The Euros Analogy ?????????????????? Life Lessons
Life Lessons from the Euros
If you've been watching the Euros, you will know that it's been a journey filled with highs and lows, with contrasting fortunes and outcomes. Some teams, like Spain, have played excellent football, whereas other teams, such as France and England, haven't quite hit the heights they expected, yet they still managed to reach the latter stages of the competition.
Ahead of Sunday's big showdown, what can we learn from the contrasting journeys of the two finalists (Spain and England)? Two teams with completely opposite paths but one common goal: winning the Euros.
Analysing Spain's Journey - The Glamorous Path to Success
In life, we tend to have a glamorous view of success. That glamorous view in football terms would be this Spain side. Spain has played scintillating football in this tournament, blowing teams away by beating Germany and France along the way. Sixteen-year-old Lamine Yamal produced one of the best goals of the tournament against France, and Spain's success at this tournament so far represents how we want success to look.
Spain very much represents the idealised version of success. We often want our success to be all or nothing. On our path to success, we often prefer the route where everything is going well, there is free-flowing football, and we feel we are consistently performing well. Although glamorous, Spain's journey represents just one path to success. Spain's performances represent the high flyer that we thrive to be.
In some parts of your life, you might very well be Spain and have good performances to back up your results but at other times, when things aren't always flying high, we learn that success and high performance aren't always as idealised as we initially thought, and how we respond to this makes all the difference. This is where the mindset adopted by England comes into consideration.
Analysing England's Journey - Understanding the Mindset That Got Them to the Final
When England began their tournament, there were high expectations, and everyone expected England to be playing the brand of football that Spain is playing. Following England's draw against Denmark, there was a real sense of pessimism in the media around England's performances and campaign so far.
The performances were a far cry from a team you would expect to be in a final three weeks later. A lot of the critics questioned how the team could be so negative on the ball and what would happen further down the line when they face tougher opposition.
Remaining Calm in the Face of Adversity
Although the the England players in the camp came out and addressed the criticism in a press conference, there was an element of calmness to how they responded to the adversity. Even when things weren't going to plan and there was a lot of outside noise, the England team adopted the mentality that "tournament football isn't easy" but that they've been to the final before and they aren't panicking.
Many people were astonished by Kyle Walker's post-match interview against Denmark. Many said, "How can one remain so confident despite the team performing well below expectations?" Many England players held on to the fact that they were getting results even when they weren't performing well.
While the players acknowledged that they needed to improve, they also refused to look too far down the road and let the pressure of future expectations burden the present moment.
In hindsight and in reality, it was this mindset and sense of resilience that has led England to the final. Sometimes you may not perform so well and things may not go as smoothly as you would expect, but you can find a way to get the results if you dig deep in key moments in the same way Bellingham and Watkins turned up in key moments for England.
Acceptance
If you are willing to accept that success won't always be glamorous, you will be mentally prepared for the hardships that come your way and ultimately be ready to step up in key moments. It could well be that this mindset elevates them to champions on Sunday night. England has very much been a team of moments in this tournament, and Watkins' late winner against the Netherlands signifies this. Things in your life may not always go exactly you planned but with the right mindset you can still get the results and outcomes you want.
England's journey to the final, although not typical, is special in its own right. They will take what they have learned from their journey into the final. With key moments of magic offering glimmers of hope.
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Regardless of what happens on Sunday, the contrasting journeys of both teams provide us with valuable life lessons on how we perceive success and the implications this can have on the outcomes we end up getting.
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