Ownership

Ownership in football is a really important character trait. By ownership I mean of your actions and the outcomes of them. When things go poorly, can you see where you went wrong? Accept that you’re not perfect and there is work to do. When things go well, can you see where the work you did got you there and how other external factors aided you? Believe in yourself but know that you can’t take the foot off of the gas.

This is a concept that has been popularized by Jocko Willink through his concept of extreme ownership. I love this idea as it takes the emphasis away from things that are out of your control, placing the responsibility back on the narrow range of things that you can influence. There is power here. 

An important nuance that I learned within this over the years is to give yourself grace with it. On face value this may sound soft, but it is the driving force behind continued progress. The grace allows you to not get caught up in the mistakes and bad decisions that led to the unfavourable outcome. You recognize your humanity, and in that you will make mistakes. Acknowledge and OWN what you did, then try to do it again, only better this time. 

In the good times too it is important to own the inputs that went into them. Note down the things you did that worked. The factors that drove the most progress. But also know that there are external factors that go into it. The influence of others or plain simple luck. Build confidence on what you did, but know that in order to continue to reap the rewards you have to continue to iterate on the practices you have in place.