Too many racers want an excuse why they didn’t win. This is because they associate too much pain with failing, so they have a reason that is outside their control that can be applied: an excuse!

If you want an excuse then that is all it will ever be but if you want a reason then you will find the answers to going fast. (Its how you look at it - do you want an excuse or a reason?)

If you want a reason the first step is analysis and self criticism. Some people find this difficult. This is because as a nation we have been taught that we should be ashamed of failure. However, failure is a fantastic opportunity to improve on something, to make yourself better or in this case faster. We should embrace failure because with it comes endless opportunity to improve. It is that simple. Now this does not mean that the idiot is a genius. Success only comes if you analyze the mistake and subsequently change certain aspects of your approach in order to improve. Do this and the rewards are endless.

I am a great believer in the idea that most drivers in the motorsport arena have got natural talent. This is the ability to control a slide through feeling the car move beneath them and adjust accordingly. The remainder is application.

In 2000 I attended a race school in America run by an ex Formula 1 driver called Skip Barber. This was a fantastic experience, something I had always wanted to do -  to drive a race car. There, they taught me the mathematics and physics that apply to racing and being fast. When I was able to apply these teachings the rewards were evident. However, it was not that simple because like most of us my mind would wander away from the task at hand and as a result my driving would become erratic and my lap times would suffer. The difference between a good driver and a great one is the ability to be fast consistently.

Since 2000 I have developed a system of being able to consistently assess and adjust in order to improve lap times while in the cockpit. This system removes the red mist or emotion that slows us down. I applied this system in the real world for the first time in 2006 and with great success, winning 13 races and the overall Mini Challenge. Then in 2007 I stepped up to the semi professional leagues with the Seat Leon Cupra Championship. Here I managed to set fastest laps, pole positions and stand on the podium 5 times even though I missed 4 of the races. Now this needs to be seen in context. I am a 38 year old man with only two full race seasons under my belt, having never raced carts. I have competed against and beaten people who have been racing since their single digit years. I don’t say this to impress you but to impress upon you the importance of what I have learned and am now willing to teach you.

Insanity! The race tracks are full of it. The thought that if you do the same thing over and over again that you will achieve a different result. This is practice without a measurement framework in place.

There are times when it comes together for you on the track, the stars are aligned and it flows but then most of the time it doesn’t. You have accidentally hit on a combination of controlled inputs that work but if you are not breaking this information down you can never repeat the combination.

In the motorsport industry people spend colossal amounts of money on their car, suspension, brakes, engine and so on, looking for that slight edge meanwhile neglecting the most important part of the equation. The driver’s mind! Why is Lewis Hamilton so successful? All you have to do is listen to him and watch him. He gives you all the info you need.

If you want to be successful you look at someone who is successful in that field and do the same things. It is so simple that we tend to overlook it. Or we are pre-programmed to complicate things. A perfect example of this is the diet industry and the ridiculous amounts of money it makes when the answer is so simple. Eat less, exercise more. Are we really this dumb? The human is fundamentally a simple creature but we are manipulated every day by advertising companies who place thoughts in our minds. If we hold ourselves responsible for our own behaviour we can place thoughts in our own minds. After all, we are not wild animals.

A wild animal is an instinctive creature, most humans out of laziness or fear allow themselves to become instinctive creatures and then make excuses as to why they behave a certain way. Their excuses: its in their genes, their social status, they didn’t get the breaks, their lack of intelligence or bad luck.

Most people will not tell you the reason why they are fast. Sometimes it is because they do not want to be beaten but also it can be because they do not fully understand it themselves. They have accidentally stumbled on the correct combination of actions in order to be consistently fast. Methodically apply this process and you can get there sooner and with even more success.