Soccer legend, Neil Tovey presented at a workshop I attended this week. My initial reaction when I heard he was coming was panic. I planned to keep as far away from him as possible for fear that he would sniff out my lack of knowledge about anything football/soccer. But surprisingly, he is a pretty casual, down to earth kinda guy. Over and above sharing some really cool stories about Bafana, Neil shared with us his take on S.U.C.C.E.S.S.

S – Solid Foundation

Laying a solid foundation is key to future success and is key to achieving your desired goals. You need to build this platform before embarking on any journey.

U – Unlimited Resources

Without people, we will fail. Each individual is an integral part of the journey. This not only includes the players but also those behind the scenes; the medical staff, finance etc. Do not underestimate the role these people play in your success.

C – Communication

It’s important that people communicate from the top down, bottom up and across all levels. Your game plan will fail if you get into the field to play a game and the team cannot communicate to one another, especially leaders to the rest of the team.

C – Committment

Go the extra mile. Put in the extra work. It’s worth it in the end.

E – Enjoyment

Do everything to the best of your ability. Enjoy doing it. Have fun.

S – Sacrifice

Time spent away from home playing games. Time put in to train. Time away from family and friends. To achieve success you need to be willing to make the sacrifice.

S – Setting goals

You need to decide where you want to be? Where are you going? Are you getting there? This matters to all aspects of our lives, both work and family.

Neil related many examples to soccer but as I listened, I realised that with all of the above, you can use for anything in life: family, career, sport, even friendships.

The important thing is that if one fails, most of the others do too.