Dimitar Berbatov, the former Manchester United striker, describes how his team could manage to win games even when they weren't playing at their best. "When we line up in the tunnel and look at the faces of the opponents, there would be a sign of fear and resignation on it. They would look at players like Rooney and Ronaldo and think that they are in for a very tough game and that it is going to be very difficult to get anything. And that feeling is like they are already a goal down."

On the contrary, when teams go up with a desire to upstage the likes of Rooney and Ronaldo, they actually end up coming away with points and are only beaten when these players actually have a good game.

It is easy to look at the magnitude of the task ahead of us and give up before it even begins. It can happen while setting out to run a marathon, or write a novel, or learn to speak a new language.

Instead, if we look at the challenge and feel excited to go after it, we have a much better chance of achieving the results that we want.