As captain of the South Korean soccer team and a forward for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, Son Heung-min knows a thing or two about becoming a professional athlete.
In an interview with CNBC, Son shared his top tips about going pro and handling the pressures that include it.
“Sleep well, eat well and do what you wish, you understand, like stay within the training ground once you need six hours, seven hours, eight hours,” he told CNBC’s Arabile Gumede in a video interview Friday.
Even when distractions are in every single place, the game should all the time be the priority, Son believes.
“You may have so many options, like, I do not know, like video games, or like, that you simply all the time wish to do more, you understand, like, fidgeting with friends,” he said. “I believe you have to be all the time considering the primary thing is football.”
Son left South Korea at age 16 to affix the German soccer club Hamburger SV, with whom he made his first appearance in a top European soccer league in 2010. After then spending a while playing for Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen, he switched to London-based Tottenham in 2015 for £22 million ($26.9 million).
Son also addressed a few of the biggest lessons he has learned from his profession to date.
“I believe the teachings are, just don’t attempt to chase your happiness,” he told CNBC. Many individuals continually seek for happiness, he says — when the truth is it could actually come from things right in front of you want your loved ones or job, Son believes.
Soccer star Son Heung-min shares top suggestions for making it as a professional athlete the most important lessons he’s learnt to date.
Photo by James Williamson – Ama | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
One in every of the important thing moments when this became clear to him was just before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when he got injured and was unsure if he would give you the option to guide the South Korean soccer team into the highest international tournament. Son had a fracture around his left eye, which forced him to play with a protective face mask.
“I used to be there so I used to be fidgeting with the mask,” he said. “I believe it’s only a lesson that I learnt because I believe positive. […] Happiness is crucial thing.”
One other way Son says he deals with the pressures of being a professional athlete is by falling back on his family and ensuring he talks to them about his mental health.
“I’m sad, they’re sad, we’re pleased and we’re all pleased,” he says. “You’ll be able to all the time share the sentiments; you’ll be able to all the time go along with the family.”
