50 years of soccer, 30 years of reading, 15 years of note-taking
All this time has been spent polishing and forging wisdom,
Now is the time for us to listen to Son Woong-jung's life lessons!

As knowledge and wisdom increase, it may seem like I have a lot to gain, but knowing what to discard also means knowing exactly what I should focus on.
_"leader"

A vessel must be empty to contain something.
The more empty your vessels are, the more you can contain.
So, in my case, I initially reduced the number of dishes.
_"cleaning"

I dare say that I feel like I've become a slightly better person after reading the book than before.
_"speculation"

Former South Korean soccer player and current soccer coach Son Woong-jung's book, "I Read, Write, and Throw Away," has been published by Nanda Publishing.
This book is a compilation of several interviews conducted with poet Kim Min-jeong between March 2023 and March 2024, based on reading notes written by Director Son Woong-jeong since 2010.
This book is filled with witty and accurate literary metaphors, a fresh perspective that allows readers to see the daily grind of problem-solving in a new way, and a warm, sincere heart that humorously and subtly teaches readers how to fish rather than just giving them fish. Readers will be deeply impressed by the intimacy of having a one-on-one conversation with Director Son Woong-jung, as well as the simple philosophy that underlies it.
The thirteen keywords covered in this book, which can be considered a life lesson from Coach Son Woong-jung, who has lived fiercely throughout his life and athletics, are as follows.
Basics, home, old age, dignity, leader, coach, parent, cleaning, exercise, reading, reflection, insight, happiness.
It is literally “everything that can be shared when talking about life with a love of books.”
Director Son Woong-jung answers those who ask, “When you’re so busy and have so much to do, where do you find time to read books?”
We're all busy, so we need to intentionally make time to read.
It's the only chance to grow, so isn't it only natural that we have to make time for it? (Leader)
None of us are born with a life guide, but books can play that role ("Basics").

There's nothing else to see.
Let's take a look at our lives.
How do you use a toilet?
How do you use a bed sheet?
How do you use table glass?
How do you use a desk drawer?
How do you use a car trunk?
So then, how do you use the office space?
It's probably a living space that we use every day, so what's the current condition of each space?
Will it always be clean?
We love being clean, but we find it very cumbersome to make it ourselves.
Because I'm lazy and indolent.

---From "Basics"

Yes, that's right.
In the end, discomfort is effort.
If I don't move my body, nothing happens.
But the fact that this discomfort persists means that, on the one hand, good habits are being formed for my body.
At first, the effort creates a habit, but then it creates the person.
Habits may seem like a thin spider web at first, but over time they become like a steel chain.
I sometimes say things like this during my lectures.
They say that lazy people are judged by what they don't do, and diligent people are judged by what they do.
The diligent person clears the snow and makes a path, while the lazy person just sits there waiting for the snow to melt.
Poet, you know exactly what I mean.
When it snows, I go out and sweep it right away.
If I write it, who will write it?
I use my eyes first. (Laughs) I'm speechless, but lazy people will starve to death even if they have rice cake soup right next to them.

---From "Basics"

Love is a temporary illness, and marriage is something that happens when a young man and woman fall in love blindly, without even realizing that they are blind.
Of course I was like that too, but we got married, had children, and ended up raising children again without learning the roles of a couple or a parent.
The horror of that ignorance is that parents, not knowing what to do, force their children into a mold.
To put it a bit broadly, it means that parents do not look at their children but rather look at themselves.
So how can parents know what their children like and what they dream of?
But in my case, it was a little different because both Anna and I dreamed of playing soccer.
It's still in progress.
A good example is worth a hundred explanations, so the best thing I could do was to get out on the playground before my child and run around more.

---From "Home"

I exercise every day.
Because I really like simple things.
Of course, due to my personality, I don't have time to put anything on my body.
I sometimes joke that “if it shakes, it’s fat,” but I think I’ve been constantly thinking about the fundamental question of what kind of body I want to have in my old age, rather than the concept of dieting.
If I get old and my health is not good, I will be a great burden to those around me.

---From "Old Age"

My bed is in the middle of the room.
That way, you can clean both sides.
If I do that, there will be a space between the bed and the wall where I can fit my body and lie down, and it looks exactly like a coffin.
I just lie there once a day.
Then look back on the day.
If your life were to end today, what would you regret most?
That's how you avoid regrets.

---From "Dignity"

Why would soccer be difficult?
I ask the kids.
It's the foot that's furthest from the brain.
Then the kids nod.
That's right.
Soccer is the sport that is furthest from the brain.
That's why it's said that it's better to kick the ball ten times than once, better to kick it a hundred times than ten times, and better to kick it a thousand times than a hundred times.
Repetitive training is the only answer, that's what they say.
As I said before, if you want to go fast, you can go alone, but if you want to go far, you have to go together.
I believe that a leader must be someone who has both far-sighted insight and the ability to lead.
It seems like leadership isn't something that can be achieved through education alone, but rather a kind of job that can be done by people who are born with that potential.
Whether it's quick judgment, uprightness of mind, or generosity in service and giving.
Anyway, a leader must be someone who knows how to clean up the mess made by his team members.
Regardless of who did wrong, before determining who was right or wrong, someone who first cleans up the smell and makes the air in the organization more pleasant.
In any case, a leader must be someone who understands the responsibility of shouldering all these burdens.

---From "Leader"

It's about focusing and thinking.
“That’s not all I teach.
That's your idea plus.
Use your head.
You're not playing soccer alone.
There's always an opposing defense next to you.
Keep changing your virtual defensive positions and use your head to figure out what play you should make each time.
Football is improvisation.
Football is about moments.
“Soccer is all about the head.” They say once you step onto the field, you have to be fierce.
If you don't want to do that, go home.
Even now, when that happens, I get really annoyed.
Look, look! That means quickly recognizing the spatial situation.
Short and simple! It all comes down to speed.
I can't stand seeing you delaying with the ball.

---From "Coach"

That's courage.
There may be a different definition in the dictionary, but that's the definition I came up with.
Courage is the ability to move forward when you can't do anything else.
Who among us isn't in dire straits right now?
Isn't that the same for everyone? A courageous person starts by going.
And for the brave, there is a way.

---From "Coach"

When parents' anxiety about whether their child will go out and cause an accident or hang out with bad kids is passed on to their child, it causes an adverse reaction.
If you are cowardly, you can be safe.
It's like a relief when a ship is tied up in port.
But are you only thinking about my safety and not the child?
If something you started for the sake of your child ends up being for your own sake, then you've missed the mark.
When it comes to children's education, I always approach it from the perspective of the other person.
When I was young, I put my thoughts first and my spontaneous feelings last.

---Among the "Parents"

It's a habit after all.
That's what I do to my kids.
Don't leave any traces of where you stayed.
Don't drop a single piece of trash.
I must not do even one thing that would make someone else feel uncomfortable when they sit in the seat I used to sit in.
Our academy clock is set ten minutes ahead of the hour.
Why, because everyone knows my personality. (Laughs) I get in the car to see if I'm a good person to work with and what the back seat looks like.
Let's open the trunk to see if it's organized or not.
After all, isn't life a struggle to become a better person? Even if you fight tooth and nail, can you really call someone perfect or complete?
That's something that can never be fixed.
Where is the perfect person, where is the finished person?
So, let's keep cleaning, let's keep thinking, let's keep exercising, let's keep reading.
Let's pursue value, not success.

---From "Cleaning"

In other words, what that means is that through the process of constantly lifting and lowering this weight and that weight, I come to know my body, understand my body, and perhaps even accept its limitations.
Exercise humbles people.
If there is something that is beyond my ability, I make sure to admit it right then and there.

---From "Exercise"

We're not trying to compete in reading.
It's not about beating others, owning more than others, having a higher position than others, or ruling over others.
When you tell people to read books, they all say they are busy and don't have time.
They say that they have time to eat delicious food, watch fun things, and sleep comfortably, but no time to read books.
Actually, it's not easy for me to focus on exercising and reading every day.
But as I continue to do this difficult thing, my life becomes easier.
Because I do these two things every day - hard exercise and hard reading - my life really becomes easier.

---From "Reading"

I've said the same thing a hundred, a thousand times.
Because it's a book.
If you want to be good at soccer, it's a book. If you want to be good at working out, it's a book. If you want to be good at cooking, it's a book. If you want to be good at organizing, it's a book.
I dare say that I feel like I've become a slightly better person after reading the book than before.
At least when I see something good and learn about it, I feel like I want to share it with as many people as possible.
As I mentioned earlier about perspective, if I hadn't known about the book, I would probably still be looking at the world through a narrow lens, without understanding the concept of perspective.
In any situation, you need to have enough vision to find answers and solve problems.
Anyway, I would say that the help and benefit of books is everything that has led me to try to emulate the ideal type of parent, adult, or leader that I envision.

---From "Thoughts"

The sports club was probably the most violent and primitive group.
If it doesn't fit, you won't be able to sleep at night. That's not normal.
A group that is properly dressed in uniform, but if you don't feel like you're all exercising naked, you can't fit in and are forced to wander around.
When I come back from a personal workout in the middle of winter, my arms and armpits are dripping with pimples.
There may have been some sleeping ones, but the ones that were awake must have seen me.
When I came back from my personal exercise on a midwinter night, I saw kids huddled together like baby swallows, blankets spread out on the floor, watching TV.
At that time, that kid was looking at us with a different look in his eyes.
I think it wasn't that I was afraid of being bullied, but rather that I was more focused on myself every moment, worried that I might become lazy and complacent, or that the tension inside me might loosen.
I didn't want to live like that.
So it's true that I tried not to live like that.

---From "Insight"

sure.
Children become aware of their parents' attention and focus, like ghosts.
No matter what difficulties they face, if a child feels that their parents are by their side, they will not see the difficulties as obstacles but as stepping stones.
“It’s okay, it’s okay to fall, it’s okay to be slow, you can get across.” Parents are people who follow their children, not people who pull them from the front.
Even if it's the same wind, a candle goes out in the wind, but a bonfire burns better in the wind.
Just like that, a kite flies more smoothly when it is facing away from the wind.
It's true that kites fly better against the wind than with it.
Parents make the mistake of thinking that if their children do well, it is their own luxury.
That's absolutely not true.
The old saying that a smart child is a child of the country, a rich child is a child of the in-laws, and only the child who was bullied as ugly stays by my side, I realized that there is not a single thing wrong with that saying.

---From "Happiness"