm ready." "That's just the way I am." "It's not fair." "I've done enough." "I did it on my own." None of them is a character flaw, but each one quietly pulls you away from where you want to be.

From the High Performance archive, Keely Hodgkinson explains why she puts her success down to 90% mindset, in a year when almost nobody believed she'd make the Olympic team. Matthew Syed remembers bombing a talk at Goldman Sachs and then going to Toastmasters every fortnight for three years. Joe Hart talks about England's Euro 2016 exit to Iceland without blaming a soul. Alun Wyn Jones explains why complacency was his biggest fear, and Laura Kenny shows why her story was never a solo effort, starting with setting fire to a jacket potato in Belgium at 18.

Along the way, Damian brings in the research on "if-then" plans that help you follow through, the labels we let others stick on us, why growth mindset might matter less than we've been told, and the difference between harmonious and obsessive passion. Jake questions whether never having "done enough" is healthy at all, and explains why the people who made your life hardest helped shape you too.

Full episodes links for the guests featured:

• Keely Hodgkinson https://pod.fo/e/252844
• Matthew Syed https://pod.fo/e/164cec
• Joe Hart https://pod.fo/e/24b0f2
• Alun Wyn Jones https://pod.fo/e/2b6885
• Laura Kenny https://pod.fo/e/249586

XTB 👉 To find out more and make your money work, use code HPP at: https://highpfrmc.com/XTB_HPP_AU

Vitality 👉 We've partnered with Vitality because our philosophies align perfectly: healthy habits build high performance and can lead to a healthier, longer life. Find out more about health and life insurance with Vitality: https://highpfrmc.com/vitality-hpp-au

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