Character – Tips & Advice

Below are important tips to help you develop your character. Read and consider how you can implement the tips immediately to see an obvious benefit.

1. Great Character Matters 

• Character matters, not only in soccer but in all aspects of life
• It speaks volumes about who you are, without even having to open your mouth
• Coaches will judge you on your character just as much as your soccer ability

2. Being Compassionate And Helping Others Is Not Weak; It Shows Strength

• The best players (and best people) can be tough and compassionate at the same time
• You can be confident and tough but also compassionate towards those around you, especially teammates
• Don’t ever allow anyone to tell you that compassion or caring is weakness. The opposite is true; it shows strength

3. Have Tough Conversations With Empathy & Willingness To Learn

• It’s easy to skip a tough conversation with a coach or teammate. Don’t skip it; face it with empathy and try to understand the other persons’ point of view. Be willing to listen and learn
• Have conversations where you can discuss and agree on the next best steps. You won’t always get what you want and that’s not the idea; your aim should be to get what BOTH parties want, or at least something that works for you both
• Having difficult conversations is challenging and can be nerve-wracking but the benefit of having them is that your character grows and you become more confident discussing and standing up for yourself

 4. Review your decisions and actions 

• After each training session or game (or at the end of every week), get in the habit of going over the decisions you made. Do your actions reflect positively on you as a person of good character? What could you have done better?
• We improve by consistently reviewing our actions, so make sure you take this seriously because it will have a big impact on your own individual character
• Every action we take, no matter how small, has our character stamp on it. if you can be aware of your actions and how they are impacting your character (and how you are perceived by others), you are more likely to make good decisions

Work on your CHARACTER and see what an amazing difference it makes on AND off the field!