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Attitude! – Five Lessons From The Super Eagles & One From Dbanj by Nobody: 5:08pm On Feb 11, 2013 |
Attitude! – Five Lessons From the Super Eagles & One From D'banj So our ‘boys’ won the trophy last night at the African Cup of Nations, a feat that has proved impossible one way or another since 1994 in Tunisia where Emmanuel Amuneke scored two goals against Zambia. The trophy they lifted in 94 was more attractive than the one they won yesterday but the success, coming after 19 years is sweeter so here are five lessons we all can learn from our team: 1. Believe in Yourself, When No One Else Does - I’ll admit: I was waiting for these boys to crash out in the quarter-finals, regardless of the opposition. They didn’t have the big names that I’m familiar with and I’m sure I’m not alone in having had doubts about their ability to deliver. Coming so soon after the London Olympics fiasco of Team Nigeria, it was impossible to hope in them. But they believed in themselves and that’s what proved crucial at the end of the day. People will doubt you and find a dozen reasons for why you would fail but you only need to hold on to one reason to succeed. Looking for belief from other people is an ice-thin terrain to walk on: it can break at anytime. Some people have what Joyce Meyer describes as ‘approval addiction’ where they want everyone around to validate their dream or their ability to perform. They take their dream to everyone and explain it to them under the guise of seeking advice or counsel but what they’re really looking for is encouragement and yes, sometimes you’ll find encouragement from others but you can’t motivate yourself with the belief of others. You’ve got to believe in yourself because if the world believes in you and you doubt yourself, you will never win but if the world doubts you and you believe in yourself, you are more likely to win. Sometimes infact, you can deliberately set yourself against people by raising the bar so high that even your family doubts your sanity (blogging everyday for example) and you’ll find that the pressure that comes from their doubt will bring out the most creative side of you. The best part to believing in yourself when nobody else does is that with every victory you achieve, you will convert more followers but it won’t matter much to you anymore. Each Super Eagles match had more people watching than the previous one. The world identifies with success, believing in yourself brings you success. 2. Have Faith in a Higher Power - More than past Super Eagles teams, these guys prayed; before the first half, at the end of the first half, just before the second half and at full time – they huddled together with Vincent Enyeama kneeling in the middle and often saying the prayers. Whether God gives footballing victory is still a matter of much debate (I firmly say ‘nay!’ except in general terms of God giving everything) but faith in a Higher Power produces deeper belief in yourself and gives you the conviction that you’re not facing your challenges alone. Some will call you religious and tell you faith has nothing to do with it but it doesn’t matter, so long as it works for you just like it worked for the Eagles. 3. Prove Yourself Against Tougher Opponents – Some of our most terrible matches came against teams we were supposed to win easily but there’s a problem: such teams usually play without tactical depth and 100% passion. Their major aim in the tournament wasn’t the same as that of the Super Eagles, it’s usually only just to beat a major team before they crash out of the games. It was when the Super Eagles played against the No 1 team in Africa that paraded names like Didier Drogba,Yaya Toure and Gervinho that they stepped up their game and proved their class. Don’t go round looking for ‘the easy victory’, that’s a myth and a paradox: easy victories don’t exist and easy victory is really hard victory because it makes you complacent thereafter. Instead, seek challenges that seem greater than you (raising the bar) and when you succeed, nothing else seems much of a challenge anymore until you increase the stakes. It was only after the Super Eagles defeated the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire that many pundits began tipping them for victory and that reputation preceded them into every match. Nothing is too big to be challenged so long as you can motivate yourself enough. A note of caution: resist the lure of accepting your status of greatness and treat every challenge with respect. Don’t think because you overcame a business challenge of 20 million naira yesterday that 500,000 naira cannot ruin your business. The Ivorians believed the myth of their own invincibility and played against Nigeria casually. So while you must step up your game to greater opposition, don’t get complacent with lesser ones. 4. A Win By a Slim Margin Still Gets You the Gold – The mistake many of us make in the pursuit of success is thinking that you have to be 100 times better than everyone else to succeed but as every successful person will tell you, that’s not true. In a horse race, the horse that wins by the nose with a split second victory gets twenty times the prize money of the one that comes in second but it is not twenty times better than that horse. Burkina Faso defeated Ethiopia by 4 goals to nil, Nigeria did the same with just two goals; both teams got the same 3 points for a victory and Nigeria beat Burkina Faso in the final by just one goal but that was enough for victory. The crucial factor for success sometimes boils down to one thing and one thing alone. Being better than your competitors in just one area can make all the difference between you and them. Find that one thing and success will find you. 5. Surround Yourself With Mentors - If there is any man to whom all hats must be doffed it should be Coach Stephen Keshi. It was he who as captain of the Eagles in 1994 lifted the trophy (with the a younger Issa Hayatou as CAF president). It was Keshi’s belief in a team that comprised many players who were playing in the cup of nations for the very first time that inspired a nation to believe but he wasn’t alone… I was a little bit miffed when watching the game against Ethiopia in the 70th minute (or so) to see Daniel Amokachi and Ike Shorunmu laughing at whatever joke it was they were sharing. With hindsight, I think such a sight would have given our boys confidence to relax and keep playing their game. (It helped that Keshi was on his feet and putting pressure on them though). Austin Okocha was also in South Africa as well as Kanu Nwankwo who never had the privilege of winning that trophy. Sunday Oliseh in the studio creating an atmosphere of belief (even if he wants Keshi’s job) also helped our boys. When you have mentors who have been there and done that, you can go farther in life. When experiences confront you and you think there’s no way out, you need a mentor who has gone through it before and learnt the lessons. Nigeria was the only team that had such large numbers of ex-players almost everywhere in the host country even including a veteran, Sylvanus Okpala, who was part of the Green Eagles team (as they were then called) that won the trophy in 1980. To clarify, your mentor doesn’t have to do exactly what you do: I don’t have any blogging mentor but the basic principles in life are the same in all areas of human endeavour. I have an upcoming artiste who calls me his mentor and once in a while I find that a little strange but it’s the values imparted that count. And from Dbanj: Go Under, Then Right Back to the Top – My admiration for this artiste knows little bounds and he took it a notch higher yesterday in front of a crowd of 80,000 people. Last year was supposed to be the year that would seal his career as an artiste and sometimes it did appear as if he was never going to rise again with few errors on his part. Watching him perform the theme song he wrote last night, I couldn’t help but feel emotional not just because of his music but because I’m a fan of comebacks. I just love it when people say a person is finished and then he does it just one more time. They said he couldn’t sing and then he sings in front of 80,000 people…how’s that for a comeback? Go into this week and prove them wrong my friends! Nothing can hold us back anymore… we are, after all: Nigerians! Have a great week, no matter what and subscribe to the blog to stay updated throughout this week. Source: demolarewajudaily.com/attitude-five-lessons-from-the-super-eagles-one-from-dbanj/ 1 Like |
Re: Attitude! – Five Lessons From The Super Eagles & One From Dbanj by opeoluwa2(f): 5:43pm On Feb 11, 2013 |
Very nice point. I'm very proud of keshi. There is power in selfbelief. |
Re: Attitude! – Five Lessons From The Super Eagles & One From Dbanj by Akshow: 5:54pm On Feb 11, 2013 |
Nice one but i beg to differ as regards d'banj. This is not a come back for him cos he was never out of the scene. Look back the past one year in his career, check the awards he won, and you will agree wit me that he is even better off than before. Dont let what some minority bitter hataaaz say affect your sentiment. In Africa d'banj is the man. |
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