Recently, I was fortunate to share the stage with Danny Simpson, the former Man Utd, Newcastle, QPR, Leicester, Huddersfield and Bristol City full back that has his name etched in the history books for not only joining the elite few that have won the world’s most decorated sporting competition but he did it as part of the fairytale, the 5000/1 shot with Leicester City just 12 months after escaping relegation on the final day of the season.
The event was the next in the series of the No Cons to Consistency, the mantra and brainchild of another client of mine, Aaron Burns. With the aim of positively impacting lives, Aaron uses his work in financial services, his guest speaking in schools and organising events like this to achieve his goal.
Local sports and business people were joined by former team mates of Danny as well as World Champion Boxer Savannah Marshall at the event . The crowd heard stories from Danny’s illustrious career with everyone walking away with lessons that they can apply to their own life.
Here are just 5 of the many key takeaways from the event:
Don’t let your starting point dictate your future - Danny talked about the challenges growing up for him and his mum (a teenager when giving birth) and the setbacks he had being rejected by Liverpool FC and Man City FC before his chance came to trial at Man Utd. Each experience building a further level of resilience in him.
No excuses, only you can fix this - Danny talked openly to the audience about many challenging times. He started that famous season with Leicester being told he was “not wanted, you don’t feature in my plans” by Claudio Ranieri. He was made to train with the youth team and exiled from any involvement with the first team. But, he didn’t blame others, created no excuses and got his head down working hard. A couple of months later his hard work started paying off, he was invited to train with the first team and quickly won his place in the team where he stayed until lifting that illustrious Premier League Title.
Surround yourself with the right people - this became most prevalent in one of, if not thee, most challenging times of his career. Out of contract after leaving Huddersfield, in the midst of a covid pandemic and multiple restrictions he tore the tendon from his hip joint in a training session with Leicester City. Out of contract, therefore with no insurance, no doctor he had to battle with challenges to first get surgery and then get eventually rehabilitate. Danny shared how low he felt at that point but the people around him, those right people put the structure and support in place that helped him comeback and eventually sign for Bristol City, that’s just one example of how the right people have helped at every stage of Danny’s career.
Don’t change a thing - it was a question from the audience that generated this response. “If you could go back and do it again, what one thing would you change in your career?”. After a lot of pondering Danny shared that he wouldn’t change a thing. That we are all a result of these experiences and all the challenges have created the resilience that helps us succeed when opportunity arises. It’s not what happens, it’s how you respond that counts!
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail - in working with Danny over the last couple of months I’ve come to admire his focus on preparation. He told the tale of that habit being firmly created after doing the opposite! Away to Everton and not expecting to play, Danny had failed to prepare correctly staying up late and missing key parts of his usual pre-match routine. Then called upon to start, his performance reflected his poor preparation. Hauled off at half time he was given the infamous Sir Alex Ferguson ‘hairdryer’ and from that day on has focused on preparing for every opportunity.
Success leaves clues, and Danny definitely left many for the audience to takeaway with them. I hope this article gives readers an insight into the elite. How do these people, just like you and I, achieve at the highest level in their chosen profession?
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📷 Credit: VIP Productions
