Life Lessons from Soccer

Soccer is a sport that I grew up watching, loving and playing.  With World Cup 2014 happening in Brazil right now, I find myself fondly reminiscing of my own experiences playing the sport, while being fully enthralled in watching games and highlights.  Playing the sport has taught me a lot of life lessons and concepts of team, team management, and leadership.  I felt that it was fitting for this week’s post to share my soccer-influenced insights on those topics during what is easily the largest, most impactful, and most watched sporting event worldwide.  If you’re not a fan of the sport, hopefully you’ll have a different appreciation for it after reading this.

The way that shot taking and scoring a goal occurs in soccer, is very similar to the way an employee team approaches a goal in the workplace or another situation.  While watching a game you’ll notice the amount of passing among the teammates much like different parts of a project get passed between employees contributing to a larger goal.  In a team work situation sometimes there are big surges forward in the process of completing a major project, but sometimes it’s important to pull back, regroup, and approach the goal from a different angle, because the first strategy might not be as successful as another one.  This is similar to how a team in soccer will build up to taking a shot on the field.  You’ll notice that there are a lot of forward passes, but sometimes it’s necessary to stop, pass it backward, reposition the players and then approach the goal in a different way on the other side of the field.

You’ll also notice that in soccer there are no time outs, the clock doesn’t stop and players don’t get a break.  As a player on the field, I was very familiar with conditioning and preparing for the long haul of playing non-stop.  In this role, you have to be ready to take on any challenges from people trying to keep you from achieving your goal of scoring and it’s essential to keep pressing on even if you’re tired.  This is such a straightforward and clear analogy for life.  Life doesn’t stop just because you’re tired or beat down from the challenges you’ve endured.  If you give up it will keep going without you, and you’ll be left out.  Most importantly, while focusing on life goals, you prepare yourself for the challenges you’ll face, and for the experiences you’ll have so that you can persevere under any circumstance for the long haul, just like conditioning for a soccer game.  It’s important to push beyond your comfort zones on a regular basis just like you would in a workout, because when it comes time for the true test, or ‘game time’, as it’s sometimes referred to, you’ll have to have the stamina to keep going and achieve the goal to be successful.

Learning how to fit on a team is another truly great lesson I’ve learned from playing soccer over the years.  I’ve played mostly as a forward or some will call it a striker when I played soccer (it’s the position that’s very offensive minded, shooting, scoring goals, etc.)  While this position is very offensive minded, depending on the situation or the team we were playing against, sometimes I would have to get pulled back into the midfield area to help out my teammates.  There were also situations where if we were playing a really great offensive team and if they were kicking a corner kick (when the team trying to score kicks it in play from the flag in the corner) I would be pulled back to help out on defense a bit.  The scenarios are endless but the point is that sometimes even though I was assigned a specific role I had to be flexible to help out the team in the way that they needed me at the right time, and other players on the team had to do the same thing. 

Quite often it is up to the player in the moment to make the decision of “How can I help the team be better and what do they need from me right now?”  This is not at all dissimilar from being on a team in a work/committee/organization situation.  In order to help the team out it’s necessary to be willing to help those other teammates out to complete a task or project, and support them.  Being inflexible on the field can result in a negative effect such as the other team scoring because someone was left open.  Much like in a teamwork situation being inflexible can lead to the team not completing the project.  The most important thing to understand on the field is that I am helping to pass the ball contributing to the process of shooting, scoring and winning, so I’m just as important to the team as anyone else.  That’s what teamwork is about, it’s about advancing the team, not about gaining all the glory.

The biggest gripe that many people have about soccer is the lack of scoring.  It’s not uncommon to have a final score of 1-0, 0-0 or 2-0 after 90 (plus a couple few) minutes of playing.  The reality is that this works much like achieving goals in our everyday lives.  It’s very easy to put a lot of hard work an effort into something just to achieve one or two results.  Then you focus on your next major achievement (the next game) and put a lot of time and effort into that.  Sometimes you achieve your objective or score one or two goals in a game, and sometimes you end up with zero or needing to try again harder the next time.  In the end it’s all a part of the process of getting better.

As you can see soccer has taught me a lot that I’ve applied to many different work and leadership positions.  The list could go on, but I wanted to highlight just a few of them.  Some of you reading this might feel that theater, playing in a band or another sport has taught you some of your own lessons.  I think that’s great and all the more reason that we should regularly have kids involved in such activities because of the transferable lessons that can be attained from such experiences.  There are a lot more World Cup matches to be watched, and hopefully what I’ve shared here can help you appreciate or think of the game in a different way. 

 

You Are Your Own C.E.O.

I recently attended my first job fair as someone seeking employment.  I have been on the other side of the table recruiting on a few occasions representing a university but this was a completely new endeavor.  I left with a lot of thoughts on the experience and feeling like I was selling myself to recruiters the whole time.  I was representing myself as if I was a product they should buy and invest in.  I know that this is exactly what you are supposed to do at job fairs, but it caused me to explore this topic of being the C.E.O. of yourself and how if you see yourself as a business, it can be a guide for success.

Board of Directors – The majority of businesses have a board of directors.  If you are to be successful you need to have your own personal board of directors.  I’ve had mentors use this metaphor so I don’t know where it originated from, but it’s very pertinent as you strive for success.  A board of directors are typically a handful of people who have expertise in a wide variety of areas and they collectively move the business forward.  This is what you need for your own success.  Select a core group of mentors and people that you trust to be your personal board of directors.  They don’t all have to convene around a table or know each other, but most importantly they have to know you really well.  Make sure that they are interested in seeing you be successful as they role model success.  The people on your board should not only be willing to celebrate your triumphs, but be willing to give you the constructive, and sometimes hard-to-hear feedback that it takes to make you a better person.  Your board, like many businesses can change over time through adding and subtracting depending on your life situations and how effective they are for you.  Most importantly your board needs to consist of reliable people you trust to consult with, not just people who will tell you what you want to hear.

Advertising and Promotion – This is important to any business because it’s how the business, or in this case you, are represented to the public.  You need to think about your public image and what people say about you when you’re not around.  Do not confuse this with being inauthentic and catering or altering your personality to people.  Consider this your brand.  Is what you represent, and are you perceived the way you want to be perceived?  If you’re not representing yourself the way you would like to, explore the reasons why, and what you can do to change your brand to what you want it to be.  This certainly includes your online presence with social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, etc.  A good place to start figuring this out, is by asking your board of directors, which is why it is important that they not only know you, but that they are willing to be completely honest with you, and help you.

Manufacturing – At first glance you might have assumed I was talking about having kids.  Not so fast, that’s not what this is about, that’s up to you.  This is about what you are manufacturing on a regular basis in terms of your deeds.  Are you putting all of your effort into the things you say and do and cultivating your work ethic so that your product can be reliable?  It’s important that what you produce whether it be in your personal life or your work life is of a high quality in nature.  You should be proud of what you do and feel confident that you would want your name associated with what you do whether it’s volunteering somewhere, finishing a report at work or planning a birthday party for a friend, etc.  Give it your all, and have pride in what you’ve accomplished.

Accounting – This is you budgeting for yourself.  In order to be successful it’s important that you are not living at your means but living within it, and saving for the future.  Every good business has a budget plan that includes a rainy day fund, and a slush fund.  As a C.E.O. for yourself it’s important that you’re saving and creating a manageable budget for yourself so that you can be successful in the future, and that unpredicted expenses or that special thing you want to treat yourself with can be taken care of when necessary.

I could break down more business departments and give you more details and examples within those mentioned here.  However I believe you get the idea and hopefully you can begin applying such a model to your own life.  This model of thinking of different parts of your personality and what you do is a holistic model approach that encompasses not only being successful in your professional life but in your personal life as well.  I placed the Board of Directors first because I believe it is extremely important that your support network is in place and ready to support you throughout your endeavors.  You can be successful, you just need to put in the time and effort to develop yourself.  Success does not come overnight for any business and it won’t come overnight for you.  But it is attainable when you put the work in to develop the multitude of facets that make up who you are. 

Take the First Step

As I was watching HBO’s Real Sports they did a story on Nik Wallenda.  You might recognize his name as one of the most daring and famous tightrope walkers of our era.  He’s accomplished what many would describe as unimaginable, brave, and downright dangerous.  Some of his feats include crossing the Little Colorado River Gorge next to the Grand Canyon, as well as crossing Niagara Falls on a tight rope.  He holds an amazing 7 world records. 

Now the closest I’ve ever come to walking a tight rope is playing on a balance beam on the playground as a kid, so I’m no Nik.  But during that interview he mentioned two things that really stood out to me about how we live our lives, and how similar it is to what he accomplishes on the tight rope. 

He said the hardest part of some of his aerial stunts is taking the first step as he walks out onto the wire.  Once he’s past that, the jitters of starting are done, and he can concentrate on the intricacies of the rest of the act.

The truth is the first step really is the most difficult any time you start something new.  As school has started, the first step for a student into the hallway or on campus can be scary.  If you’ve decided you want to start a business, the first step of opening the store front and taking a leap of faith can be terrifying.  Sometimes it’s intimidating walking into the boss’s office to suggest a new initiative, starting a conversation with a significant other about something serious, or even starting a new job. 

The first step in all of these is scary for the same reason the first step is scary for Nik.  It’s a fear of the unknown and wondering: “What will the rest of the journey be like?” There’s also a fear of not succeeding and wondering: “Will I make it?” “Will I survive?”.  You’re human and those are natural feelings to have.  We have all felt that at one time while embarking on a new endeavor.  What Nik does is he practices frequently to anticipate the stunt and various scenarios that can happen on the wire in order to complete the act and diminish the odds of falling. 

In our own lives we must also prepare ourselves to diminish the danger of failing after that first step.  It comes down to preparedness and trusting in your preparedness.  We should constantly be putting in the work to make ourselves better and ready to succeed after that first step.  There will be obstacles that can’t be accounted for, but our preparation and keeping our mindset focused can help us overcome those and make it to the other end.  Nik prepares for gusts of wind on the rope high above natural wonders, but sometimes Mother Nature has a surprise for him.  But trusting in his preparation and staying focused on succeeding, he continues on much like we need to do when we’re faced with something unexpected.

The second statement that stuck with me is the fact that he doesn’t use a safety net or harness to perform.  He said, "My great-grandfather taught that safety nets offer a false sense of security,"  Going on to say that a safety net is no guarantee because an uncle of his was killed while performing, despite falling into a safety net.

All too often we are afraid to take that first step unless we are completely sure that we will be safe from failing.  Sometimes we hinder ourselves from trying something new because we fill our minds with: “What if it doesn’t work out?”.  Failing is a part of life and what we learn some of our most valuable lessons from.  If Nik subscribed to these thoughts he wouldn’t have 7 world records because he never would have taken that first step without a safety net.  I had a supervisor once share with me that paralysis by analysis can prevent us from moving forward in our lives if we get caught up worrying about the ‘what ifs’.  Overthinking something might be holding you back right now.  It takes a lot of courage to trust the process, and to trust your-self to make the best decisions.  Undoubtedly you’ve survived some very rough times, and bounced back stronger.  You’ve healed your wounds and gotten back up on that wire to take another first step to finish your journey.  That means you already know you’re a survivor.

Sometimes you will fail, just like sometimes Nik has fallen off that wire.  But he gets back up on it and tries again, and that’s what I know you can do.  If you’ve got a dream to chase, or you’re about to try something new or different, don’t be afraid to take the first step, and don’t worry if it doesn’t work out.  Just get back up on the wire after some more preparation, trust the process and take that first step again. 

You will make it to the other end of the wire. I know you can do it.

For those of you that are interested, here's a quick news story about Nik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX_jFK9Zf5k