6.11 Lionel Messi: Like it to Love it

“You can overcome anything if and only if you love something enough.” - Lionel Messi

Do they like it or love it?

I was talking to a young coach, and he asked me, “How do you make kids more committed?”

He wanted to know how he could get a group of young athletes to show up to practice more consistently and train harder.

In my experience, the key to getting kids more committed is getting them to fall in love with the game, with you as their coach, and with the process of practicing and getting better. 

Kids don’t sign themselves up to play, so most are still trying to figure out if they even like it or not. If you can teach them to like it, then love it, they are more likely to make sure their parents get them to practice more consistently, and they are more likely to work harder when they get there.

Soccer great Lionel Messi once said, “You can overcome anything if and only if you love something enough.”

This applies to more than youth sports. When you truly love something, you’ll fight for it, sacrifice for it, you’ll show up when it’s hard, and you’ll keep going when it hurts.

Messi isn’t great just because of his talent. He loves the game and his love for it fuels him.

Fall in love with what you do and/or why you do it, and let your purpose and passion fuel you.

Question of the Day: What do you love most about what you do, and how can you do that part more?