The World Cup, Passion and Belief in Yourself

I think what this World Cup of surprising upsets is showing so far is that it takes passion and belief in yourself to win. You need both and not just one. Who wants victory more? Who has self-confidence? Sure training matters and so does skill. Sure money is important and of course luck has a part to play.

But look at it this way. The effectiveness of training or the effort put out in training is determined by your passion. Discipline does not survive long without enthusiasm unless it is obtained under duress. And when it is obtained under duress it may crumble without a strict enforcer. How enthusiastic you are about your objectives is critical to your commitment and discipline in obtaining them.

Slovakia did not show any fear in their defeat of Italy nor did Switzerland show any fear in their victory against Spain. It came down to belief in themselves. So often in the World Cup you see teams playing badly because they are in awe of their opposition and after the game we comment that they could have played much better than they did. The teams with confidence who believe in themselves put on much better performances.

Take Jamaica, for example, who in 1998 defied all odds and made it to the World Cup. That team was not necessarily the most skillful team we ever had but they played as an efficient team. Why? They were united by passion and enthusiasm and they believed in themselves. Their coach Rene Simoes may not have been the smartest tactician or strategist in the world but he had the ability to help them believe that they could beat anybody and being a Brazilian he was was able to impart that country's passion for football to them. The result was a team that trained hard together, improved their skills along the way, became a cohesive unit and believed they could win. The vital inter-connection between passion and self-belief was clearly evident in that team and their progress to the World Cup stage in France. On their arrival in France they lost some confidence I believe partly because their coach became somewhat frightened of the stage he was now on for the first time and this affected his judgment.

Passion and belief in yourself must constantly be cultivated if you want enduring success in your endeavors. France's internal squabbles during this World Cup affected their enthusiasm and perhaps Italy was not as driven as before because they were now the World Champions. One must always be careful to watch out for those circumstances or thought processes and behaviours that can adversely affect enthusiasm. Over-confidence can give you a false belief in yourself and over-confidence occurs when your striving for success is replaced by the feeling that you no longer need to do so. People who are truly passionate about something believe that there is no cut-off point to improvement. They believe that there is always something better that awaits them and that their learning process never ends. Don't forget this when you become a champion at whatever it is that you do. It is the key to maintaining your passion and a healthy belief in yourself!