Do you have 20/20 vision?

The internet is a funny place this time of year. The number of memes and quotes with the theme of “new year, new me” are interesting – as if a new page on a calendar magically makes you a new person. Let’s come back to this later. 

It’s no secret that #SportsBiz faced a lot of challenges during 2020.  Organizations made difficult decisions to either furlough staffs or cut in specific areas to keep the ship afloat.  Front Office Sports stated earlier this week that nearly a third of the 1.3M people employed in sports-related jobs before the pandemic were out of work in April (according to New York Times). Furthermore, over the last 9 months individuals that have spent their entire career working in our industry have had to decide on if working in sports is the best fit to support their families for the foreseeable future.

Those that have been fortunate enough to still be on the team side are not out of the woods yet, however we are starting to see the light through the trees (personal opinion).

As most leaders in our business can relate, 2020 has been extremely difficult to navigate. Yes, we’ve all had to make some tough decisions. However, not having the ability to control most of the elements that influence our professional world is very frustrating and at times – can drive you mad. 

With all of this in mind, this year has given me clarity on a couple of things that I thought I would share in the hopes of potentially helping others in this business.

“Make sure your house is in order”. Who misses traveling? I never thought I would say I miss flying, as well as all the frustrations that go along with that process – but I do. Every time we fly, we hear the flight attendants sharing that "should the cabin lose pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the overhead". Then they state some form of “please place the mask over your own mouth and nose before assisting others”. This same theory applies to every leader in sports. We can’t lead, coach, mentor or help our teammates unless we are squared away ourselves.

“How you do one thing, is how you do everything”. Working in sports is a lifestyle, as there is no such thing as “work/life balance”. If you’re looking to break into sports, and someone told you differently they lied to you. The lifestyle we live at times has negative consequences on personal relationships, as well as our physical and mental health. I have personally struggled with this balance in the past, as I’m sure many others have as well. This year should’ve have taught us that putting the same type of effort into our mind, body and spirt as we do at work is long overdue.

“No one is coming to save you”. If we have learned anything from this year, it’s that you can’t solely rely on your employer, the government, or some magic fairy with pixie dust to come save you. No – I’m not making some form of a political statement here. I spent too much time in the Military to do that. The point is you must take care of yourself, and no one can save you but you. If you're holding out hope of anything else you are setting yourself up for failure.

“Love the process”. Those that know me, know I’m a BIG fan of Ed Mylett in addition to a lot of other influential Entrepreneurs - I'm a bit of a nerd with Podcasts. In a recent interview Ed Mylett had with Dr. Andrew Huderman, they discuss that dopamine is released in the brain anytime we are moving towards something. This is NOT obtained by accomplishing your goals, but rather during the process of striving towards them. This is why the self-talk of "I'll be happy when I'm promoted to XYZ position, or paid $X, or insert favorite team/league here" is only going to result in disappointment. If you fall in love with the process, you’ll fall in love with the work, and the work will lead you where ever you want to go.

So back to my point at the beginning, “new year, new me”. To think you’ll be an entirely new person when you wake up tomorrow on New Years Day is a bit delusional and ego driven. It shows a lack of self-awareness and understanding of the work that goes into accomplishing our goals. I’m not saying be discouraged and don’t start the change to better yourself – just understand that it is a process. 

I love using the analogy of a train. Think of an old school locomotive from an old western movie. If you don't like western movies, think of a movie like "Back to the Future III" or any "Harry Potter" - hopefully that hits all generations . When the train starts, it takes a while to get up to speed. However, when the train gets up to speed, and is fully in motion its hard to stop because it has momentum. It is in my opinion that 2021 will be a year in which sports will rebound, and if those of us that are still in this business what to capitalize – we need to start our trains now.

My hope is that 2020 gave you “20/20 vision” as well, and you have clarity on your goals and ambitions that you want out of this life because we only get one.  I know for me this was a year of frustration, adversity, and fear of the unknown. However, it was also a year of appreciation, personal growth, learning, purpose, and vision on how I need to make an impact moving forward.

I am determined to put out more content in the effort of making a greater impact and giving back to an industry that has given me so much over the last 10 years. The focus will be on leadership, coaching, training, sales, and best practices within the Sports Industry. I’m big on branding everything, so maybe a series called #SportsBizNuggets? I work in Sports, for the Nuggets...you get it. Not sold on the name, so stay tuned… 

Happy New Year!

-Elliott