The Mindset of a Winning Team with Ryan Christie

Today on the podcast, I’m joined by Bournemouth and the Scotland midfielder Ryan Christie.

Ryan relates his lifelong love of football, having been immersed in the sport for as long as he can remember. He recalls an early memory of his father Charlie, a footballer and coach in his own right, taking him to the pitch and showing him the ropes near the end of his own storied career.

He shares his unique perspective as an athlete who turned his passion into a career as a youngster, not to mention the blessing of being able to counsel with his fellow pro footballer father. Coming from the Highlands, his journey saw him traveling across the country as his career progressed.

Ryan also discusses being coached by infectiously positive John “Yogi” Hughes during his early days with Celtic. “He flipped the way we played football the minute he came in,” Ryan says of him, adding that a mindset of optimism and sureness of victory was one of the greatest gifts he took away from being coached by Yogi.

Ryan also speaks on the hectic day-to-day when playing for a big club and the constant pressure to grow as a player that comes from such an environment. It is a matter, he says, of compartmentalizing your focus to avoid overwhelm—that when it was time to perform on the pitch, it was time to put personal and business issues aside until the game was over.

In addition, he talks about the dangers of social media and the importance of taking care of one’s mental health, particularly as a modern player.

“If you start relying on [social media] as your source of confidence or acceptance, it kills you,” says Ryan, speaking for himself and his fellow teammates in the premier league. “The bigger you are in the sport, the more it can affect you.”

Finally, Ryan describes the moment his team qualified for a major tournament for the first time in 22 years in the Euro 2020 play-off final against Serbia. He remembers having watched Scotland “come so close, yet so far” year after year, and humbly elates the fact that he played a part in this massive win for the country.