Today's post will perhaps be one of the easiest to script, because the analogy I’ll be using to conceptualise the topic and how it could compare to our daily life is one that i’m quite familiar with.

Some of the reason I mentioned it will be easy is because Football, soccer, sets, the beautiful game or whatever you choose to call it, has been a way of life for as far back as i could remember, from the humble playing streets of Lagos, Nigeria were we played barefoot on uneven sandy/stoney grounds, using plied up stones as goal posts, to the yearly “Associations Competitions” held around well known playing fields in Suru-Lere, Lagos. I actually played through the ranks of mosquitoes, babies, intermediates etc, and into the teenage days of the Principals Cup competition in secondary school, then on to NUGA games at University, before years of service doing justice to the Sunday league and semi-pro game in the U.K. fielding for the likes of Fisher Athletic , Dulwich Hamlets, Tooting and Mitcham, Croydon Athletic etc, and still religiously playing competitive footie every Saturday.

Having produce my healthy playing resume, lol, it might be somehow obvious that I’m going write about the Player and the Game, but not only that, I want to also try and conceptualise the relationship between some key elements of the game of football and its winning teams, to the similarity it could bear to our quest for success in life. i.e. the field, rules, teams, team managers, goals, players, individual or star players, and training etc.

Its fair to say there are a number of reasons why we either play, watch or become a devoted team supporter, and needless to say, each opinion differs depending on what end of the game you look at it from, but whatever end or angle one choses to look at it from, Football ultimately is about the game on the field and the player of that game on the field. Once I could get you to understand that, then the analogy and comparison will start to make sense.

So how does Football relate to my personal success you ask? well it doesn’t unless your actually involved in the the game as a source of living, but certain elements of the game could paint a picture of life to us in general, how we live, challenges we face, our success and our goals and many more. In as much as there are so many aspects of Football that I could use to conceptualise this comparison, these few I think work best;

The Rules: There are various rules that apply to the game of Football, from the amount of time the game is played for, the number of players and substitutes allowed on and off the pitch during game times, to the intricacies of the correct interpretations of the offside rule or what the referees considers as a penalty or free kick. My point is, this is exactly true to us as humans also, rules are put in place for us in life by our, parents, our teachers, organisations, employers, places of authority to some how create a level playing field for us all, the same rules apply to the rich and poor , (depending what country one lives in). Rules tend to be carefully scripted so as to seem non bias, not to say they always aren’t, but within the confines of those widely accepted rules, some people will choose to follow and flourish, while some will also follow and still not meet up to standard, never the less, its till a blanket rule, and was never made specifically to make any one particular team or individual prosper more than the other.

The Field: A football pitch size varies at all levels of the game, hence it’s one will different size at grassroots and a different size at the semi-pro or English premier league levels, its a common misconception that Football pitch’s all across board should be the same size, the truth is they are about as random in size as Donald Trumps tantrums. Having said that, the acceptable size of pitch’s for senior players ranges between 100-130 yards in length to between 50-100 yards in width. Amidst all of that, two things are unchanging for senior pitch’s, (A) They must be level playing fields (B)They all have a standard goal post size. This is also almost exactly true of the human quest and search for success, we all have the same amount of time in a day to be productive, which makes each day on earth a level playing field for us all, regardless of the time we chose to wake up or start our day, we all have the same 24hrs given to us by God, how we chose to use those hours is also a free gift of choice given to us by God, but be rest assured, each day we spend on earth has visible or invisible goals posts attached to it, for us to hit a target, miss a target or simply not even attempt the target at all.

The Team: The team is normally carefully selected by the Team manager, he decides who plays, what position he wants them to play, and is also charged with the responsibility to field or bench players at will. We tend to believe that players are selected to the team based on their performance, yes to an extent in some cases, but far from reality in others, the manager tends to have a set of favourite, trusted or reliable players he fields in each game and implements his winning strategy around them, regardless of whether it works for him and the team or not. Its well known that some players that are made to warm the bench in various clubs are far better than some players regularly fielded, however, with the onus of team selection resting mostly and solely on the manager, all the players on the bench could do even with all their ability, is to simply hope and pray.
Similarly, as individuals, life might not necessarily be fair to us, or might regularly deal us a harsh hand, perhaps we might even feel we’re very qualified to be hired for the job, like some of those benched players, yet never given the real opportunity to prove ourselves, my advise is, don’t despair, keep at it, keep going, keep training and preparing yourselves, keep equipping yourself, you’ll never know when you might suddenly be called or given the nudge to get off the bench and perform, and when that call comes, you have to be ready to perform.

The Goal Post: This literally is the most important fixed structure on the field of play, its where the attacking team must try and kick the ball into in spite of hard defence lines in order to score as many points or goals as possible within the regulated time, to be classed as winners of the game. Without the goals post the game will be baseless, as one will simply have players running around the
pitch for no particular reasons, neither will winners or losers be able to be identified or separated. In the same vein, its almost totally impossible to measure, identify or succeed in life if we don’t set ourselves goals and targets for ourselves. We would simply be like a player on the pitch having a kick around with no goal post to kick the ball into, making our existence on earth near enough to just unnecessary as we can’t identify if were winning or losing.

The Star Player: Most teams have a star player, the star players are those who make a huge difference to their teams and teammates, they’re normally talented, strong, reliable, insightful and have a good understanding of the game, they give their fans a breath of hope when they’re in possession of the ball, they are the game changers and command a ridiculous amount of money in wages, endorsements and even during the transfer markets. The bit thats not normally mentioned very often about the individual star players, is the work and training they put into conditioning their body off the pitch. Most star players train exceptionally hard to remain in shape, and practice regularly beyond whats required of them to remain on top of their games, they are the ones that run the extra mile, practice their free kicks and dribbling skills long after every other team mate has headed off into the dressing rooms and a lot more. That in itself should speak volumes to us as as we strive to get to the top of our field, we need to understand that nothing is promised and nothing is free, where skills and talent will get us to, only hard work and tenacity is capable of keeping us there. So never live life from the perspective that everything will fall at your doorstep because you think your qualified for it. Strive to turn yourself into a star player for your Family, your spouse, your children or even your future, they are your team, and frankly they are relying on you.

The ultimate purpose of the game is to win and entertain, all sides benefit win or lose, the winners are rewarded with trophies in cup games or at the end of each season, while the loser or runners up gain experience of how to try harder and not to lose next time. Either way, top level teams and players understand the need for preparation and training before every game, the players get bruise and battered but still keep going, they train rigorously, eat healthy and restrict themselves from certain social activities, the results being wins wins and more wins.
Translate this into your daily routine, to get to the top of your field, graft hard and harder, go hard or go home, practice, read or prepare yourself for those exams, interviews or presentations longer than your friends, surround yourself with the right people that share your visions and goals with you, sleep early, wake up early, eat healthy, restrict and discipline yourself, No, you don’t always have to be in the club or hanging out with friends at the cost of neglecting you priorities, remember winners are define by the goals they’ve scored and achieved.

If this has blessed or challenged you in any way, please share

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