It’s always darkest before the dawn
Alexander Pelley, Business Development Officer at the College of the North Atlantic, has written a book that is gaining international attention.
The Champion’s Mindset: Unlocking the Power of Positive Thinking, Manifestation, Success has become an international bestseller, reaching number one in the United States, Australia, and Germany in the Happiness, Motivation & Self-Help category, number two in the United Kingdom, and number three in Canada.
Pelley says that while the success of the book is something he is proud of, writing it came from one of the darkest periods of his life.
“Well, it started in a dark place. Our mom had mental health issues for 30 years,” he said. “They resurfaced during covid due to isolation, and she ended up losing the battle with her mental health.”
Pelley was visiting a friend in British Columbia when he received a phone call that would change everything.
“I got the devastating word, and words don’t fully express how it made me feel,” he said. “CNA gave me time off, I kept busy, but I still hadn’t addressed the issue.”
The loss of his mother sent him into a deep depression.
“I couldn’t get out of bed, and when I did, I didn’t recognize myself,” he said.
In the midst of that darkness, he came across the work of Masaru Emoto, a turning point for him.
“He conducted a simple but powerful experiment: two containers of water. One exposed to loving words. The other to anger and hate,” he said. “When frozen, the water exposed to love formed intricate, beautiful crystals, the other formed distorted, chaotic shapes.”
That idea became the beginning of a shift in how he viewed his own life and mindset. Pelley says his work is grounded not just in personal experience, but in research and science around positive thinking and performance.
“In that moment, I realized something that changed my life: I wasn’t stuck in the gutter because of what had happened to me. I was stuck in the gutter because that’s where my thoughts were,” he said. “That realization wasn’t fantasy. It wasn’t blind positivity. It sent me deep into the study of neuroscience, performance psychology, and the mental frameworks of elite athletes and top business leaders.”
The book introduces a 12-week program designed to help readers build positive habits and mindset tools, not just for elite athletes or CEOs, but for anyone facing challenges in their life.
When life gets you down, it’s a process I’m better equipped for.” Pelley explained, noting “gratitude is a daily habit that helped me climb out of my gutter, I started to turn my focus from the loss of my mother to not only having a great mom but the fact I had her for as long as I did, I just keep looking upwards.”
Pelley holds a Master of Business Administration, a marketing diploma, and certifications through the Brave Thinking Institute and Maxwell Leadership. He explains that positive thinking is a skill that can benefit everyone.
“If I could climb out of my gutter, you can rise from yours,” he said. “No matter where you’re coming from, dawn is always coming,” he said.
For more information visit www.AlexanderPelley.com.
