One of the great lessons I've learned in athletics is that you've got to discipline your life. No matter how good you may be, you've got to be willing to cut out of your life those things that keep you from going to the top.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The great thing about athletics is that it's like poker sometimes: you know what's in your hand, and it may be a load of rubbish, but you've got to keep up the front.
You've got to be a disciplined person if you want to succeed both in sport and in life.
I think one has to understand that there are stages in life, and that the life of an athlete has its limits. It's short, and then it stops, and sooner or later you have to accept that.
Just kidding, I've been very athletic all my life.
You really don't do anything else in your life; it's a very little bubble that you grow up in. And you have to live in that bubble because of the intensity of the sport.
The great thing about sports is you constantly have to prove yourself. You constantly have to go out there and do it, day in and day out.
Don't walk through life just playing football. Don't walk through life just being an athlete. Athletics will fade. Character and integrity and really making an impact on someone's life, that's the ultimate vision, that's the ultimate goal - bottom line.
When you're an athlete, you've got the horse blinders on pretty thick. Your exploration of other things in life tends to be limited because you have to have such a focus on what you're doing. I wasn't a good enough player to stray from that focus and still keep my ability.
You have to be positive, and I'm not just talking about athletics, this also applies to life.
I had discipline in other areas but certainly not in athletics.