Can your Proximity to Excellence = Success?

May 25, 2026

North London is red but the road to progress in our health, fitness & wellbeing journey is not always black & white!

If you follow the Premier League you will know that under the leadership of Manager Mikel Arteta, Arsenal F.C won the coveted cup with the dominant Manchester City following closely in 2nd place.

As the emotional celebrations for the club that was founded in South London’s Woolwich get underway, there is a story that is not being openly discussed.

We are all familiar with the job of a Premier League football Manager being a poison challis.

The dominance of Manchester City F.C with their manager Pep Guardiola at the helm is a story of its own, consisting of multiple chapters.

One small chapter is the one where Mikel Arteta worked closely with Pep as his assistant to embark on “the equivalent of a master’s degree in coaching” in 2016 before securing the job as Manager at Arsenal in 2019.

Pep himself was in close proximity to football legend Johan Cruyff, who he credits for his tactical style of play on the field as a Player and as Manager at Barcelona F.C (2008 - 2012).

Could Arteta have developed the traits, mindset and expertise required to not only surpass his mentor but develop a team that embraced this winning attitude, whilst he was Pep’s apprentice?

Let’s not forget that as a Player under the tutelage of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal and David Moyes at Everton F.C, Arteta was reputed as a huge influence within the dressing rooms of both teams.

Could his proximity to several managerial legends have helped cement his leadership & technical prowess of the beautiful game?

According to sports science the answer is simply, yes and here are a few ideas that support the hypothesis.

These concepts also encourage us all in our own health, fitness and wellbeing journeys.

Contagious Motivation - proximity to driven individuals can result in the symbiotic transfer of energy. The enthusiasm and motivation of influential, solid performers is highly contagious. According to article The Power of the People Around You by Brad Studelberg, author of Master of Change,

“The people with whom you surround yourself have an enormous impact on your life. In many ways, they shape it.”

The Least Skilled" Dynamic - Brad’s article also highlighted that the average performance of a group is tethered to the motivation and enthusiasm of the least performer. In other words, “the chain is only as strong as its weakest link”. As Stoic philosopher Epictetus put it,

“What is honoured in a culture gets cultivated there”.

By embracing a community that thrives on continual improvement, we ourselves improve as a natural by-product.

Observational Learning - exposure to the habits of influential performers alters the neural pathways of the observer enabling them to adopt similar styles & routines. This explains why brands invest significant sums in sponsoring elite athletes. According to the National Library of Medicine article, Perceptions of Celebrity Athletes Involved in Social Cause Endorsement,

“They demonstrate attributes that lead to an emotional attachment of fans. Based on that, athletes often work as endorsers in different businesses and can become very influential, especially among younger members of society.”

Based on the above some steps we can all take away is:

Embrace community’s of excellence where continual improvement is normalised and there is a culture of success.
Optimise your environment for support of your personal fitness levels and goals.
Establish psychological safety - it’s ok to want to climb Kilimanjaro, perform a skydive or compete in a triathlon. The key is that through trial & error we can do so without fear or judgement.

How have enthusiastic,motivational mentors influenced you on your health, fitness & wellbeing journey?