I was drunk from around 95% of my league games the night before. Not a little drunk—I was completely intoxicated. What I learned from this and how you will never lose a game again with just two elementary pillars is what today's blog article is about
Why did I drink so much? Well, I wasn't and am not an alcoholic, but I had a problem dealing with alcohol.
Today I know the reason for fleeing into this narcotic: I couldn't cope with the pressure I had put on myself. I would like to share with you what I have personally learned from this. I want to show you how you will never lose a game again due to two elementary pillars.
I've never had any outside pressure. My parents taught me sport as a leisure activity. When I played free of charge for my home club in the senior sector for a long time, there was never any pressure from the club either.
I had higher expectations of myself and was probably no match for them in my early 20s as captain of a men's team.
I was afraid of losing, not just in terms of the next game. No, I was afraid of playing poorly myself, not meeting my own standards, of failing.
The questionable solution: If I got really drunk, then I could create a mental backdoor after a bad performance after the game: “That was probably nothing, but you were also completely exhausted the night before.” If I had a cream day, that confirmed the assumption that I shouldn't let myself be prevented from partying before game day in the future. Are players aware of such patterns? Of course not.
The turning point came in 2010. I met one of the most important people in my life. He has turned my way of thinking and myself upside down little by little. He became my teammate, friend and five years later my best man. He was the son of a very successful entrepreneur, had not made the leap to become a professional soccer player himself and was just about to concentrate fully on his job. No matter what he did, he was always determined, focused and 100 percent success-oriented.
He was able to discipline himself extremely, not only during his studies, but also when it came to sports or other areas of life that involved working hard on himself.
With him, we moved up from the district league to the national league over the years. I was inspired by his way of thinking and planning. For me, the most important insight from this friendship was: When you want to achieve a goal, there is often only one obstacle: yourself. After a vacation together in December 2015, I adopted this mentality, this ambition and the desire for success. It was the moment I started to get Soccer-Fit-You, now B42, off the ground.
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This is where the inspiration of a fellow human being to the start of B42 comes full circle. My buddy wasn't just one of the triggers for the founding. Through him, I also discovered a secret or an answer to a decisive question: How will you never lose a soccer game again?
The only obstacle that needs to be overcome is yourself. Even when we suffered a lot of losses over large parts of the season during the national league season, I no longer had the feeling that I had lost a game. Why In the end, it is only about two elementary pillars:
Every minute that you put into training will pay off sooner or later on the pitch: The meter that you can suddenly run more, the duel that you still decide for yourself or the additional sprint that you are still able to start as a result. It feels great to be at the peak of your physical capacity — no more room for excuses. In the end, this physical fitness makes the difference.
So have you taken care of your best possible physical conditions? Then it is the mental component that decides whether to win or lose — the second of the two pillars.
If you push yourself to the edge of your performance in the 90 minutes ahead of you — and beyond — then no defeat will feel like such anymore. If you hang your head after losing the ball and your gaze is towards the ground, then you're already on the losing road, even if you win the game. That's when you start losing. It happens once, twice, and at some point it's your normal reaction to a ball loss.
I've seen players literally break up after such an action in almost every game. Because of a bad pass, not because of a capital blunder with a subsequent clean sheet. If you follow up after such an action and try to recapture the ball, if you see the chance to win the ball back within a few seconds, then you will grow from such situations and not quarrel with it.
You often cannot influence certain game situations; sometimes there are negative self-dynamics: A goal conceded after a ball is at rest, an unfortunate red card due to an emergency brake or an unjustified penalty.
But what you can influence yourself is your own thoughts — the will to do more than your opponent. Treat your teammate and opponent with respect, understand that even a referee can make the wrong decision and learn to use the power of your mental strength.
The point is: You can practice that in any team training session. And if you leave the field after a game and have done everything in your power for your team, then you won't really lose many games anymore. And it feels damn good.
Be fearless. Be focused. B42
Be one step ahead of the others - with B42
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