From running ultra-marathons to transforming mindsets, Matt Young’s journey has taken him through the highs of professional football and the challenges of elite endurance sport.
Now, through his coaching platform Made in the Mind, he helps others develop the mental strength to thrive — with much of that mission shaped by life in Brighton.
Recognised as one of the UK’s leading mental resilience speakers, Matt shares his insights on overcoming failure, redefining potential, and building a mindset that endures.
In this exclusive interview, he reflects on the lessons behind high performance and why true strength starts in the mind.
Q: As someone based in Brighton, how has the city influenced your mindset and journey as an ultra-marathon runner?
Matt Young: “For me personally, I think ultra-marathon running is—for me, it’s a mental game. That’s why I’ve been invested in it, that’s why I continuously do it, that’s why I still do it—because I enjoy the mental growth, the mental challenges, the learning that goes in with it.
“So, for me, it’s a lot of mental resilience and strength. It’s being able to have an adaptable mindset. And then probably third underneath that is about just conditioning your body obviously to be able to do that.
“You’re not going to get through it solely on mentally, but for me that’s what it is all about. It’s the unlocking of doors in your mind. It’s the strategies you have to play in your mind, it’s the games that you place, the way your mind tries to play tricks on you—that I love, that I have to adapt to and overcome. And thankfully I have done so far.
“So that’s what ultra-marathons are to me. That’s why I’m so invested in them. That’s why I love them so much.”
Q: Looking back on your career, including your time in professional football, can you share a pivotal moment of failure that shaped your path forward?
Matt Young: “How long have we got? No—I’ve faced failure. I mean, I can talk about running—I mean being at the 70-mile mark when you’ve got 110 miles to complete, for example. You’ve been running for the best part of 25 hours non-stop. There are challenges there and failures at your doorstep.
“But I suppose one that I can touch on in a sporting context would be—obviously I had a professional football career for eight years, and there was a time where I went on 19 different trials, which I suppose are like job interviews in the everyday world, where every single time, it’s knockback, knockback, knockback.
“I went on 19 different trials getting those knockbacks for those, until finally the 20th one opened the door for me. And I think, for me, in that period of my life as well, with different things that were going on—I suppose what people would call, quote, “failure”—but it was a constant learning process for me.
“Okay, what can I take from what’s gone on to then serve me in my next trial, and then the next one, then the next one? And don’t get me wrong, there’s a couple in there where—I think it was Einstein that said, “You keep doing what you’re doing,” sort of, “that’s the definition of insanity.” And there was a little bit of that going on—that I was doing the same thing, wondering why I keep getting knockbacks.
“But when you adapt, and you adapt, and you adapt—I think they’re the bits that I took from that period of my life that people would call a failure, because I was able to adapt mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually—however you want to look at it—to then eventually find the key to unlock the door.
“And I think, when it comes to that, that is how you overcome a failure. Whether that’s in a sporting context, a relationship context, a mindset context—whatever it may be—that constant ability to adapt your mindset and be able to choose and pick different ways to approach a situation is ultimately what’s going to give you the golden key.”
Q: What led you to launch ‘Made in the Mind’ here in Brighton, and how does the local community shape your coaching approach?
Matt Young: “Funny enough, service was always something I knew I was going to get into after football. I never knew the actual timestamp of when that would be, but I always knew that after football—I’ve always been fascinated with psychology and what makes people tick, what makes that person so successful, and all these different things.
“And secondly, I love people. I absolutely love people. I love giving to people and things like that. And I think, for me—passion is an understatement. It’s a mission of mine to impact people’s lives. It is such a drive of mine to be able to take someone from whatever situation they are in and improve that exponentially.
“And I think, when it comes to setting up Made in the Mind and what inspired me to do that—one, for me, everything is made in the mind. But secondly, it’s that ability to combine what I love, i.e. the mind, the psychology, behavioural traits—and then give that to people—is, for me, the ultimate goal in life.”
Q: Your mission is to help people ‘unleash their true potential’. What does that mean in practical terms for someone navigating life in a fast-paced city like Brighton?
Matt Young: “It’s funny because it’s a really good question, and I’ve thought about this a lot. For me, someone’s potential is simply—it’s a limitless pool of resources that you can tap into.
“Now, what I mean by that is that we all have this limitless pool of resources within us. We all have these resources to have the courage, have the confidence, have the belief, have the determination, the commitment, the motivation—it’s all in there.
“Whether we put blocks in the way, or barriers in the way, or try to make reasons why we can’t, is up to our own belief systems and our own behavioural traits. But ultimately, that is what’s underneath.
“It’s a limitless pool of courage, conviction, determination, confidence that you can tap into. And that’s what I do. And when it says—when my whole thing is ‘unleash your true potential’—it is exactly that.
“Unleash that limitless pool of resources that you have, tap into that, and then that all comes out. So that’s what it means to me.”
This exclusive interview with Matt Young was conducted by Roxanna Hayes.
