What I learned from my 10-year old son…
The lesson will be with me forever..
It’s the summer again, and one of the things that my 10-year old have been doing for the past summers was to play in a recreational soccer league.
Last year, they smoked the competition. I remember the team moving so fluidly. The whole team would pass the ball around and moving the ball around like a pro.
“Drop pass!” a defender would ask for the midfield to pass it back and not forward the ball.
“Open up!,” somebody would shout, and another player run to the side to be open.
Even if you don’t play soccer, you will understand that these kids play well. It’s not the rugged and tumble, kick and kick forward until it gets closer to the opposing goals. If you watch it closely, it’s like they are playing chess. Every move is tactical.
It’s like a beautiful music played by an orchestra. They play very clinical, dissecting the other defense until they find an opening. Parents from the opposing team would say, “they know what they are doing”.
But they weren’t like these before. They were horrible.
This was the culmination of the 3 years of playing together. The first year, I’m not going to lie, they were smoked by an All-Italian team from South Florida. I say Italian because the instructions sounded like Italian. The next game, same results, with an All-Mexican team.
As a parent of a 7-year old who just wants to win, it was hard to explain to a kid that you learn from your mistakes. You don’t win a game, you learn from it.
The team started from the bottom.
They would travel to Orlando, compete with more skilled team, and ends the game in a 8–0 score. Totally smoked.
The referee would stop the game citing the “mercy rule” — a referee can stop a game if the score is 8–0 already.
However, I noticed something different. In the second game, even though they were routed badly in the first game, I would see the team communicating even though they were still losing. During a corner kick, somebody would shout, “Mark #5, Mark #5,” or “Near post!, near post!”
The best part is that even though the score is 5–0, they were playing like it was the championship.
Even with all the losses, they stayed together. Weekends, they practiced and develop the skills they needed. Then gradually, they were playing well as a team, that they dominated the league they were in.
It took them 3 years to be repeat champions.
I woke up this morning thinking about the team. It took them three years to be dominant. And as I pulled myself out of the bed at 4 AM, I doubted myself if I’m going to ever pull this off — launching my business off the ground.
My wife and my son were still asleep when I turn on the stove for my coffee. As a side note, I like my coffee made with my stove top espresso maker. I bought the espresso maker from Amazon.
Speaking of Amazon, my first few tries with business was with Amazon, using the Private Label (PL) model. I lost some money. I tried stocks and options, but wasn’t enough to make me work in my pajama. I researched bitcoin mining, Forex trading.
Nothing worked.
Currently, I am launching my business off the ground with sales funnel.
That’s why I woke up early this morning, because I need to hustle. Frankly too, I’m frustrated. Will this be another bust?
Who knows, but I reminded myself of the little team that was smoked in Orlando for playing soccer with a more seasoned team.
They stayed together, didn’t quit and were back to back champions 3 years later.
I always remind myself that life and especially my business, will only take off if you stay persistent and consistent. I may not say never give up but fail often and reset.
When I heard the coffee started boiling, I said a little prayer, I asked the universe to let me have the courage of those little kids in Orlando.
