Build a Dream Team for Success beyond Sport
Athletes are used to having all kinds of people with various skills supporting them to become the best they can be, to fulfill the dream. It is no different in life beyond sport—retired athletes don’t have to do it all on their own. They can benefit from creating their own dream team to help get a new business off the ground, gain ground in an unfamiliar industry, manage projects within a corporation or to enjoy the lifestyle they desire. Here are the type of people I want on my team to create the same level of success enjoyed in sport…or greater:#1: Coach
A personal or professional coach can teach new skills, train to optimize talents and keep one accountable. Have you ever tried to stay in the same shape or do drills on your own at the same level you did with a coach? It’s hard! Behind every high-achiever there is always someone on the sidelines guiding and supporting them with their wisdom and experience.
Imagine how things might be if you still had someone in your career, and in your relationships, to give you a game plan and help you prepare to play! What if you had someone you respected by your side every step of the way to point you in the right direction and tell you exactly what you need to do in order to achieve your personal dreams?
There are many styles of coaches away from the sports field, including life coaches, business coaches, strategy coaches, relationship coaches and mindset coaches. A coach will keep you moving forward from one step to the next in the right direction until you get where you want to go. A coach will ensure you learn everything you need to from your mistakes and setbacks so they don’t repeat themselves. That one person is always there to keep you focused on solutions and improving your weaknesses.
#2: Mentor(s)
Having a mentor is usually a less formal arrangement than having a coach. Many successful people are happy and willing to share their knowledge and experience with another keen to get into the same business or profession. As an Olympian I have mentored many an upcoming athlete by sharing my experiences, from life on the world tour to training practices.
Getting a mentor that has succeeded in an area of business that you wish to emulate gives you a perfect opportunity to model that success. To get a mentor all you have to do is ask! Many people are flattered to be asked. As long as it fits in with their schedule, they will very likely agree to mentor you to some degree. And if you persist, and use your team synergy skills you just learned, you may even have yourself a life-long mentor.
#3: Support Crew/Network
Who supports your dream? As athletes, most of us are lucky enough to have a kind of “extended team” of people who follow our progress and even get caught up in our dreams and ambitions, helping us get there in any way they can. These are not just cheerleaders. In the world of business, this is your network. Surround yourself with people that are willing to stand behind what you do because they believe in you.
Go to events, conferences and clubs where you can rub shoulders with like-minded professionals, especially those with similar goals or life paths with whom you can go the distance together. This becomes a mutual support team, a formal or informal group of people, whom you admire, respect, and learn from. Why hang around people that want to pull you down? Ideally, your time is spent with people “on the same wave-length” who hold you up to a high standard of achievement. Even better, they have surpassed your level of success and inspire you to shoot beyond what you thought possible.
As you grow and transition, developing a new career, you may start to mix in different circles, drifting away from some of your friends. That is a natural cycle. Now that you have left your sporting career behind, you will need to consider the balance between maintaining contact with that lifestyle and creating a new one to continue to develop a network that supports you, and possibly even your new identity. It’s not something you need to do dramatically and cut ties with life-long friends, as I’ve seen some people do. You may, however, need to make tough decisions if a person is constantly draining your energy or is holding you back. Be with the people who energize you and help lift your game.
# 4: Specialized Support
In sport, there are always doctors, chiropractors, physical therapy specialists, sponsors, media, even concessions staff on the sidelines making sure you get the proper nourishment and replenishment. Who do you need to help you achieve your dream in life beyond sport? They probably won’t just be there waiting for you in the wings when you get started. You have to go out and find the right professionals with the skills you need to launch your new career or reach your life goals.
Find those with specialized knowledge that you don’t have. If you are going into business for yourself, think about what kind of specialized support you will need. Do you need partners? Investors? Do you need to have referral partners in another organization to refer business to each other? Do you need financial support staff, an accountant, a financial planner or advisor? As you put together your dream team, you may find that staff or advisors that specialize in accounting, marketing, administration, internet and website development are critical to your career’s growth.
Start working out who you need on your own dream team to drive you toward success.
For more information on how to successfully transition after sport, please visit http://www.successbeyondsport.com and sign up for the free mini-Ecourse.
Self-Belief beyond Sport
I think a key to an athlete’s success is their unwavering belief in themselves and their own ability. This self-belief does not always cross over to skills outside of sport and can contribute to the struggle athletes’ face on retirement.Beliefs are aspects of life that we believe to hold true. What I believe determines my reality, what you believe determines your reality. So how do we come to believe different things? It often comes down to our experiences, particularly our experiences growing up.
Research shows that our experiences within our first 7 years of life are very instrumental in determining our beliefs, in shaping our beliefs. They can be shaped by our parents and what we see happening with our parents and around our community, or church. Think now about what you believe. What do you believe about your abilities, what do you believe about life?
I mean we all believe the world is round. But at one time in life, people thought the world was flat. And that was their reality. They hadn’t seen anything different.
So, what sort of beliefs are helping you or holding you back?
Some beliefs are great like “I am going to the Olympics.” I had a self-belief that I could do it and so that drove me to train and persist until I achieved it in 2000. I am sure there are things that you pushed for and created because you believed you could do it. I am also sure there are some things you are not doing because you believe they are not possible.
In particular, what do you believe about your ability to succeed in areas outside of sport? What do you believe about finance? Are you good with money? What about career, relationships, health.
I have now created an amazing life after sport because I broke through beliefs about what I could have in life. I chose to believe that I could continue on doing what I was doing, traveling around the world and have an amazing relationship that supported that. Before that I limited myself by thinking I had to choose between one and another. How often do we think we have to choose between one thing and the other? And then that becomes our life - one of compromise.
Think about some things you might have believed from when you were young – are you good enough, pretty enough, do you have what it takes? Sport is easy, math is hard. The list goes on, the beliefs list. It all goes back to points in time when you decide to believe something.
For example, I was at an airport watching this frustrated man berate his wife after a struggle through security. They had 3 tiny kids with them looking uncomfortable as their parents argued. The eldest little boy stuck up for his mom at one point saying it was not her fault. The father was doing the best he could with a difficult situation, however, at the heat of the moment he told the boy “life is hard and you had better get used to it”.
This little kid is probably 7-8 years old, and with that statement from his father a new belief was most likely shaped right there. I can just imagine him in 20 years time thinking “life is hard” and his life reflecting that. This is the power of the mind in determining our life. The good news is that beliefs can change. The first step is awareness. When you realize that you can choose what you believe then you are a big step forward in creating success in anything you desire, including beyond sport.
Annette Huygens Tholen is a former international beach volleyball player and participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. She experienced the difficulties of transition from sport and is now a Master Results Coach and International speaker using her learnings and experience to empower athletes to reproduce emotional and financial success in their life after sport. Annette also teaches seminars for the world's biggest NLP Coaching and Training Organisation -The Christopher Howard Companies. For more information on how to successfully transition after sport, please visit http://www.annetteffect.com.au and sign up for the free mini-Ecourse.
