The World Cup, an international event that brings the world together for 30 days every 4 years. Where people are induced with pride of their respective countries, and where fun banter is evoked when friends become rivals for the 90 minutes of the game. You feel the joy for the teams who win and cheer, and you feel the heartbreak and sadness of those who lose. Whether you are a fan of soccer (football, fussball, futbol, or whatever you call it), or become a bandwagon fan during the tournament (nothing wrong with that), you have to admit it’s quite enjoyable and entertaining!
Historically, the World Cup is predictable, with the same countries fighting to the end of the finals. You would see an unusual defeat here and there, however it would still end with the typical outcomes. This year, it has been quite the opposite! If there is one thing you can count on in this year’s Cup is it’s unpredictability. There is a saying, “the ball is round anything can happen”, and boy is that true! It has been the tournament of the underdogs, and these underdogs have captivated the hearts of so many of us. What they accomplished has been a great lesson to us all, which brings me to my point.
In our own lives, we have experienced many days of being the underdog, but how did we fare? Personally, many times I failed, and usually the reason was because I had the feeling of being defeated before I gave myself a chance. I had the best excuses to validate my preconceived failure. “I don’t have the experience.” “I don’t have enough resources.” Or, “I am not the favored one.” “I’m not smart enough.” And of course, “I don’t have the time.” The list can go on and on, I’m pretty good with excuses. What I’ve learned through the years is that this all manifested from fear. Most especially coming from self doubt and lack of confidence. These are issues I work on daily, and because I don’t want my children to suffer from the same obstacles, reinforcing the 4 P’s has been a foundation in my parenting.
- Passion – if you don’t have the passion for it, you won’t put in the hard work, and it definitely won’t make you happy. Your passion is what brings you joy.
- Prepared – you have to put in the time (especially when you don’t feel like it) in order to be ready for your opportunity. At the end of the day, there is someone else out there who is working hard, becoming more skilled than you, and will be your competition.
- Patience – It’s most likely not going to happen overnight nothing ever happens over night. You have to be prepared that it may not happen next year, or it may happen 5 years from now. You can’t give up, and keeping your patience by remembering that is very important so you can feel balanced and focused.Persistence – As stated before, it’s very uncommon to succeed overnight, and by the way congrats if you do! Part of your strength to stay persistent comes from number 1…passion. If you don’t try you automatically fail. If you don’t stand back up after you fall, you fail. You fail yourself. We work so hard for others, why wouldn’t we work harder for ourselves? Don’t give up, you deserve it!
- Persistence – As stated before, it’s very uncommon to succeed overnight, and by the way congrats if you do! Part of your strength to stay persistent comes from number 1…passion. If you don’t try you automatically fail. If you don’t stand back up after you fall, you fail. You fail yourself. We work so hard for others, why wouldn’t we work harder for ourselves? Don’t give up, you deserve it!
Going back to the teams in the World Cup who showed us that being an underdog can be so powerful. Their passion, preparedness, patience and persistence was seen and felt throughout the world. We cheered them on, we felt their pride. They proved that who ever you are and where ever you are from, you can succeed as long as you overcome the biggest barrier of them all…..yourself.
Enjoy the Cup!
Curiously,
Koko
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