Living in a world where everything is available in an instant is a major factor in breeding a culture of laziness and lack of fitness.

Want proof? Go watch a Sunday youth league match.

So what’s happening?

It’s simple, kids are following our example as adults. It’s like eating a piece of cake. If I ask you, “which part of the cake would you eat first?”. At least 99% of you will opt for your favourite part, and it’s the same for everything else in life.

We want to do the things we enjoy most first and we want to do them now. It’s the same for kids.

The old saying “no pain, no pleasure” is lost to most people.

Why have pain when we can just enjoy the pleasure?

Well, this attitude is having a real negative affect on the attitude of our kids. They want to play professional soccer but many aren’t ready to put the hard work in. They want to play ‘beautiful’ soccer, working on their showy skills, but when it comes to match play the lack of fitness and work ethic is there to be seen.

The best way to keep the dream of becoming an Asian soccer star, or any soccer star for that matter, is to have a change in mindset. Work on the hard stuff, the things you least enjoy doing but are essential, first. Get them out of the way before doing the stuff you do enjoy.

In other words work on the fitness, speed and agility first. Get them out of the way and you’ll have a lot more time to spend on developing the skills.

After all, i’m sure most people will agree to having an hour of pain before a couple of hours of pleasure.

Over the past few weeks i’ve been in contact with a number of coaches and scouts, and the overwhelming message seems to be the same. I’m not just talking about Sunday league clubs, but championship and premier league clubs as well.

It seems that even in the 21st century our kids are dogged by a stereotypical image towards Asian soccer talent, and a lot of this is our own fault. Parents and kids just don’t have the belief that they can really make it  into professional soccer, and many talented players don’t even try.

But worse than that is the fact that many of the talented kids just don’t have the work ethic needed to go all the way. The hours of hard training, the mental attitude, the commitment, these are all areas that we need to take more seriously.

Asian kids need to work twice as hard as anyone else just to get a crack at realising their full potential and this makes me mad!

One thing i’ve noticed about young Asian footballers is their habit to fade in to the background when they’re a minority especially when it comes to answering questions or being asked to be the centre of attention.

Most Asians will not volunteer themselves if they are outnumbered by different cultures or races, and this needs to change. Asian kids need to get mentally tough.

I speak from experience because I was guilty of this as well when I was younger. However, I broke through this ‘fear’ and decided to be the centre of attention of everything. The more you are noticed the more likely you are to get what you want.

So a message to young Asian soccer stars is that they shouldn’t be scared of putting themselves forward. Next time you’re asked a question or to do something, volunteer yourself and answer that question with confidence.

Trust me, you’ll feel a lot better about yourself and will see that more things will come to you.