Play To Your Strength

“It is statistically proven that in a soccer game, players actually have the ball 3 minutes on average. 

So, the most important thing is: what do you do during those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball? That is what determines whether you are a good player or not.” 

On the soccer field, Lionel Messi famously walks an unusual amount.

Some speculate it’s to conserve energy. Others say part of his genius is his ability to recognize the most opportune times to pounce. 

If those things are true, they are merely byproducts of the core reason:

Growing up, Messi was so small that everyone called him “the Flea.” 

When he was 11, he was diagnosed with 'Growth Hormone Deficiency.' 

It’s a rare disease caused by the missing of the gland that produces growth hormones in the body.

With medical intervention, Messi eventually grew, but he developed a “Muscular typology with a very high-energy consumption.” 

He can’t be up and down all the time, His muscular typology is not suited to such physical demands.

Essentially, Messi’s muscles empty of energy at an unusually high rate.

Because of this, Messi walks an unusual amount.

Naval Ravikant famously said that we humans are designed to work, to exert energy, more like a hunting lion than a grazing cow.

"We're closer to carnivores in our omnivorous development than we are to herbivores," he said.

"The way people work most effectively is to sprint as hard as they can and then rest. You reassess and then you sprint again."

When Messi's walking around or standing still, he's scanning the field, he's assessing his prey, and then, when he smells a weak point in the back four, Messi sprints.

Fitting into the way humans are designed to exert energy, Messi is like a lion on the soccer field.

He overcomes his weakness, plays to his strength & makes the difference for his team.

Play to your strength & stay blessed forever.