What I got from Johan Cruijff

The late Johan Cruijff was a famous Dutch football player - one of the top five, probably, in the world. I got to know of him back in 1974. That was when Holland reached the final of the soccer world cup for the very first time. He was the embodiment of Total Football. But along with his skill, it's another aspect of his outlook that I admire even more.

Johan treated football as a game. Of course, he no doubt took it seriously to have achieved what he did. Nevertheless, he remained playful. Take a look at any 'footage' of the man, and analyse his body language. He was always relaxed. He always had fun.

So much so, that when the 1978 world cup held in Argentina looked likely to become overly serious in a political sense, with threats made against players, Johan simply decided to sit it out. He put his safety and his family first. 

Football is only a game.

Anything is only a game.

The more relaxed you are able to remain, the better, paradoxically, you will become at it.