You're convinced a football career or business is the best for you now, but the problem is how to Convince your family members and get them to support your plans in the coming month or year...
The end of the year is upon us once again and while there is the anticipation of a low scale CELEBRATIONS during this Christmas, you may also have some anxiety about facing the wagging of family members who feel it is their right to pry into your private life.
Distance has set you free all the while, and most of your family lives has been through Facebook feed - keeping up with you through your myriad of memes, and what's for dinner posts. Now is their chance to look you in the eyes, face to face, and put you on the spot...
They'll boldly ask about your relationships with every Dick and Harry.. They'll inquire how you are coping with THE CHANGE..the economic recession that is driving everyone crazy. They'll push for information about your career and how you are making progress. (Gush, I'm making myself anxious just thinking about it.)
The time is now to prepare yourself for what will surely come - End of Year Family Meeting or Perhaps, New Year Resolution Meeting*
To avoid it once again, is not to travel to your home town for Christmas. But you can't keep avoiding "the necessary mingling," Your family members will never leave you alone forever. All you need to do is to be ready for their onslaughts and antics...
Step 1: Be Prepared to Give Them Something Juicy
The Chicken may be linn and the rice rationed (in line with the austerity measure) so the burden will be on you to provide the family something juicy. Stay away from kindred politics, there is no winning that game. Instead lean into something everyone can think positively about - your career progress.
Be ready with a story of success from work or school.
Happy career stories make family members feel warmer on the inside. They care about you, and want to be sure you aren't on the path of total bankruptcy.
But what do you do if you don't like your current job and can't find anything positive to say about it? Instead of making something up that sounds ridiculous like, I''m just patching with the job, give them a sneak peek of where you are headed.
Here's the dialogue you need to master:
"Well, I'm not overly satisfied with my job right now, it neither challenges or excites me. In fact, I recognized a few months back that I needed to make a change and pursue something I love. I love football , it energizes me, I can read about it, think about it and study it all day without getting tired. It's my true calling, so I've decided to take some sports business related courses through Sports Management Worldwide starting in January."
Now that's juicy.
Step 2: Explain Why This Isn't Crazy
Now comes the tricky part - you just woke up Uncle Fred, who has always loved football but didn't have the guts to pursue it as a career. He slogged through his non-descript career for a few decades, watching football at night and on the weekends, always assuming it was just for fun while work was work.
Uncle Fred and others will put you on hot seat...questions how real a career in football can be in our present day economy - you've got their attention, now you need to convince them with data!
The football industry is a trillion-dollar global industry, generating more revenue than the restaurant, auto and real estate industries combined.
There are thousands of different football careers available, ranging from playing, coaching, agency, scouting, team operations to event management and sales.
The football industry is recession-proof, in 2016 during the great recession The Economist stated "football industry in Nigeria are by and large, standing up to recession better than most other industries."
Throw data at them like this and you're going to have a crowd hanging on your every word. Football is a major foreign exchange earner... players like Mikel earn £120, 000 per week (about N75,000, 000 naira)...something must civil servants can't earn cumulatively over their 45 years of active service.
Young Kelechi Iheanacho Sign on fee at Manchester city was £2.4 million (about N1.8 billion naira) and a fraction was paid to his Agent, NFF and the Academy that trained him here in Nigeria. His father who hadn't earn N1 million naira all his life, was paid £400,000 about N100 million naira... It is bye-bye to poverty to their family lineage.
An agent that's able to transfer one or two players per year is home and dry with more than enough funds to invest into other businesses and help family members.
You also need to be specific about what you are going to learn. We offer 8-week online courses in subjects like Football Analytics, player's Agency and Management, Football Marketing Management... We have career conferences 4-times per year with the leading sports industry minds.
We can teach you what you need to know and we can help convince your family you are (finally) on a career path that excites you.
Your family wants to help so let them, they just might have the connection you need. Your instincts may tell you that your family hasn't worked in sports so they couldn't possibly help, but what you are missing is the fact that traditional businesses interact in the sports world daily.
Your cousin Mark may work for a boring old accounting firm, but if this company audit football agency or bought a naming rights at the local league, he may be connected to people or staff in that agency or office of the local league.
Or maybe your Uncle Moses' college roommate is now an executive with NFF or a team abroad - you don't know who your family is friends with until you ask. So don't be shy, ask for help, ask them to think about who they know and how they are connected to the football industry you love. You're ready to enrol for the right education now, so you'll be prepared to make them proud.
Step 3: When All Else Fails...
Pretend to be asleep...for a long, long time. (And dream of the football career you've always wanted). When you wake up, believe the vision you pondered upon, pray about it and continue to confess what you want to see... Look out for places you will go, things you will read or view that will inspire you... Confess more and more, and watch your dreams come to pass!
I wish all the best in your new career/ business.
In case you need more football insights or inspirations, join Inspire Football at facebook. Click here to check out the page... Click "Like" to join.
