I’ve always idolized Messi ever since he made his World Cup debut in 2006 against Serbia & Montenegro. I remember the hype around him during this debut, and was skeptical. Now, amidst talks in the sporting world about the biggest prospective transfer of all time, I’d like to use this as a moment to reflect on the qualities of Messi that have led to his success. These are characteristics of Messi that I’ve come to appreciate and strive to learn from, which I extrapolate as life lessons and applicable to every career:

  • Keeping your head down, rolling up the sleeves, and just doing the work. He doesn’t listen to the noise (and when you’re the best player in the world, it tends to be a lot). This also ties to a lesson that Michelle Obama mentions in this podcast episode with Conan O’Brien. You see this from Messi in every game, regardless of the importance of the fixture, from friendlies to World Cup finals.

  • Never getting into an argument with the referee or other players for fouls. Or rarely, and when he does it’s for good reason. When he does make an argument, he’s always in the right to be doing so, e.g. if it’s a particularly egregious foul, which he’s dealt with many times. This unwavering authenticity is something I resonate with.

  • You don’t have to be the biggest, strongest, or fastest (or whatever physical or non-physical attribute), to be the best. This can be extrapolated to any innate or inherited circumstance of life. It’s important not to be discouraged by certain attributes, because if you maximize it, in the context of any type of constraint, you never know what’s possible. What appears to be a “limiting reactant,” to use stoichiometry lingo, may very well not be. Blessings in disguise. For Messi, that meant, while not being the most physically dominant, learning to play with his feet and focusing on agility rather than raw pace. And luckily in soccer, things like developing a low center of gravity, positional awareness, and tactical intelligence, can be just as if not more important than physicality.

  • In line with the above, I pull two life lessons from this: (1) maximize what you have, don’t long for what you don’t have, (2) control what you can control, not what you can’t

  • Passion and focus. This is particularly on display with the focus he has leading up to a goal (at 14:50 in this example), and the passion he shows when he scores. He’s fully absorbed and immersed in the game. Not thinking about the noise, the media, or anything else. He’s entirely focused on his craft.

  • Giving your all and 100% focus in everything, each time he goes for the ball, which I see in both Messi and Frenkie De Jong. This is one of the reasons why they stay on the field and don’t get subbed. They approach everything with a certain seriousness and dedication.

  • Loving the work, enjoying the grind. Each time Messi is at training, he’s clearly enjoying himself. You want to love being at your workplace, or wherever your focus is, versus loving vacation or working for the time off. You want to love the five days of the work week, not just the weekends. If you’re not, then you’re probably not in the right career. With Messi, or Christian Pulisic for example, it’s clear that they’re excited to be back at the Camp Nou, or Stamford Bridge, after time off. They’re excited to be back at the place of focus, not excited for the time away. It’s important to love the job and the workplace. It goes back to this interview from Ryan Tedder, a particularly prolific songwriter. You have to love the grind.

  • Mentality. Messi is clearly 100% focused before the game. The importance of mentality I believe is one of the many lessons in soccer that I see to be applicable to every other aspect of life. If you don’t have the confidence and belief that you’re going to get by a defender, then you most likely won’t be able to do it. But if you have a mindset of confidence and an underlying desire, then I’d bet that you will. It also goes back to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s quote in last week’s newsletter. Having a mental fortitude and sturdiness in your resolve, is so important. Equally as important is being in the right headspace and mindset.

  • Separately, I love Thomas Tuchel’s honesty and candor in this interview. Messi is a topic, but this whole interview is something to appreciate, in terms of Tuchel’s straightforwardness and the genuine way in which he discussed the loss to Bayern in his post-match interview.

  • Side note: Amidst all the Man City rumors, seeing Messi at Juventus alongside Ronaldo would be a spectacle to watch. My hunch though is Inter Milan or Man City.