Ronaldo Mindset is all you need

This post means no disrespect to either Havertz or Ronaldo. Both of them are exceptional professional athletes who have earned every right to be where they are.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the one of the most successful athletes in the world. With a trophy cabinet which rivals almost any other, everyone calls him a winner. A champion. On the other hand Kai Havertz is a very talented footballer, but nowhere close in terms of success to Ronaldo. Two footballers. Two very different careers.

My hypothesis is that the thing that separates them so much is not some innate ability or genetic physique. But its their mindset. Ronaldo has an elite mindset. A mindset of a champion. He wants to achieve great things and he wants to help his team win every game. And hes willing to put in the hardwork needed to support his ambitions. Havertz on the other hand doesnt have it. Thats it.

If you have ever seen Ronaldo and Havertz take penalties you would know what I am talking about. When Ronaldo goes up to take a penalty, you instintively know hes going to score. You can see it in his body language, his facial expressions. I bet what going on in his mind is “I want to be the person who scores and helps my team win. What can I do to score? How do I increase my chances? What direction is the keeper going in?”. So his attention is completely focussed on the task which is scoring the penalty. And then of course Ronaldo scores. And when Havertz goes up you already know hes going to miss. His body language is stooped. His face is tense. In his mind hes thinking, “Oh man I dont want to miss this penalty. I dont want to be the person which makes my team lose. What can I do to not miss?”. Hes so focussed on not missing the penalty that he does indeed miss the penalty. In shootouts, Havertz’s penalty record is 3/6 thats 50%. Ronaldo has taken 14 penalties in shootouts converting 12 and missing too with a rate of 84.5%.

I have tried adopting Ronaldo’s “I want to win” mindset instead of Havertz’s “I dont want to lose” mindset in tense situations very effectively. When I am about to give an important presentation or if I am playing a tennis match and on a decisive point, focussing on winning increases your odds of success dramatically. Try it! You wont regret it! Although I single out Havertz in this post, there are tons of footballers who are less successful than Ronaldo. Havertz is just an example to drive a point home. So yeah Ronaldo mindset is all you need.