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I think I have an innate inner confidence, one that I don't feel I need to prove all the time. There will be times throughout your career when it does dip a little bit. Whether it's from within, or something you guys have written.
It can feel like such a hectic lifestyle. We are always busy and always under pressure. So giving myself that 10 minutes of meditation each day has really helped me to relax, restore some perspective, and gain that meditative state.
Some days if I am not feeling great or I feel a bit down or anxious, I just go for a run and I instantly feel better. Despite all the technology we use in training these days, it remains an amazingly simple way to energise your mind.
It still feels like I am just playing with my mates a lot of the time. A lot of us in the England team have grown up playing cricket together and formed very close friendships, which makes the dressing room a very enjoyable place to be.
We all have our food weaknesses and mine is snacking. I have a sweet tooth and I love chocolate. But I have learned that if you plan ahead you can get round that. I always carry a few chocolate-flavoured protein bars when I'm travelling.
Early on, when I was playing the one-day stuff a few years ago and had a really poor start to my career, it was actually when I stopped worrying about getting dropped and about all the things that might go wrong that I started playing better.
Going into a new environment with new coaches posed the question as to how well I actually know my own game. To have these big names asking what I want from them, and what makes me tick, showed me how selfish you have to be with your practice.
I'd say the biggest difference is knowing you can do something. You can sit here and say, 'I believe I can get a hundred tomorrow'. But it's a different statement to say, 'I know I can get a hundred tomorrow'. That's something I try to think about.
The psychology of sport is so important. When you are standing at the crease, in front of a stadium full of people, it's a pretty intense experience. So you need to have the psychological tools to control your mind and deliver your best performance.
I have learned a lot of interesting things about nutrition in my cricket career but the biggest lesson of all is to ensure your healthy eating habits are sustainable. The best way to eat healthily is to think of nutrition as a lifestyle, not as a diet.
The game in T20 cricket moves so fast and guys are always putting you under pressure - you can have plans for the likes of Chris Lynn and Glenn Maxwell and try to execute them but they can then do the exact opposite of what you expect, especially Maxwell.
But one of the best things away from playing was a visit to a Mumbai slum. You see people in their conditions, getting stuck into their way of life and not moaning, and realise how lucky you are to be doing what you are doing. It put things into perspective.
In the middle order the game is a little more laid out for you, whether you are batting first or chasing down a score, so you are a bit more reactive to the situation in front of you. Opening up, it is pretty much a blank canvas and dependent on how you play.
I sometimes like to do plyometric work which hits my core and the rest of my body at the same time: things like jumping to catch balls, box jumps, hurdling over cricket stumps, bounds, hops, or combined exercises like three jumps in a row followed by a sprint.
At Somerset I played with Marcus Trescothick who has spoken very openly about his battle with depression and anxiety. I had a few conversations with him about his problems but I also read his book which provided me with a great insight into what he went though.
I enjoy fitness. I've always enjoyed trying to stay healthy. I've enjoyed all my gym work; obviously there's a cross-over with that going into cricket. But you also talk of finding an escape and I think in the last year or so, running has provided me with that.
I was worrying about how Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson or Josh Hazlewood would get me out and how I would counter it, but in doing that forgot how I was going to score runs and put pressure on them, which is what I'm good at. I have to be more focussed on myself.
I was constantly searching for something and you kid yourself that someone out there has got that secret to batting that they can give you one piece of advice that will enable you to go and score a hundred every time. It is silly. By trying to learn I confused myself.
A really important technique for me is visualisation. Before a match I will sit down and think about all the different situations which might happen on the field - if the openers start well, if you end up going out earlier than expected, what the conditions might be like.
I've always been a bit shy, especially in new situations. But I have that other side in me too. Cricket demands that you grow up fast. Playing in domestic tournaments as an overseas player, you're expected to score runs and bring a lot to the group. And I expect that of myself.
It can be hard to keep that mentality but I know that to play your best you can't be worrying about getting dropped, because then you just go into your shell even more and play safe. I've just got to come out and play how I know I can play - that's the way that you get the best out of yourself.
The only way I can meet expectations of myself and what I think I am capable of is to make sure my game is in order and I am doing things that allow me to perform at my best, to make sure my training is good, to make sure I am focused on watching the ball and not worried about the external expectations.
It was a relief to get dropped which is sad in a way because you never want to miss a game. But I was not performing and mentally I got to a stage where I was not concentrating and did not want to be there. I was not enjoying walking out there and feeling like I didn't know where the next run was coming from.