96 years of world cup data taught me this lesson
I was salty this entire world cup.
I had to watch all those games, fans filling up bars, parading their jerseys, and Nigeria wasn’t in it.
When the Spanish team lifted the trophy. I was sort of happy for them. Particularly the young star, Lamine Yamal. The announcer yelled, “the Spanish team now win their second world cup.” I heard the roar in the crowd as they lifted their trophy. I remembered the joy I felt when I watched Nigeria play for the first time in USA ‘94. I’m still hoping.
Then I checked who else had won two world cups. I realized Spain ranked fifth place with the most trophies. A few seconds later, I realized only 8 teams in the world have won the world cup.
And this tournament has been happening since 1930.
What I found later in the data surprised me. I realized something I keep forgetting every time I get impatient with my own progress.
To win. You have to show up more and be comfortable losing.
If you don’t show up, you don’t win.
When you show up, you don’t definitely win, but you increase the odds of winning.
The countries with the most wins in the world cup have had the most appearances too.
Brazil has won 5 world cups. They have 23 appearances.
Germany – 4. 21 appearances.
Italy – 4. 18 appearances.
Argentina – 3. 19 appearances.
Setting aside FIFA’s politics for a second.
The more you get into the world cup, the more your likelihood of winning.
But here is the flip side. The teams with the most appearances also “lost” the world cup the most.
Brazil has not won the world cup 19 of those 23 times. Nigeria for instance has only appeared 6 times. They’ve “lost” the world cup, all six times. They have less losses (6) compared to Brazil’s 19.
Winners lose a lot more than those that never win.
The winning edge is that they just keep showing up consistently, and stay in the game.
You can’t just pray to show up once and win it all. The same happens in projects and professional life. You have to show up consistently to give a better chance of driving the outcome you want. I’ve seen this in my writing and I’ve also noticed it in my marketing and sales activities for my business.
The world cup is like the sales process.
For instance, at the beginning of the sales process is the qualifying stage, just like the world cup. Then you go all the way down, through each stage, to deal “won” or “lost.” From my experience, the only thing you can control is what you put into the sales funnel and how the deal progresses.
The outcome is not fully in your control. But the more you put quality inputs, the higher the odds of a quality outcome.
When you don’t show up, you keep delaying, wishing for the perfect conditions to align. While others are in the arena, losing daily on their way to success, you practice in your mind to play an ideal tournament that never happens.
I would still be comfortable, wondering why revenue doesn’t show up in my business, without doing the uncomfortable discovery calls that lead to more lost deals than wins.
Winning in life can come few and far between. The losses fill up the room a lot more than the wins.
So how do you stay encouraged when things get tough?
I’m learning that it’s about getting comfortable with losing more, as long as you’re playing a game you want to play.
Find your entry-point game, and play it over and over again.
What I keep noticing in my own work – the chase matters more than the trophy.
Once you lift the trophy, you immediately get the “is that all there is”
Choose your tournament. Find the entry game, and play it as many times as you want. Because the pursuit of your goal is more important than anything.
Whenever I have to help my clients with their sales process. We spend an enormous amount of time on the first couple of steps (setting up the outreach system, locking down the messaging, creating a prospect list). Sometimes, they think I’m stalling. I’m just setting the conditions for us to show up consistently to get on calls, despite the inevitable sea of rejection and losses that eventually lead to wins that lay ahead.
Here’s what I’ve tested and I’d invite you to try it out yourself: I pick the first step in the process – the entry point – and I make that the only metric I track for 90 days.
Not the outcome. Just the input.
With sales that entry-point is creating a clear list of possible prospects to reach out to.
In my writing, the entry-point is choosing a topic each week and writing for at least 15 minutes each morning of the week day. Not a full published post, just one sentence at a time.
Whatever project you build, don’t think solely about the outcome. Find the first door that gets you into the work and walk through it over and over for 90 days. You will learn a lot more from failing and losing than actually thinking some more.
Do it consistently for three months.
That’s enough time to track your progress without feeling too intimidated by a long term goal.
Closing Reflection:
Nigeria has 6 appearances and 0 trophies. I’m still showing up for them.
My only hope is they make more appearances.
Unlike the world cup, I don’t have to wait another 4 years to make an appearance on what I’m building.
Neither do you.
There are going to be more losses than wins. The most important thing you can do is increase the amount of times you show up. It’s easier to do this when you frontload and build a system that allows you to start over and over again.
So here’s my question for you today: “Are you confident that you show up enough for the things you say you want in life?”
Because that’s the only way you’re going to get it.
Yours truly,
Nifemi
P.S. I work as a go-to-market partner for technical founders, consultants, and coaches. If you are in the early-stages of building something and you’re looking to grow, hit reply and say “let’s talk.”
