Hey Guys, in this article we are going to discuss 14 Habits of Highly Successful footballers and how you can implement these habits in your life to become the best version of yourself.
Morning Journal
So, the first one is Morning Journal.
It is one of the first things to do in the morning.
It helps you to start the day on a positive and grateful note.
It is a process where you interact with your thoughts and emotions.
The process involves writing down whatever comes to your mind.
This helps you to have clarity and hence prepare better for the day ahead.
It helps you to focus on the most important task of the day.
It helps you to better control your emotions and hence feel less anxious and more confident.
I have observed from my personal experience of doing a Daily journal that it made me much more productive in all aspects of my life.
Download free Daily Journal template that I have made for my day-to-day usage.
It is short and straightforward and only takes about 5 minutes of your day. You can expand on any points you wish to write more about.
Evening Review
Professionals review their day. They called it Evening Reflection.
In this part of the daily Journal, the analysis of all the activities performed throughout the day is done.
It helps them to take better control of their emotions and stay calm,
Make them aware of their actions and their subsequent reactions, and
Helps them to better prepare and plan for the next day.
The Daily Journal template consists of an evening review part. You can download it for free and start using it today.
The next important point is sleep and sleep tracking.
LeBron James once famously said, "There is no recovery better than sleep".
A night of good quality sleep is an utmost priority for athletes, here we are talking about 8 to 10 hours of high-quality sleep.
Sleep along with nutrition and Hydration is considered to be the fundamentals of recovery.
I have made a detailed video of recovery techniques used by footballers. You can watch it by clicking here.
There are tons of benefits of high-quality sleep;
It helps athletes to recover faster and hence reduce injury.
Improves the overall functioning of the body.
Increases the secretion of human growth hormone and other hormones.
Improves the immune system.
Improve reaction time, alertness and decision-making.
Training Journal
The next important point is maintaining a quick and simple training log that contains all the details about your training.
This simple method used to log in training journals is called GAP.
GAP translates into the following;
Set a goal (G).
Record your actions (A).
Review your progress (P).
The training journal can be digital as well as physical log as per your requirement and preference.
The training log can be as simple as maintaining a small diary that contains the detail about the training with the following points ;
Date.
Bodyweight.
Workout routine.
Amount of sets and repetition.
Checkboxes.
You can also customize this training general as per your needs.
Again I have linked a training Journal for athletes in the description below completely for free.
Nutrition Log
The next important habit of a professional athlete is tracking their diet; that is maintaining a Nutrition log.
It helps them to track their macro and micro-nutrient intake; plus it also helps them to figure out their energy expenditure throughout the day so that they can better plan their meals according to their needs.
You can use a simple app like myfitnesspal for tracking your Nutrient Intake. It consists of a free version that consists of almost everything you need to get started.
Learning Consistently
The next important habit of a successful athlete is learning consistently.
Invest your time in learning in detail about your sports; if you are a footballer focus on learning;
The technical side of the game.
The tactical side of the game.
Exercise Physiology.
Sports Nutrition.
Sports Psychology.
These are the 5 topics I consistently invest my time in learning about.
This website and YouTube channel aim to cover all these topics in detail for football players.
Self-Analysis
The next important topic is analysing yourself.
We can do a simple SWOT analysis, and write in detail our
Strength.
Weaknesses.
Opportunities.
Threats.
and then focus on improving your weaknesses while consistently working on your strengths.
We will do a complete video and article on this topic because it’s an interesting topic and one that can benefit a lot of you.
Self-Analysis is also an important part of the evening review process.
Game & Player Analysis
The next important point is analyzing games and players.
Analyze the player in your position,
When they are on the ball, what decision they took, and figure out any alternative decisions they could have taken.
Again analyze their off-ball movement and figure out if anything else or any other movement would help them make better decisions.
Watch world cup matches and analyse the off-ball movement of Messi and Mac Allister, and how it impacted the opposition team.
Rewind and figure out any alternative decisions the player could have taken.
Analyze the patterns in the gameplay and observe the tactical side of the game.
Study the adjustments made during the game.
Meditation
As an athlete, your mental games need to be strong, and meditation is the key to strengthening your mental game.
There are tons of benefits of Meditation for athletes;
Mental Stability & Clarity.
Cool, calm and composed ON & OFF the pitch or
Dealing better with a tough span in your career.
So, if you're just starting with meditation, you can follow the Guided Meditation Routine for Athletes on YouTube.
Visualization
This is a process in which you optimize your thoughts about your future self in a definite way, usually optimistic.
You can perform it in the morning by visualizing your day-to-day activity and their structure.
The same goes for game days, visualize all the possible situations during the game and figure out the solutions, this will indeed help you better perform in the matches.
It is one of the favourite exercises of many top athletes in different sports.
Dealing with Criticism
Remember that people will criticize you no matter what you do.
Successful athletes understand the difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism.
There is a famous quote from Aristotle that states;
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing."
There is another stoic quote that states that;
"You cannot control what people say about you, you can only control how you react to it."
Self-Confidence
There is a famous quote from Osho that states;
"The only thing that matters in life is your own opinion about yourself."
Therefore, you should have a strong opinion about yourself.
Just look at the confidence of some of the top players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and you'll realize the importance of self-confidence.
Even in defeat, they are confident that they will bounce back and be better than they were yesterday.
Their confidence even radiates to their teammates which even helps them to push harder and perform better.
Confidence comes with practice and experience.
So, the better and more effective you practice the more self-aware you become which results in increased confidence and translates into better performance on the pitch.
Higher self-confidence has tons of benefits;
It increases your motivation and drive.
It helps you overcome fear and perform better.
It increases your risk-taking abilities and helps you achieve greater results.
It helps you to handle the intimidation of the opposition and be cool, calm and composed on and off the pitch.
Professionalism
Top athletes are highly professional.
They go according to structures set out by their coaches and trainers.
Professionalism helps you better prepare for the game as highly structured training translates into better performance on the field.
This is what helps many young talents to grow faster and late bloomers to have an edge over the competition.
Structured Training & Diet Plan
The Training and Diet plan of a professional athlete is highly structured. This helps them to;
Make the most out of their training sessions and progress faster.
Improve on key areas of the game.
Higher self-confidence.
Track some important metrics to optimize their training and performance better.
Prevent injuries.
Helps them to achieve their long-term goals.
Summary
These habits performed over a while compound, and you can become your best version and achieve your goals faster than ever.
Comments