WHAT I LEARNED FROM READING DAVID BECKHAM’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY (This was years ago, so don’t judge me too much lol!)

As you may know, I’m a big football fan, and also a keen student of what makes people successful.

And whether you like him or not, you can’t deny that Becks has been pretty successful over the years.

He won pretty much everything as a player (apart from the World Cup obviously)

England captain.

Married a Spice Girl.

Now?

Apparently he’s worth $450million!

But, throughout his career he also had to put up with a lot of crap.

There was one part of his book that stuck with me...

I think it was after the World Cup in 1998.

For the non-football fans, this was arguably England’s best chance of winning the World Cup in 30 years.

They had a young and exciting team who were playing great.

And then, in the Quarter Final against Argentina...

Beckham stupidly kicks out at one of the Argentinians off the ball.

Red card.

England down to 10 men.

Beckham's team mates put up a brave fight, but eventually Argentina won on pens, and he was made the scapegoat.

The media went crazy slating him.

At the start of the next season he was getting hammered and booed by opposition fans at every game.

There was even an effigy of him hanged outside a London pub!

He was really struggling with all the stick, and spoke to his Dad.

His Dad’s response?

“SON - THEY ONLY BOO THE BEST PLAYERS!”

So true.

I bet nobody was booing him when he was a complete nobody on loan at Preston North End!

I was watching Villa v Burnley on TV the other day, and every time Jack Grealish (Villa’s star player) got the ball he was booed by the Burnley fans.

They weren’t booing our misfiring striker Wesley - they were probably cheering when he got the ball!

THEY ONLY BOO THE BEST PLAYERS.

It’s the same with ‘haters’ on Social Media...

The ‘bigger’ or more successful you get, the more haters/critics you’ll get.

I’ve been called every name under the sun on my various FB posts, and elsewhere.

But I always remind myself…

THEY ONLY BOO THE BEST PLAYERS.

A few months back, my 10-year-old Zak started posting on Instagram.

He’s big into football, but also LOVES his fashion and clothes.

So he started posting pictures of outfits he was wearing every so often.

The other day I found out he’d had a ‘troll’ - saying “stop posting - no one cares”

I've had some horrendous trolling over the years, but this was particularly hard for me to take, because:

a) He’s my son (if you've got kids you'll understand)

c) He’s only 10

And

c) I’m worried it will affect his confidence, and prevent him from sharing in future.

So I told him the story I’ve just told you…

THEY ONLY BOO THE BEST PLAYERS!

So, next time you get haters, critics, trolls, remember...

THEY ONLY BOO THE BEST PLAYERS!

Anyway, that’s it for today.

Big love,

NJ

P.S. I must have read the Beckham book 15 years ago, so I don’t really know why I decided to share this today…

I’m guessing someone out there needed to hear it ??