The Zlatan Mindset
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a professional footballer from Sweden. He is considered one of the greatest goal scorers of all time. He’s played for the best teams in the world: Ajax (Holland), Juventus (Italy), Inter Milan (Italy), Barcelona (Spain), AC Milan (Italy), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Manchester United (England), and LA Galaxy (USA). He has won championships everywhere he has played—31 in total. He has scored over 570 goals in his career.
Zlatan Ibrahimović
In this COVID-affected season, Zlatan plays for AC Milan in Italy, for the second time in his career. He is currently the second-leading scorer in Italy’s top division—despite missing 10 games through injury. His 14 goals scored in 12 games trails Cristiano Ronaldo, the great Portuguese striker, who has scored 16 goals in 19 games.
Why the big deal?
Zlatan
Zlatan is doing this at the tender age of 39—he turns 40 this year.
In soccer, a player’s prime years are typically from 24 – 29. Once they hit the big 3-0, careers start to head downhill. Performance suffers. Injuries mount. The rigours of playing a tough sport for so many years take its toll. Retirement beckons.
But Zlatan continues to defy the odds. He still performs at an elite level. His goal production is evidence.
What’s his secret? How can this athlete continue to confound the experts and perform like this?
It’s all in his head. It’s his mentality. The Zlatan mindset.
The secret is not how much you spend, the secret is in your head—how much you want it, how much you’re willing to sacrifice. That’s the secret. It’s the mentality and mentality doesn’t cost a thing.
Most players his age have long since retired and can only look back on their playing careers. Zlatan keeps playing at the highest level. He doesn’t have anything to prove. He has amassed a fortune and doesn’t need the money. So why keep going?
He does it for his love of the game.
I’m 39 and with what I have done, I have no obligation to work anymore, but I still have this passion for what I’m doing. I’m never satisfied, and I always want more.
The Zlatan Mindset
Zlatan would be the first to admit he isn’t the same physically today as he was in his twenties. He takes longer to recover. He needs more sleep. But he continues to train, to maintain peak fitness that allows him to thrive in the modern game as a 40-year-old.
And it’s not just his skills as a footballer that astonish. His attitude—his will to win, sacrifice himself, and the inspiration to his teammates—has had a huge effect on his present team. AC Milan is one of the great club sides in world football. But one that has been mired in mediocrity for the past ten years.
Since Zlatan has returned to the Milan, he has single-handedly changed the team’s mentality, placing them at the top of the league table. The same mindset that has sustained his career for so long is driving his team to achieve more than anyone thought possible this season.
Except, that is, for Zlatan.
How can a story about a guy who hasn’t even hit 40 inspire the anti-ager?
I’d measure his career as his longevity. He played his first game as a professional in 1999. For over 20 years he has performed at an elite level achieved by few. For literally every one of those years.
He’s in the “old age” of his football career, but outperforming men half his age. Just like today’s anti-ager can do if they adopt the right mindset and lifestyle.
Any anti-ager who adopts a Zlatan mindset would undoubtedly benefit the quality of his life, especially in the later years. A mindset of passion, purpose, work ethic, and discipline.
And like Zlatan says—“it doesn’t cost a thing”.
