Decisions, Decisions… An Article by Luke Chadwick

We have decisions to make on a daily basis, in fact on a minute to minute basis a lot of the time, either consciously or subconsciously we’re forever making them. Some are quite simple and some are very hard. But regardless of the size of them we are forever making them, which is a good thing right? It gives us ownership of every situation we’re in, we’re in charge and we decide the right course of action.

But it can also be very challenging, usually when it comes to those big decisions in life that don’t only impact you but your family as well. Now I’m quite an impulsive decision maker I always have been, I often go with my heart as I trust my feelings more than my thoughts the majority of the time which has at times served me very well and at times caused me to make ill informed decisions but that’s life isn’t it, I’m sure we’ve all done it?

As a footballer I played for a number of different football teams, one of the reasons for this was when it stopped feeling right for me I was keen to move on to have a different experience. My decision was never based around financial gain; it was all about doing what I loved doing most which was playing the beautiful game. Money was never a massive motivator for me, if it was a choice of playing regularly for less money I would always take it. I would make impulsive decisions to move on and never really consider the consequences that it may mean for my family.

I don’t regret any of my decisions though which could be seen as quite selfish but they were choices I thought were right at the time and still do now, despite the fact I could be sitting in a bigger house and nicer car!! But do material things really create happiness in life? I personally don’t think they do but the decisions we make do have a massive impact on it.

When I first stopped playing football I began making the wrong decisions on a regular basis and for a period stopped caring if they were wrong or right, I was struggling mentally and had pretty much just given up. When a negative mindset takes over it’s very hard to make the right decisions. But with support I started to realise this and slowly worked on myself to come to terms with my thoughts which in turn improved my decision making process.

It was around this time of self reflection I realised I had to make a big decision, I was in a job I wasn’t enjoying and couldn’t see myself doing long term. This gave me great fear as I didn’t know what else I could do outside my safety blanket of being involved in professional football. But I knew I had to be brave and try something different and again as I alluded to early the heart ruled my head and I was quick to follow.

This is when I started a new journey at the Football Fun Factory still involved in football but in a completely different way. One of the first franchisees of the company, a business owner, my destiny in my own hands. And I’m pleased to say it was one the best decisions I’ve ever made. I was proud of myself which gave me so much confidence, of course there were challenges but I was ready for them and faced them head on.

As my role has evolved at the company I’m now a director and lead on the Discovery Phase of our opportunities which entails talking to potential new Head Coaches (franchisees) about joining our team. And I’m of course very conscious of what a big decision this is to make, having been someone that had already made it. And this allows me to show empathy in these conversations and never rush anyone in making a decision but simply understand them and share information with honesty and transparency. Sometimes this results in new Head Coaches joining our team and sometimes it doesn’t, which is absolutely fine so long as the person I’m talking to is satisfied with their decision.

As I said at the start we all have decisions to make all the time, and we all go through a very different process to do this. The most important thing is that we are making our own decisions and believing in the choices we make. We all make the wrong ones sometimes but the lessons we learn from them can make it just as worthwhile as the good ones.