A motivational book by one of the country’s richest entrepreneurs, featuring contributions from sports stars Andy Murray, Sir Alex Ferguson and Chris Hoy, is to be given to every pupil in Scotland in an effort to create the sporting and business stars of the future.

The book by Sir Bill Gammell, the former Scotland rugby international and chief executive of Cairn Energy, has been billed as a blueprint to create a generation of world champions in time for the 2012 London Olympics and 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Be a Winner, which will be distributed free at schools across the country, has been produced by the Winning Scotland Foundation, the organisation set up by the Fettes-educated oil tycoon, who is a close friend of Tony Blair and George Bush.

The motivational guide will be endorsed by the Scottish government when it is launched next week and the foundation is in talks with local authorities to make the book part of the physical education curriculum in secondary schools.

“We wanted to create a tool-kit for youngsters where they can get inspirational messages,” said Graham Watson, executive director of the Winning Foundation.

“It’s easy-to-understand material for young people, to encourage them to believe that they too can succeed in sport and in life. Our main belief is that winning is something you can learn to do and you can get into the habit of being a winner.

“We are encouraging the local authorities to look at ways in which the book can become accessible to young people. We have not published this to make money, our motivation is to find as many channels to get it into the hands of young

people as possible. We want to reach people at 13 and 14 who could be looking ahead to the Commonwealth Games in six years time and thinking, ‘That could be me.’”

The foundation also intends to involve world-beating athletes such as Hoy and Murray in teaching programmes at Scottish schools.

“Chris Hoy going into a school for an hour or two and showing off his gold medals is tremendous but by itself it’s unlikely to really change the mindset of a youngster,” Watson added.

“So what we’re looking at is taking the athletes into schools for a programme of activities over a three or four-month

period where they will be in the school delivering a programme of learning materials to the youngsters.”

In the book, Ferguson, Britain’s most successful football manager, urges youngsters to focus on their sporting talent and ignore the distraction of “other social activities”.

Hoy, who won three cycling golds at the Beijing Olympics, said young athletes should set themselves small targets to build up to their ultimate goal.

“I said I wanted to be Scottish champion, so I did it,” said Hoy. “Then I said I wanted to be British champion, so I did that too. If you keep resetting your goals and you keep hitting them eventually you will reach the top.”

Gammell used venture capital to found Cairn Energy in the 1990s. The firm is now Europe’s biggest independent oil company worth £3.3 billion.

He said that he developed a winning attitude as a 15-year-old after losing in the final of a squash tournament having been two sets ahead. The 55-year-old said the defeat made him determined to change his mindset and “believe that I could be a winner.”

“At the moment the bar in Scotland is set too low, we tend to be content with mediocrity,” said Gammell. “Yet, if Scotland is to compete in an increasingly competitive sporting and business world, it is vital that our young people aspire to fulfil their potential.”

Be a Winner will ultimately be made available online for teachers and pupils to download.

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