Nothing lasts forever
Every good story has its ending. Great players rise, fall, and give room to the next generation. I have been fortunate enough to watch really great players who I cherished and adored. To some of us, a player like Thierry Henry was an irreplaceable idol, to my utter shock my young cousin recently asked me who he was. I have also learned that winning streams come to an end and successful dynasties sometimes drop to the bottom of the standings. This reminds us to enjoy the highs and celebrate great moments because they for sure will not last forever.
No one wins all the time.
Football has taught me that no matter how good you are, you cannot win all the time. Even the greatest of teams have their bad days at the office. Learn to graciously take your Ls and learn from them.
Effort can triumph over talent.
Over the many years of watching football, I have seen very gifted players who never made it to the top because they did not put in the effort to match their talent. I have also seen average players play and succeed at the top level because of their work rate. Keep working hard at your goals.
Choose your career moves wisely.
When and where you choose to work will have a big impact on where you end in your career. While loyalty is important, it is very important to plan out your career moves and aggressively pursue them. In football, I have seen extremely gifted players who never lived up to their potential because they remained at the wrong club when the opportunity for a move was presented to them. I have also seen players that made career wrecking moves by moving too soon. All in all, everything in life involves taking risks, but always strive to take calculated risks.
The ones who want it more wins it.
Sometimes being good just isn’t good enough! You need the passion! I have seen instances where the second-tier teams have disappointed the champions simply because they wanted it more. I believe in the saying that if you want something so badly and work so hard for it, even the universe will conspire to hand the thing to you. Passion wins, almost always!
Winning is about teamwork.
No one succeeds alone. We all need each other. If you can’t work well with others or you try to do everything alone, you’ll eventually fail. You need to trust your team and everyone needs to do their jobs in order for everyone to be successful.
It can all end in an instant.
On a sad note, I must say life is very unpredictable. One stroke of bad luck and life suddenly changes. I have seen great football careers end from one bad tackle or even a self-inflicted accident. One bad day can be life-changing. Suddenly we find ourselves without a job, in prison, or sick. C’est la vie! This sad realization should make us grateful for the good things when we have them and never take anything for granted! $ads={2}