At the turn of the year, we’re afforded an opportunity to ‘start again’, ‘write a new chapter’ or ‘start a fresh’. Whichever way you look at it, moving into January gives you the opportunity to reflect on the past year and plan new goals, for the coming year. While the future is unknown, we can shape our destiny and give ourselves a better chance of achieving what we would like.
To give the goals some context and direction, we have to have our intentions aligned, to give ourselves the best chance of achieving them.
Firstly, I’m going to reflect on a number of events that happened last year, summarise with an evaluation and note the next steps, to give myself a better chance to improve.
Football Management
Accepting a position as manager, after the season has started
Summary – Stepping into a position that inherited someone else’s squad once the season was underway, was a lot more challenging than I envisaged. Games were coming around very quickly and making assessments on players, was needed in order to improve. The problem I then faced, was if I wanted to improve the squad, I had to approach players that were already with teams. The team I was with was struggling, so to persuade new players to sign, took the role to a whole new level.
Reflection – Winning games and having an impact on the short term, will possibly help in the long term. If potential new signings see that there is an improvement, they maybe more inclined to sign for the team. By not winning early on, it then made the job a whole lot harder.
Next steps – If I find myself in this position again in the future, it will be vital for me to get a win in the first couple of games and points on the board. The impact this could have for future recruitment and improvement, could make all the difference.
Business Growth
Interacting with more football players/coaches per week
Summary – After covid the growth of the business has now started to excel. It was a lot slower then I envisaged, but this is to be expected after what had happened. In the last 12 months, the business has grown in all departments, so it’s now important to maintain this level of service quality, while trying to grow again.
Reflection – Now that things are running a lot smoother, there are obviously a lot more options on the market which means Park to Pro will always have to offer something different. We attempt to make all of our services as professional as possible and align our ideas with the intentions of upcoming players and coaches.
Next steps – Ensure there is a high bar raised to ensure that our standards never drop. By learning and reflecting regularly, small improvements that may not be seen by all, should have an element of impact in the days/months afterwards.
Personal Growth
Experience more uncomfortable situations, to build learning
Summary – By stepping into the unknown and putting myself in as many uncomfortable situations as possible, will give me more opportunities to learn about myself. Last year, I participated in a Master of Coaching and this took up a lot of my time. I also learnt about reverse engineering and presented about this topic, after a 3 month preparation period.
Reflection – I learnt a lot in these above situations and it showed me many examples of, not knowing, what you don’t know. As coaches we need more of these situations, as it will only help us in the long run, once we’ve reflected.
Next steps – Get into further situations that make me feel uncomfortable. Already this year, I have a placement available on the UEFA A Elite License taking place in Ireland, as well as a trip booked to Holland, to take part in a course and spend some time at PSV Eindhoven.
Social distractions
Reduce interactions with my mobile phone
Summary – Mobile phones are hugely beneficial for certain situations, but with others, they can be a hindrance. Having accounts on a number of social platforms and using the device to communicate with people outside of my social circle, is one of the drawing factors to using it.
Reflection – Throughout the year, my phone was used for a variety of things. Looking at data, the amount of time I used on social platforms was the most, with other applications not getting as much usage. The ‘cheap’ and ‘quick’ dopamine hits that you receive from using the phone, is one of the biggest contributors and I feel boredom could be the reason for this.
Next steps – Remove the phone from situations where I need be focused, limit what I use the phone for (check emails and then end up scrolling needlessly through pages of junk) and restrict the amount of time I use it in evening times.
Improving my professional profile
Summary – I can draw attention to myself in many different ways and having the exposure on Linkedin for example, could give me a platform to improve and find new opportunities. While there are a huge amount of professionals within the football industry, it’s about being different and ‘standing out from the crowd’.
Reflection – My CV is always up to date and I’ve used my company website to detail numerous blogs over the last 12 months. By continuing to do this and possibly starting to share some of my work, then opportunities may present themselves.
Next steps – Review some of my most recent work and upload this to social platforms for feedback. By doing this, I would also be stepping into uncomfortable situations, which will allow me to learn further.
Those reflections listed above, are just a few of the many that I have listed for 2023. There are no guarantees that these will work, but what I have done is outlined my intentions clearly, which will give me direction and guidance towards my goals.
In my next blog, I will start to talk about my recent management role and further learnings.
