If you’ve ever wanted to get inside the mind of a young Manchester United player (a niche concept I know, but hear me out), there’s never been a better time.
A photo has emerged which shows a 14-point list written by Gary Neville pinned to the wall of United’s Carrington training ground. The list is aimed at the club’s youngsters and offers a guide to making it to the very top, straight from the throbbing brain of someone who’s been there and done it himself.
I myself have designs on reaching the top, but as I’m 46 and an overweight oaf, it isn’t going to be at football.
Still, I’ve been able to study GNev’s list and have realised that some of it does actually apply to a perpetual loser like myself…
Great advice from @GNev2 ‘s 14 point plan for Academy players. There is definitely a message there for my next yr11 assembly! pic.twitter.com/ZiniJWFx3H
— David Farnie (@david_farnie) September 26, 2018
Choose who you follow.
This. Every now and again I take to the streets and follow a random stranger around, as research for my career as a budding author. You can learn a lot about human behaviour and life itself from walking ten feet behind someone for six or seven hours.
But choose your, erm, ‘target’ carefully.
It only takes two or three glances at you in the reflection of a shop window and before you know it, your arse is on the pavement and you’re dabbing blood from your nose with your cravat.
Always remember why you began to play football — you loved it for its own sake and not as a means to get money, fame, girls, cars etc.
Yep – replace ‘football’ with ‘collecting Nectar points’ and this is something I can definitely identify with.
I’ll never have enough points to trade up for a car or anything that might remotely impress a woman, but I’ve got my eye on a Carry On box set – all it’ll take is another £750 worth of grocery shopping and it’ll be mine all mine…
Give the profession all that you have got, and you’ll have no regrets.
Writing these blogs for Paddy Power might well be the closest thing I’ve got to an actual profession and it’s certainly true that I always give them my all. The other day I wrote one which took over an hour!
Plus I was so proud of myself when I realised I’d gone 14% over the minimum required word count and hadn’t copied and pasted anything from other, lesser bloggers in order to make the target!
Be a risk taker because it is a different kind of leadership.
When you’re a winner who is in charge of your own life, taking risks is part of what sets you apart from the normals.
So far this week I’ve performed some self-surgery on an ingrown toenail and parked up in Sunderland city centre for just over three hours on a two-hour ticket.
If you’re nodding your head and recognising the adrenaline rush that I’ve experienced on both occasions, you’re my kind of people.
Success and failure are two sides of the same coin, and you have to deal emotionally with both experiences. Remember that if you win or lose you can still have that Chinese on a Saturday night — keep things in perspective.
I have a Chinese any f***ing night I fancy one, Gary. Hashtag dinner winner.
Learn more about yourself and what works for you.
I’ve definitely learned not to have a Chinese less than an hour before bedtime. I’ve also learned that if I do, I need an industrial-sized bottle of Gaviscon next to the bed.
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