A strong purpose is the best motivator in soccer and anything you pursue in life. When everything you do is driven by your purpose, you are more likely to consistently give your best effort and treat every day as an opportunity to do so. Training, competing and living with this attitude will set you up for long-term success if your purpose is strong enough.

When you develop the attitude that every day is an opportunity to live out your purpose, you will begin to view all training and competition as part of the process and everything will be treated as important. You will also be less likely to treat any certain event as something special, which will help you to feel less pressure. Letting your purpose drive you daily will also help you to:

  • Train hard at times during the year when it’s easy to make excuses and take time off – If you wake up the day after your season ends and think “My goal is to be All-Conference next season,” you are more likely to make excuses like “I have plenty of time, I’ll start training again in a few weeks.” If you wake up with a strong purpose such as – To be the best you can be, you will likely be motivated to continue working hard right away.

 

  • Give your best during live situations and scrimmages in practice – If your purpose is strong, you will look at every practice, training session and game as equal – they are all important, they are all opportunities to get better.  

 

  • Redefine success – Instead of basing success in a game off of how many goals you score or how many assists you have, success can be defined as giving your best effort the entire game – something totally in your control.

 

  • Not have any regrets when you playing career is over – If you look back on your career and see that you gave everything you could to live out your purpose, you should be satisfied, whether you accomplished your goals or not. What matters is that you gave everything, at every opportunity.

Take some time to reflect on your deep down purpose for playing soccer, the stronger your purpose, the better. Some good examples are: to build strong character through the sport, to be the best player you can possibly be, to glorify God through your training, the sacrifices you make and the way you compete, or to push your limits every day.

Let your purpose drive you in soccer and in every area of your life to bring out your best and help you to reach your full potential in all you pursue.  

​

Category: Soccer