Every footballer, every athlete draws the most inspiration from this individual. He is none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. Even Virat Kohli ( Indian Cricketer) was inspired by Ronaldo’s work ethic, leading to a transformation in his routine, the results of which we witness today. I have gleaned eight key insights from Ronaldo’s numerous interviews—eight principles that he has not missed a single day in the past 23 years. These principles have transformed Ronaldo from an ordinary child to a legend, and by following them you can excel in your feild.
1. Mentality of Being Number One
Ronaldo asserts, “My greatest strength lies in my mind and the most important thing for me is my mentality. In my own mind, i always consider myself better than others. Yes, people may think someone else is better, but for me, I am the best player in the football world.” When asked if he doesn’t believe Lionel Messi is better in some areas ? he responds “everyone has their own opinions, i respect everyone’s opinions, but in my mind, i consider myself better than Messi.” Many people fail to understand this statement, and they engage in online debates over Messi and Ronaldo. However, this mindset of believing in oneself is a profound example that illustrates how our thoughts shape our reality. Ronaldo emphasizes the importance of having a strong grip on your positive self-talk. He says that whether you are the best or not does not depend on coaches, media, or fans; it depends on you and your positive self-talk, which reflects your mentality. You must first accept within yourself that “I am the best.” If you have even the slightest doubt, you will start to underestimate yourself, and then you will struggle to maintain motivation for practice or consistency. Our conditioning from childhood often makes it difficult for our minds to accept that we can be the best in a particular field. Therefore, Ronaldo advises that even if you have doubts, work hard and continue practicing positive self-talk. Gradually, your beliefs will change and one day you will become the best.
2. Burning Desire
Ronaldo says, “If I stay with you and give you advice, the world’s best player comes to advise you, stays with you, but if you don’t have the desire to do something from within, no one can do anything for you. I always want to be at the top in my field, and this desire of mine fills me with motivation.”
means, you must have a strong desire to do something. Whether you want to learn video editing, score well in exams, or pursue anything in any field, you must have a burning desire within you, so that you cannot be able to prevent yourself from working hard, practicing or putting in effort. He says, “In the beginning of my career, my coach also told me that you are a very talented player, but you are very thin. I took that into my mind, that this is my body and by training it, it can be brought into any shape, and then I did just that.”
This is called the burning desire.
3. Competition
Ronaldo stated in an interview that “he considers himself in competition with the top footballers in the world, and he doesn’t perceive this competition negatively. Because it always leads to personal growth. People often compare me to other top players, which is my biggest motivation.”
His statement reflects that he doesn’t have an egoistic “I am the best” attitude but rather sees himself as constantly striving to improve, using comparisons and competition as motivation to push himself. When asked what makes a player the best, his response was that in any sport, the best players always follow the best. In other words, Ronaldo learns from every footballer.
Typically, when someone feels that others are ahead of them or excelling in something, they may feel insecure or jealous, which can lead to fear and fear won’t let you become the best. But if you do what Ronaldo does, you might surpass your competitors or idols. So, regardless of your field, observe and learn from those who are ahead of you, who are the best. Don’t be jealous of your competition; instead, use it as a motivation to improve yourself. This is something I personally do, and it greatly benefits a person in the long run.
4. Consistency
With an attitude towards his profession, regardless of whether it’s scorching heat, pouring rain or biting cold, Ronaldo devote himself to completing his gym or practice routine at a fixed time every single day.
However, despite this, he assert that “first and foremost, accept that your routine will never be perfect. Each day presents different circumstances, and the routine may falter but, you must strive to maintain consistency. Even if you can only spare half an hour for the gym, go, but never skip it under any circumstances.”
Often, we plan our tasks, intending to study for a certain number of hours or accomplish a specific goal for the day but if the timetable gets disrupted even slightly, people tend to abandon the tasks altogether, wasting the entire day. This shouldn’t be the case. If you’ve committed to studying for 5-6 hours a day and are unable to do so due to some reason, at least dedicate 2-3 hours to it. If you can’t go to the gym, do a few minutes of exercise at home, so that you have a reason, a motivation for continuing consistency for the next day, this improves your self-image, demonstrating that you don’t abandon your work like losers under any circumstances, you stand apart from others.
5. Discomfort
Ronaldo says, “The toughest time of my life was when I was 11 years old and left home, staying away from home and focusing only on football was very difficult for me. I used to cry almost every day, missing my family. But today, I have no regrets about all those things because whatever I am today is because of those days.”
If you want to be different from others you have to let go of small comforts, you’ll have to let go, at least to some extent, if not completely. If you learn about Ronaldo’s diet and exercise schedules, you’ll understand how his success has come from days, hours, and minutes of continuous hard work. You’ll see the sacrifices Ronaldo’s success has demanded. Controlling food intake, sleeping on time, working hard every day, and even planning workouts instead of celebrations after winning championships, how difficult it must have been. So, whatever the situation, learn to give your 100%. If you want to live a disciplined life but find it difficult, it’s okay. Accept it. It happens to everyone. But this weakness can be overcome through regular practice.”
6. Talent vs Hardwork
Ronaldo says, “I am at the top in this world, it’s not just a coincidence but i put in extra efforts.” Many of Ronaldo’s young teammates acknowledge that Ronaldo used to practice on the ground even before other young players arrived and he would still be present on the ground even after everyone else left.
This attitude teaches that if you are a student, study two hours more than the top student does, if you are in any other field, practice with the attitude of defeating someone better than you. Practice with the attitude of becoming the best, not by envying others.
Ronaldo says people may think I am successful because of my talent but talent is nothing without hard work. He says having talent alone is not enough, you always have to keep grooming it. Otherwise the world is full of talented people, there is no shortage. Means “hardwork beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
7. Process
The interviewer further inquired, “When you were going through tough times, did you ever imagine you would be at this level where you are today?” He replied, “To be very honest, i hadn’t imagined it to this extent but I did envision becoming an excellent professional footballer. And I was determined to give 100% from my end towards achieving that.”
If you look at any successful person who has achieved greatness in life, whether it’s Elon Musk or anyone else, they always say the same thing: ‘I hadn’t imagined it to this extent, i hadn’t thought of becoming the richest person in the world, i hadn’t thought of becoming the biggest movie star in the world.” What’s the reason?’
The reason is that these people focus on the process. They concentrate solely on the task at hand. They do it with complete honesty, without worrying about the outcome—’How can I give my 100% right now?’ They, like us, set big goals, work hard for a few days, and then don’t cry over the result. During hard work, during the process, they give their 100%.
8. Self-belief
Cristiano Ronaldo once said, “People may mock me, criticize me, but it doesn’t affect me because I understand why they envy me. I excel in my field, in my work, which is why they behave this way—because they aren’t as successful as I am.”
Every great and successful individual can be seen to have this trait: they don’t pay heed to criticism or negative remarks. These individuals have mentally fortified themselves to such an extent that any form of taunting, criticism, or demotivation doesn’t impact their growth. If you truly believe in yourself, you wouldn’t care about the opinions or words of others. Why? Because you know yourself better than anyone else does. But when we lack self-belief, when we don’t know ourselves well, we start doubting ourselves and our abilities, and then we start listening to others and base life’s most crucial decisions on their words.
We have seen that there were times when Ronaldo faced challenges, yet he never doubted himself or his abilities. From here, we can learn that by adopting this powerful self-belief, we can make success much easier to attain.
If you remove the veil of comparison from your eyes, you will see that there is much to learn from these legends. These were some of the lessons from Ronaldo’s life. Please do share in comments, which qualities you intend to follow from these. I have written a similar article on Elon Musk from which you can learn a lot. ( Click Here )