Messi is the perfect storm.
But he's no genius.
No one is.
It has the ideal ecology, as biologists say.
Leo is like the oak trees that the writer Malcolm Gladwell tells us about: "The tallest oak tree in a forest is the greatest because there are no other trees that block the sun, because the earth in which it is planted is deep and rich, because rabbits have not gnawed its bark and because a lumberjack did not cut it until it grew.
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Imagine that possibility: if the Messi family had, as planned, emigrated to Australia, there would not have been Lionel Messi, the best player on the planet. Imagine for a moment a world without Leo the footballer. It would be like music without John Lennon, art without Picasso. The world would be very different. I just updated the Authorized Messi Bio I wrote in 2014 to include everything that happened last summer. It will be released in France in March 2022 and I have undertaken to explain Leo there in a sociological, psychological, historical and, of course, footballing context. Also, I analyze the set of skills that make Messi what he is. As Neymar said last week, it is very difficult to live at the top. Not everyone can be Messi ...
"Humility is essential to prevent your weaknesses and limitations from affecting you"
For starters, whatever their field, the best in the world must have the ability to learn.
They must also be able to rely on their families and an ideal environment.
Leo was born in a fertile environment, in Argentina, where there are small playgrounds on every corner.
Then, he must have the motivation, the ambition, the thirst to improve, the extreme concentration and the ardor to be always competitive.
Knowing how to learn is crucial to reach your maximum potential.
But to get there, you have to be consistent, play with the ball for hours and hours, accept that mistakes are steps to excellence.
This attitude requires commitment and sacrifice, this tribute that must be paid to achieve its objective.
Humility is essential to keep your weaknesses and limitations from affecting you.
Read also My Messi to me: Antonela, his sun
And when you know how to learn, then you need the skills to demonstrate what you've learned. It helps to have a strong sense of leadership. And you have to have confidence in yourself, because with that, you win more often than you lose. Without emotional intelligence, it is impossible to adapt to life, to a new city, to play. And without pleasure, we do not learn and we do not progress. The best must also have a magical mix of genes that, on the one hand, pushes them to always aspire to more (something that we are born with, I believe) but also allows them to be better than others. Leo possesses a mixture of skill and speed of movement. He moves his legs faster than others, takes more strides per second than some sprinters.
If you add luck to this cocktail of skills, then something unique will be born.
Geniuses don't exist.
