Ther is a good Q&A with Amos on Spikes:
http://spikes.iaaf.org/post/words-of-wisdom-nijel-amos
Amos talking: “The Olympic 1500m champion Taoufik Makhloufi came up to me ahead of the Prefontaine Classic meeting last year and said ‘You are the future, but you are the only one who can make changes and take that step to reach your goals’.
“Suddenly a feeling built up in me like I am in charge of my own destiny. From that moment on I have thought I can do this. In the past I had gone into races and not really believed in myself. I had lost the race before it had even started.”