Lionel Messi: Are You Hungry Enough to Sacrifice?

A note to young leaders.

Are you hungry enough to give up pizza?

By 2014, Lionel Messi was already a four-time Ballon d’Or winner.

And yet, when it came to his diet, he was still the boy from Rosario who had wandered into greatness without bothering to change what he ate: pizza, red meat, milanesa, chocolate and Sprite.

For years he’d been throwing up on the pitch. The evidence was damning. But talent is an excellent lawyer for bad habits – it’ll get you acquitted every time.

Then the universe called – as it always does.

After Argentina’s loss to Germany in the World Cup final in Brazil – a Spanish outlet leaked the Barcelona squad’s meal plans. There, in black and white, was Messi’s double cheese pizza and Sprite.

So how did Messi respond?

He could have issued one of those hollow statements where a famous person laments that a private matter has been made public. He didn’t. Instead, he boarded a plane to Sacile – a small Italian town about 90km from Venice – and placed himself in the hands of nutritionist Giuliano Poser.

Poser reduced Messi’s diet to seven pillars: water, olive oil, whole grains, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, fish and nuts. No sauces, no pizza and no sugar. And he warned Messi: “You’re always good enough to get away with it – right up until the day you’re not.”

Messi listened. He didn’t need to. But he was still hungry.

When he returned to Barcelona, he was 3kgs lighter. The next season he scored 58 goals, laid on 26 assists, won the treble, and reclaimed the Ballon d’Or he had surrendered to Ronaldo. A season that his younger, more gifted, worse-fed self could never have delivered.

Everyone dreams of success. The hard part is what you’re willing to sacrifice for it.

What’s holding you back? What’s your pizza? And are you hungry enough to give it up?