The power of positivity is helping Hartley remain sharp in shutdown
— Page 129 Motherwell skipper Hartley on how to stay mentally sharp during a shutdown THE POWER OF POSITIVITY
WHEN the Hartley household in Hartlepool marks the Thursday-night clap for carers, the recipient of a chunk of appreciation is literally on their doorstep.
Motherwell captain Peter’s wife Jessica is working through the health crisis as an occupational therapist at the University Hospital of North Tees, ready to be deployed wherever required at any given time. Both her mother and sister are midwives.
‘Jessica has been measured up for the mask, doesn’t know where she’s getting put, so she could be on the maternity ward or in with the nurses,’ said Hartley, who was back at the family home well before lockdown.
‘They’re being put where they are needed. Of course you wonder what’s going to happen, it’s always at the back of your mind.
‘What can you do? You’ve got to go to work, it’s your job.
‘For her to maybe get something or bring it home or pass it on to the family is worrying. But you just have to hope it doesn’t happen.’
Forgive the 32-year-old defender, then, for siding against the ‘showmust-go-on’ case for football seasons to be completed this summer.
Much as he would love the chance to battle with Aberdeen to prove Motherwell are ‘best of the rest’, he would rather the Ladbrokes Premiership season was called.
As desperate as he is to get back into competitive cut and thrust, he
knows his place is letting toddler son Emerson score a goal in the garden. And while he’s greatly missing team-mates, training and routine, there is no more important role than looking after his lad while Jessica does her key work.
‘Even waiting until June or July, I still don’t think that’s going to be good enough,’ he said. ‘People’s health and safety comes before football.’
So in worrying times for his loved ones, a long period of inactivity for an athlete and with the uncertainty of a contract expiring this summer, Hartley is drawing on all the reserves of his positive mental attitude.
Born from an insatiable appetite for reading books by high achievers in business and sport, Hartley has honed a mindset that enabled him to enhance his prospects of success and cope creditably with career setbacks of recent years.
There may not be a go-to manual for a restless footballer in the midst of a pandemic. But no matter how hard it may be, Hartley is hopeful of evading too many downs, of accentuating the positives at hand and being primed through personal motivation to re-emerge on top form when the time arrives for football to be restored.
Hartley added: ‘We’re restricted, aren’t we? That’s how everyone feels. You don’t feel you have freedom.
‘But it’s for a reason. I think if you understand it’s for a reason, you’ve just got to ride that and go with it.
‘It definitely helps. You must make the most of your day. If you just lie around doing nothing, or very little, then you’ll get sucked into that.
‘And, when it’s time for the doors to open and normal life to return, there could be a problem.
‘People who are successful won’t fall into this trap. There are still goals, there are things to aspire to.
‘They will still push themselves in any way they can. Every day. If it’s reading, listening to audio books, doing runs, exercising in the garden. It’s about keeping yourself mentally and physically sharp instead of falling into a rut.
‘I’m doing a lot of reading, which I love, lots of exercise and keeping busy with Emerson.
‘I’ve been getting up about halfpast five or six to run and I’m recording the times. I’ve had foot problems in the past, so I’ve been out on the roads, testing them out.’
Hartley’s intrigue with selfeducation through literature began when Sunderland reserve coach Neil Bailey set his young team simple reading and recall tasks.
‘It was like you had to read a chapter from a football autobiography and you’d be quizzed on it the next week,’ explained Hartley. ‘As a 17-year-old kid, it kept the mind active.’
Then, when playing for Stevenage, his manager, Graham Westley, was the owner of a multi-million pound management consultancy business.
‘Football wasn’t the be all and end all for
Graham,’ said Hartley. ‘It was his job and he wanted to be successful at it. He had businesses out of football and that was big for him. ‘It was the most bizarre routine I’ve ever been in. We wouldn’t get down to training until 3pm because of all these meetings after the gym. ‘All about mindset, changing the way you think, the importance of a positive routine in life.
‘He talked about so much. I might not have agreed with his football philosophy, but I thought that if this guy is a millionaire, who runs all these businesses and is successful throughout his life, then he must be talking a fair bit of sense. ‘Technically, as a footballer, I wouldn’t stand out to anyone. But one of my biggest strengths is my mindset. I understand when I am feeling or thinking negatively. And I know how to change that and put a different perspective on it.
‘If I wake up and not feeling great, I will do a few little things. It could be a 10-minute video on YouTube of motivation to get me feeling sharp. ‘Everyone will feel that way at some point in a day. Some ride with that wave and it takes up the full day. But you have to know how you are feeling, the reason you feel like that and how to change it.
‘You can get there by self-education because you don’t get taught that at school.
‘My favourites over the years have been
Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends and Influence People.
‘I’m currently reading Shoe Dog
— the memoirs of Phil Knight, the creator of Nike. I love hearing the journey people have been on, their downfalls and successes, to get to where they are.’
Hartley required all his inner calm and perspective when dropped by Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson amid a formation switch midway through last season.
He admitted: ‘I often think to myself: “Four years ago, I’d have gone down a completely different route, gone for the jugular and opened a can of worms”.
‘Taking a step back and thinking instead of having an irrational reaction has helped. Situations in dressing rooms, in games. You can easily go into a shell and say nothing. Or easily be the loudest person in the room and say all the wrong things.
‘It’s a fine line. As captain of the club, I have to get that right. I have to be fully educated, know myself and know the dressing room. I can’t open my mouth and talk loads of rubbish — you get nothing from it.
‘So, when I was out of the team, I had what they call the “two-week lull”. I had it once before in my career. That’s when the world is against you, everyone hates you and it’s not your fault.
‘The longer you think that, the more chance there is of heading in the wrong direction.
‘When you shake it off, you realise what has happened and that only you can change your situation.
‘I was working hard in training getting nowhere for three weeks. But, first and foremost, I needed to make myself better.
‘That’s my job. And I did that. I didn’t play much but I improved a lot last season. This season, I’ve played the majority of games and we’ve been successful.’
Motherwell were set to host their rivals for third place, Aberdeen, before football in the UK shut down — one of eight games Robinson’s side have remaining.
‘It will be a shame for it not to go to the wire, play the eight and earn the full right to finish third,’ said Hartley. ‘Maybe we still will. Then no one can take it away from us. If the season stops now, there will be a bit of an empty space.
‘We’ve massively overachieved for the size of club and budget, the team has worked so hard. We’ve earned the right to be where we are.
‘But people’s health is more important than football, so it’s a good thing everyone’s safety was put first. I genuinely think it should just finish now.’
The blessing for Hartley is time spent with his son, including last week’s rarity of dad enjoying a birthday at home.
‘When Jessica goes to work, I’m daddy day care for a few hours until she gets home,’ he said. ‘It’s been great, getting into a family routine and spending time with my lad.
‘It’s lovely seeing him develop with my own eyes instead of seeing differences every couple of weeks. He is a bundle of energy and just doesn’t stop.
‘Yes, being at home is a shock to the system. I’ve seen what life is like without football and I miss it.’
It’s about changing the way you think and having a healthy routine