Energy, Effort, Skill & Discipline

It is a hard time for us here in the Backman household as Manchester United (along with all soccer teams around the world) are on a break. They call it international break as this is the time for countries to use their players for matches where it is simply not possible during the long and arduous seasons of professional soccer around the world. I am kidding about the hard time but it is true that we love the game and we love to watch our team play. We will even get up practically in the middle of the night to watch a match. Just a week ago we watched a 4:30 a.m. match early on Soup Day. It is always a risk as it is a sacrifice to get up so early and you really want a good result as a sort of ‘reward’ for your efforts. It sounds silly and a bit ridiculous I realize but nevertheless it does hold a bit of truth. 

But, I did watch the Manchester United women play today. It was great. In fact, I am so delighted that I was able to actually watch the match on the same platform as we watch the men’s team play. United (Manchester United) played City (Manchester City) in what they call the derby (that is two opposing teams playing from the same basic city or location. It is always a giant game when the men play and although it didn’t feel quite as intense (as the rivalry for the women’s side is literally only about two years old) it held some of the same amount of intrigue and fun. On top of that there were four U.S. women’s national team players who played today for the two teams.

I wanted to talk about that for a moment as I think it is important from a broader perspective. I have had a great deal of respect and sadness both for the women soccer players in the world who have dedicated their lives to the sport. When you watch them play you realize that their skill level is exceedingly high and I have been sad that the women have never been shown the respect they deserve for their hard work, energy, skill and discipline they have shown over the many many years. In fact, the U.S. is appalling in how they treat our national women’s team versus the men’s team. The men are far less competitive (which makes sense since our women are traditionally the powerhouse team in the world) and the men have far less of a following in our country and yet they get paid a great deal more.

This is important to understand. The women have more people willing to follow them, go watch matches, spend money and so forth (which means they have the potential of bringing in more money) and yet the men get the best perks, the most money and the most notoriety. The men also have a place to play professionally while every time someone tries to start a women’s professional league for soccer it fails. This leaves these women who are highly skilled and trained with no place to play as their profession which they have spent lifetimes to excel at.

It was a beautiful thing to watch our women have a place to play this morning. Finally, these giant English teams have put together powerful programs for these women in the world to have a place to play. I am grateful for Manchester United as they do not differentiate between the men’s and women’s programs as far as the overall club is concerned. All are Manchester United. They wear the same kits (uniforms) they all share the perks of the club and they are all given the best training grounds and competing grounds to play on. I heard an interview from some of the women and they were delighted with how they are treated and how they are considered a vital component of the club as a whole.

Plus, as far as Manchester United’s women’s team is concerned, they are good. They are in first place so far this season with no losses at all. I decided to write this during the match as I was watching it earlier today. Manchester United came out for the first five minutes and dominated. In fact, it appeared as if it was going to be a severely lopsided match. They were quick, crisp, sharp and fast. It was magnificent to watch. Then somehow the tide turned and Manchester City became the dominant factor and I wondered about the outcome. City scored 2 goals in the first half and it didn’t appear as if United were going to be able to figure out how to compete in this particular match. At half time I had these thoughts:

Manchester United would have seemed to be the better team both before the match and in the beginning of the game itself. Manchester City came back and dominated as I said but suspected that the better team who has put in more energy, effort, has more skill and discipline and so forth would win out in the end. In soccer this is not always the case as sometimes it is simply the team that has created the most momentum and energy. This happens in men’s games all of the time. The best team often gets beat by lesser teams because of the human element of sacrifice and desire. But these are the same things that show the character of a good team when they find themselves down. But a good team also has the added benefit of being better trained and better prepared. I suspected that the United women would come back. They have a high powered team and it made sense that they would regroup in the 2nd half and give themselves a good opportunity to get back in the game.

That is what they did. They ended up with a 2-2 draw. United kept their undefeated record for the season so far and they showed true character, grit and courage under difficult circumstances. The difficult circumstances primarily boiled down to two defenders on the Manchester United side (the 2 outside backs) who were being beat over and over again by the City attackers. The coaches at City did their homework and they adapted their team to take advantage of the weaknesses. The United coaches adapted at half time and the game was turned on its head. The City players no longer had an opportunity to take advantage of those weaknesses (because they were no longer there as they changed their defensive structure) and on top of that the United players stepped it up and started dominating the game in the 2nd half.

It was a great example of adjustments both from the players and the coaches. I got to thinking about this and started thinking about my own life (both personal and business). How much do I allow my weaknesses to be exposed? It is quite simple, I believe, for anyone to admit they have weaknesses. It quite simply has to be a fact of life for each and every individual. Where I personally run into trouble is how much I allow those weaknesses to be the deciding factors in the journey of my life. It is important to be aware of our weaknesses and adjust, I think. If we can’t adjust then we continue to be exposed. Adjusting can look like a lot of things but this is not the place to talk about them but it seems super important to simply realize and be aware that it is needed first and foremost.

Also, it is important in business to be able to take advantage of weaknesses and openings in the marketplace just as City was able to do in the first half of the game. For instance, if you are selling a product and it seems like the process is stalling and success is not forthcoming, it is important to look at the weaknesses in the market place and learn how to take advantage of those. Since I am no longer selling the Univera products I will talk about my new business for the moment. What are the weaknesses in the market place of this new business? How do I take advantage of those? These are the things I am thinking about right now.

I have a few thoughts about this and they go back to the very beginning of this piece and the title. At the very foundation are the four things I mentioned in the title: Energy, Effort, Skill & Discipline. It takes all of these to make a business work. There are a whole host of other things as well but these four create a nice foundation from which to build upon. In essence, it takes work to create opportunities. People believe that opportunities are outside of them somehow. That might be true but what is more true is that opportunities are created by doing the work with energy and being disciplined and putting out continuous effort to do so. This always develops skills so that your actual time and effort put into the endeavor creates more and better results. So that is my premise of a foundation. Now, back to my thoughts of addressing weaknesses and taking advantage of them in the marketplace to grow my business.

My new business addresses needs in the general population that are very apparent. The actual weaknesses in the marketplace for the world of supplements are that they are everywhere, of various qualities, and too many are of a dubious nature. That is, so many supplements are strictly for the purposes of taking advantage of the weaknesses of people’s emotions and ability to make wise choices for themselves. In other words, the weakness in the marketplace is the fact that people take advantage of others for their own gain. I view that as a weakness as I always believe in a win/win scenario for people, if possible. Taking advantage of others for a sale is a weakness in the system. My question to myself is how do I take advantage of that particular weakness? My thinking is that the new nootropic products that I am now taking and selling is that they enable people to make better choices. They enable people to stay calm and steady under even very stressful circumstances that inevitably help people make better life choices for themselves. That is the first area that I see. The second area is one of addressing fears and perceived needs. The products overwhelmingly help people feel better and happier even amidst difficult circumstances.

Brain chemistry is an interesting thing. When it is in balance it can create an enormous benefit of helping people think more clearly, stay calmer, more focused and be nicer in the world with a completely new and better outlook for the future while avoiding the temptation to enable fear the control it always desires to take hold. What does this do? It helps people live a higher quality of life. Instead of being unsure, scared and nervous about decision making people tend to be more confident and more able to make decisions to move forward. It is much easier to see clearly when fear and unsettledness is not the norm. When happiness and an elevated perspective become the norm then everything else tends to improve…love life, friendships, business life, work life, workouts and more. Imagine feeling better and more emboldened when going into a negotiation. Imagine feeling like your workouts are improving your energy rather than stealing your energy. Imagine relationships with those significant other people in your life being smoother, less volatile and overall more loving, giving and steady.

So, how do I take advantage of the marketplace? The world of supplements works from a perspective of fear of what is happening or what may happen. I can approach this from a side of positivity and improvement and encouragement and talk about elevating moods and mental states of being. It is a diametrically opposed approach that addresses the weaknesses that are inherent in the supplement business. Another very cool way I can overcome the weaknesses apparent in the supplement industry have to do with money. They are typically expensive…well supplements that actually work well. My new business addresses this weakness as well and works on the premise of replacing one purchase with another. In other words, the vast majority of people are already spending the money and so it can often even end up in a net gain of monthly income instead of more going out. 

Taking advantage of the market’s weaknesses as opposed to people’s weaknesses and fears is a better way to go about it. I started with the soccer game and I realize that Manchester City took advantage of United’s defensive weaknesses in the first half in order to dominate and win. I certainly am not using the game as a starting point in that way. It just so happens that it started me thinking and I believe that is one of my strengths. I navigate life in such a way that my mind is always seeing connections or being stimulated by what I am experiencing at any given moment. The connections do not always need to be a direct reflection of something else but simply a starting point. This is where these ideas came from today. The game and the circumstances of the game were simply a starting point that allowed my mind to pursue a particular line of thinking. And although not everything may make perfect sense to others, I am encouraged with some of the creative thoughts I come up with from this way of navigating life. 

I hope that some of this is either encouraging to you or helpful for your own life or business. 

If you want to learn more about my new business, please click here to do so. (Sorry the link is not available yet)

Thanks and blessings!