I like to view life as a transition, and I'd love to see this sport shift too. Rather than retirement from sport, it's a transition out of sport and into something else that is aligned with where you are at in life.
I'll use myself as an example. I had my own massage business for 16 years; I didn't retire from massage when I closed my business. I transitioned out of it and into full-time uni. I then transitioned from full-time uni to full-time job seeker and part-time uni student, and finally transitioned into an entry-level job in my next meaningful career.
Athletes aren't behind for choosing a professional athlete as their first career; it's simply their first career choice. What can put them behind is the lack of financial support to pursue this. Some sports pay better than others, and sometimes athletes need to make the choice of how long they can realistically keep chasing the sports dream, whatever that may be.
I’ve taken a few days off between the long weekends to ‘recharge’. But I keep feeling that I should be doing something. It’s not a productive week off if it isn’t crammed full of jobs and todo lists, right?
Thankfully one of my ‘jobs’ was to catch up on Substack posts.
So thank you for the reminder / nudge to break the loop this week and just enjoy doing not much without feeling guilty.
Great article Ben and really hit home when I needed a gentle reminder on just running my own race. An old cliché, but life is a marathon (if we’re lucky), not a sprint.
Another great article Ben! Interesting to read the evolution of your fear, what started as a fear of being behind others seemed to shift along the way. In a world where we are so exposed to ‘where others are up to in their life’, or at least our perception of where they are up to based on the highlights reel they share publicly, staying focused on the process and not the outcome is a great way to push back on this fear of being behind.
Thanks mate and 100%. Gotta look past the highlight reels, or not watch them, or just accept people are at different places in life/careers and that’s ok.
Offft!
I like to view life as a transition, and I'd love to see this sport shift too. Rather than retirement from sport, it's a transition out of sport and into something else that is aligned with where you are at in life.
I'll use myself as an example. I had my own massage business for 16 years; I didn't retire from massage when I closed my business. I transitioned out of it and into full-time uni. I then transitioned from full-time uni to full-time job seeker and part-time uni student, and finally transitioned into an entry-level job in my next meaningful career.
Athletes aren't behind for choosing a professional athlete as their first career; it's simply their first career choice. What can put them behind is the lack of financial support to pursue this. Some sports pay better than others, and sometimes athletes need to make the choice of how long they can realistically keep chasing the sports dream, whatever that may be.
Love transition and “evolution” or evolving
Thanks Ben for a great article and a reminder.
I’ve taken a few days off between the long weekends to ‘recharge’. But I keep feeling that I should be doing something. It’s not a productive week off if it isn’t crammed full of jobs and todo lists, right?
Thankfully one of my ‘jobs’ was to catch up on Substack posts.
So thank you for the reminder / nudge to break the loop this week and just enjoy doing not much without feeling guilty.
It’s not rest if you’re feeling guilty!
Great article Ben and really hit home when I needed a gentle reminder on just running my own race. An old cliché, but life is a marathon (if we’re lucky), not a sprint.
Let’s Just. Keep. Moving.
Cheers Nate! Yep! Let’s just keep running our own races!
Another great article Ben! Interesting to read the evolution of your fear, what started as a fear of being behind others seemed to shift along the way. In a world where we are so exposed to ‘where others are up to in their life’, or at least our perception of where they are up to based on the highlights reel they share publicly, staying focused on the process and not the outcome is a great way to push back on this fear of being behind.
Thanks mate and 100%. Gotta look past the highlight reels, or not watch them, or just accept people are at different places in life/careers and that’s ok.
In different places and also on different paths. Can’t be ‘behind’ when we’re all on our own paths.