World-Class Excellence: The Necessity of Rigorous Discipline

Recently, soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo set a record—the first in human history—of 900 goals. Growing up under a father addicted to drugs and alcohol and a mother who worked as a cleaner, he spent a childhood that was not very well-off. He could not mingle with his peers because he was poor, but he started soccer through the pure joy he felt when kicking a ball. Like other players, his effort truly transcends imagination. According to his former Real Madrid teammate Gareth Bale, he was the player who arrived at the training ground first and remained there last. To become a world-class figure like Ronaldo, not only in sports but also in other fields, an effort that no one else can do is required. Such effort is not just a problem of one's own. A unique desire to become world-class can create such effort, but most people cannot achieve the effort worthy of a world-class name on their own. Because one cannot achieve such effort alone, help from those around them is necessary.