“Never give up!” — from T-shirt slogans to Marvel superheroes and even Sia… Everyone seems to be in perfect alignment on this.
How did such a simple, on-the-nose phrase become a universally accepted pick-me-up?
It’s probably because thinking about giving up is an all too familiar feeling.
And there’s a good reason why quitting is so popular, right? It offers an unmatched sense of instant relief!
For aspiring footballers facing a difficult spell, quitting can often seem like the only way out.
When you add the fact you’re in an industry so brutal over 99% of people WILL end up quitting…
Is there anything you can do to protect your dream?
Of course, there is! Otherwise, this would’ve been a very short and cruel article.
Here are the top 4 things you can do to keep your dream of becoming a professional footballer alive!
1 – Protect Your Motivation
The dream of playing pro can be a powerful motivator. It’s likely it won’t be enough.
Because when times get excruciatingly tough, you’re going to need a sackful of legitimate reasons to keep going. So your best option is to diversify your motivation portfolio.
In the world of “Inside Out” motivation is arguably one of the most tragic characters. Because we most often tend to notice it when it’s already gone. And by then, it could already be too late…
You have to be strategic about your motivation and reflect on it even if everything feels fine.
2 – Practice Self-Discipline
Going pro requires years of dedicated effort – something you can only achieve by doing the right things virtually every single day.
Years of this, with no guarantees, and despite any other challenges you may come across.
Self-discipline is about making small sacrifices to achieve long-term goals. This goes well beyond the training session. You also need to be eating right, and getting enough rest…
And it doesn’t stop when you turn pro either. Just think of all the elite players who’ve made a mess out of their careers due to a lack of discipline.
Winning these tiny battles is what keeps you on track. It gets easier, but only if you win them every day.
3 – Pursue Mental Toughness
Mental toughness is a measure of resilience.
Putting it simply, it’s your ability to persevere in the face of hardship.
Or to put it crudely, how much crap can you take and keep going? Because if there’s one thing you can count on is that life will keep throwing crap your way… Often aiming for the eyes.
Unfortunately, there’s no adequate way to develop mental toughness other than through exposure. In that context, the crap (somewhat poetically) acts as a fertilizer.
You need to:
- Get into challenging situations
- Overcome them
- And grow in the process
The upside is, when you choose to put yourself in these challenging situations, you’re in control. You know you have what it takes to get through to the other side.
4 – Prevent Burnout
As you ready yourself to put in years of dedicated, diligent work WHILE making sure you’re enjoying it most of the time, there’s one more thing you need to consider.
You can’t overdo it.
“Optimal” is the keyword here, however annoyingly vague it may sound.
It will mean different things to different people. It’ll also mean different things to the same person, but at different stages of their career.
This is where self-reflection becomes crucial. Know thyself – a fancy way of saying understand your limits.
Testing them is OK… Encouraged even! It’s how you assure progress.
But if you go over for far too long, you’re running the risk of burnout. And that can be difficult to come back from…
“NEVER” Give Up? Well…
Once again, over 99% of kids and young athletes who aspire to become professional footballers quit before it happens. In many cases, there isn’t anything anyone could’ve prevented that outcome.
And you have to be OK with that scenario. Because that’s not the scary part…
The scary part is when players put themselves under immense pressure by not even considering the possibility it might not work out. Which can be really dangerous.
Not going pro is not a hopeless situation. But it’s very easy for young, developing minds to fall into the trap of believing that it is.
That’s why you have to protect yourself, and always leave room for something more.
There is enough time in the day for you to dedicate a respectable amount of yourself to the game and STILL have room to grow in other ways and explore other areas of life.
Giving up is NOT the end, as long as YOU don’t allow it to be.
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So when you take everything into account, seems like that evergreen motivational phrase could use a bit of a rewrite.
“Never give up UNLESS you’ve exceeded all reasonable options, and you’ve reached a point where your integrity, physical and mental health are at serious risk. In that case, most certainly DO give up and seek out other ways of making your time on this planet enjoyable.”
Catchy, no?
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