The world’s best soccer referee Pierluigi Collina gave me some great advice which is as relevant to business and life, as it is to our shared passion.
It was back when I was a referee myself and was officiating in the top echelons of football in England, up to Championship level. I had the good fortune to meet him at a training event and then hear him speak at an awards dinner.
I asked him for some advice on keeping focus on my improvement. What he told me was very true for football, but also for life and business.
He said to focus entirely on what you’re doing on the field, and not on the people watching. He explained that every time you worry about what people who are not on the field were saying, doing, singing, chanting, booing, advising, you were distracting yourself from the important thing - which was focusing and concentrating on your performance. He reminded me that someone at one end of the ground will see something one way - and someone else sitting in a different seat will see it as wrong, so you’ll never win anyway! And finally, the people in the crowd eating a burger and drinking a pint are not on the pitch, and have generally never been on the pitch, so they can’t see the game through your eyes anyway!
This was great advice for me in my refereeing career, but transfers perfectly into the world of growing a business.
You’re going to have people doubt you; question your decision; jeer you; and think they know better. But they’re in the crowd of your life, whereas you’re on the pitch of your adventure. So often the loudest voices and biggest critics have not a great deal to shout about so they try to hide it by being an expert about what everyone else is doing.
Ignore the crowd and focus on your own game!
Tell me if this resonates with you, and how it’s helped you to switch off from the noise!
