It's hard to argue that David Beckham is one of the coolest gentlemen alive right now, and his casual coolness is one of the main reasons he has become a global superstar.
It's difficult to describe, but Beckham's furrowed brow and chiseled features give him a certain mystique of coolness for the vast majority of his waking hours, but it's not an uncrackable code.
In fact, simply by looking back over what we know of Mr. Beckham and where he is today, we can draw a few lessons as to how to approach certain situations.
Know The Environment And Plan Ahead
As a professional footballer, you can certainly get away with the blonde tips, or the mohawk, or any of the unusual looks he tried out, but he has aged and become a father, there's a noticable shift towards an understated style.
In everyday life, even a pair of comfy tracksuit bottoms can look well if it's an appropriate place to wear them, and you don't always have to dress to impress, but at the same time you don't want to look out of place. Plan ahead.
When You Excel, Bask In The Ambiance
You've got to enjoy your successes, but overdoing can begin to make you look obnoxious. Instead, a cool, maybe borderline smug, bask in one's own glory is usually the right call.
Although David's teammate at AC Milan, Pippo Inzaghi, would likely argue against that.
Draw Inspiration From New Experiences
Get our of your comfort zone and try new things.
How easy would it have been for David Beckham to move back to England with West Ham or someone similar after he left Real Madrid? Instead he founded the MLS (pretty much), and not content with that he felt the need to experience the football in Italy with AC Milan, and France with PSG, basically seeking out experiences in amazing places to broaden his horizons.
David Beckham, one of the most effortlessly cool human beings of our time.
Simplicity Is Key
It's as good a piece of advice on a football pitch as it is in many other aspects of life.
Becks was never one to throw countless step-overs or tricks, he got the ball down and played it. Off the pitch, he's considered a style icon, and it's because (after a few experiments of course) he sticks to the basics, nothing too flashy, and it makes his dapper appearance look effortless.
Acknowledge That Everyone Makes Mistakes
Two classic examples as to why nobody is perfect from David Beckham's past; his choice to wear a 'sarong' while on holiday with Victoria, and his sending off against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup.
It can happen to the best of us, and David Beckham doesn't hide from it as he will regularly make light of moments where he was not at his best.
It's How You Recover That Defines You
In 2015, David Beckham was voted sexiest man alive by People magazine, and at the 2002 World Cup he exercised his Argentine demons with a match-winning performance.
Roll with the punches.
Don't Allow Yourself To Be Rushed
You would think that if a shot was going to be taken, it would need to allow time for a corner, or another phase of play to develop should a goal not be scored, but instead the England captain went all in by taking his time.
He went through his full routine, settled himself, and perfectly executed what he wanted to achieve. You can apply that tactic to many other things in life, even if it's as simple as getting up five minutes earlier in the morning.
The Selected By Beckham collection with H&M is now available in stores.
