By: Julie Bauke
Can you remember a day when your sport did not dominate your thoughts, your time, or your conversations?
If you are like most professional or elite athletes, you probably can’t even remember a day when you weren’t identified first or second as an athlete. In a culture that is obsessed with sports, your “cool factor” went way up every time a new acquaintance learned what you did with most of your time. Everything else that you are, or want to be, takes a back seat to conversations and questions about the locker room, the playing field, your teammates, or even specific plays or moments. Believe me, people don’t swarm accountants or breathlessly hang onto every little detail about the last time they closed the company books, or ask “What’s Ruth in Payroll REALLY like?”
As you consider the next step in your career and your life, it may be a challenge to get people to look at the “whole you.” And if you haven’t stepped back and gotten comfortable with the “whole you,” and are able to discuss that person with others, you are destined to stay where you are. And if that is okay with you, fine. But if you want to reposition yourself for success off the field, that journey starts with your belief that you are more than an athlete.
What roles do you currently play?
Father, sister, brother, aunt? Volunteer in your community? Peacemaker in your family? Knife collector? Musician? History buff? Martial arts enthusiast? Poet?
What roles interest you?
Community board member? Broadcaster? Band Member? Advocate for homeless children? Business owner? Student? Husband? Fitness instructor?
No one plays just one role, or has just one interest. Maybe your circumstances have required that you live your life that way, but now is your chance to think big, then think bigger about YOU.
What hobbies or interest did you have when you were younger? What did you have to put aside for your sport? What has caught your interest as an adult? What are you curious about? What was your major in college? What would you have wanted to do or be if your athletic career had ended earlier?
Don’t worry that you don’t have the experience you think you need. You have discipline, motivation, a track record of achievement and the ability to focus and overcome obstacles. Not too many people can say that, regardless of profession, education or experience. And what a great starting point for whatever you will be next!
No one is asking that you leave your identity as an athlete behind. It is and will always be a big part of who you are. Your next challenge is to build on that role, add to it, stretch beyond it to what you will be next. Yes, at times, it will be scary, challenging, frustrating, and overwhelming. But what in life that is worthwhile isn’t?
Julie is a career strategist and President of Congruity Career Consulting. She is the author of "Stop Peeing on Your Shoes: Avoiding the 7 Mistakes That Screw Up Your Job Search."
Her website is CongruityCareer.com.
www.congruitycareer.com
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