3 Lessons Learned from the Goat Himself: Diego Maradona

If you missed Asif Kapadia’s Diego Maradona’s documentary on HBO last year, your chance to redeem yourself is here.

It’s on Netflix.

Although Kapadia’s work does not give us the full scope of Maradona’s professional career, it does a great job documenting the rise, and fall, of a legend.

Here are three lessons I took away from the film that I believe can be applied to everyone’s pursuits at a more accomplished life.

1. Find your balance

   Football, similar to life, is all about balance. You need Ying, and you need Yang. You need composure, but you need intensity. You need speed, but you need agility. After two unsuccessful seasons at Barcelona ( I guess minus a Copa del Rey), Maradona was signed by Napoli, a bottom tear team in Serie A. (that’s the Italian league for all you non soccer players) It was Napoli, that enabled Maradona to find his balance as a player. Serie A offered him a new challenge, at a higher speed, and an elevated level of physicality. In the documentary, Maradona explains his efforts to speed up his timing in the game. If he went at full speed, he would lose his notorious technique and control on the ball. Therefore, he had to find the balance between control and speed. With the help of fitness coach, Fernando Signorini, Maradona pushes himself to a higher standard and, eventually, dominated the Italian league.

   I encourage everyone to go find their Italian league where they are challenged in a new dimension. Force yourself to find your balance. It looks like the results will pay off.

2. What is your drive ?

   It has become very clear that top performing athletes, like Maradona, not only have a vision, but a “why.” There is a reason behind their actions, behind their work rate and behind their performance. That reason is typically not surface level and that reason fuels them to achieve a higher standard.

   In my opinion, Napoli was not just another team for Maradona to play for. Instead, Napoli became Maradona’s fighting motivation to lift others out of shame and inequality. Originally from the working class town of Villa Fiorito, Maradona was no foreigner to an adverse life style. He grew up in poverty. An extensive family, hardworking parents, and little resources defined his origins. Napoli’s reputation was not too different. Looked down upon by most of North Italy, this region had little to offer in the lime light. Napoli became Maradona’s “why,” his drive. He fought for them on the field and in return, the people of Napoli worshipped him when he succeeded in winning titles for them.

   Find your “why” that goes beyond yourself.

3. Celebrate

   There’s no soccer player that celebrated more than Maradona. Well…maybe George Best (if we are on the subject of partying). But this point is not about divulging in excessive drinking and cocaine. This is about actual celebration.

   When Maradona scores, you can feel it. His body language inspires a nation to rise (even until his later days as a coach and influencer). This is because Maradona’s greatest form of joy is scoring goals, and winning games. Not even the coke could replace this feeling. He is a competitor. When he loses, he is sad. Although there are components of competition, of games, of life, that we cannot control, it never stopped Diegito from working to control everything within his reach.

   We should all strive to tap in to our inner competitive side. Define the metrics for success and celebrate when we experience victory. This is what life is about, winning the small battles, and feeling the pain of defeat from our losses. This makes us human.