How To Find Purpose As A Retired Athlete

So far, I’ve spent the majority of my life on the court shooting basketballs, outside running hills and in the gym lifting weights.

Through basketball, I’ve been able to meet a lot of people, build a lot of relationships and for a few years, I was able to live a life that most people aspire to live as a professional athlete.

I can honestly say that without sports, I have no idea where I’d be and so for that, I am extremely grateful.

But there comes a time for every athlete when you can’t be an athlete anymore.

Every athlete has to face retirement one day, whether it's by choice, injury or inability to get to the next level.

It’s one of the most challenging transitions that anyone can face in life because most athletes have only been that one thing for so long.

So how exactly do you face this when your sole purpose has been fixed on a sport?

How do you learn to move on from something that has been who you are for so long?

What is your purpose after the game is gone?

There are plenty of ways that you can answer these questions, but to me, it all starts with athletes honestly asking themselves these three questions below:

3 Questions To Figure Out Your Purpose As A Retired Athlete

1. What is the thing you cannot, not do?This, right here, is the key to your passion and purpose. When I started writing, most people were getting away from blogging because it wasn’t the “It” thing anymore. Podcasting had started to get popular and even though I started a podcast too, writing is still my go-to form of content all day, every day.

Why?

Because even though I might not be the best at it, I could never see myself not doing it. In fact, if getting paid for my writing work was never an option, I’d still do it because I enjoy doing it that much. Purpose is those who go above and beyond the basic duties outlined in their job descriptions. Purpose is those who do things and perform duties without questions or demands. THAT’S what purpose looks and sounds like.

Here’s a sample passion statement for you to fill out. If you can’t fill this out using your current job/profession/business, you’re probably in the wrong line of work.

I _______ (job/activity) because I couldn’t not ________ (job/activity). In fact, I would still do this even if I wasn’t making / could never make money doing it!

Maybe you don’t have anything you’ve ever done that fits into that statement. So next, ask yourself…

2. What are you willing to struggle for again? Chances are that you struggled a lot to become a highly-successful athlete. That path to success didn’t come without bumps, bruises, and obstacles.

When you’re starting something from the ground-up, you go through every up and down imaginable.

You fail, you make mistakes and from time to time, you want to quit.

What are you willing to go through that will give you this same feeling?

Nothing worth achieving comes without a fair amount of trial and error so figuring out what you’d be willing to sacrifice for again can mean finding another purpose where you least expect it to be. Happiness and purpose require struggle. If you really want to find another purpose, ask yourself, “What am I willing to suffer for again?”

3. What did you do when you weren’t playing sports?

How did you spend your time when you didn’t have practice, workout sessions or a game?

• Playing video games?
• Writing?
• Recording music?
• Watching movies?

What you do with your free time may not exactly be where you should spend the rest of your life — but there surely is something within those activities that contain the seeds of your purpose. Furthermore, ask yourself the following questions:

• Whyam I doing this “thing”?
• What benefitsdo I get from this activity?
• What do people tell me/ask mewhen they learn that I do this?
• What could happen if I did this all the time, with a bit more structure?

Again, these answers may not tell you your specific purpose, but asking and answering these questions will get the wheels of your mind turning towards finding that purpose.

Conclusion

Despite what anyone says, purpose matters, a lot.

A person in any line of work who has no purpose is uninspiring, underwhelming and ultimately underachieving — even when he/she is really good at what they do, because the purpose, the whyis missing.

We have a sixth sense for when a person is just doing a job versus living their purpose.

To be great at anything, you need a combination of can-doAND want-to.

Have the discipline to ask yourself some tough questions, and the confidence to follow the answers, wherever they may take you.

Your purpose depends on it.

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Malcolm Lemmons is a former professional athlete turned entrepreneur and author. To check out more content, visit his website at www.malcolmlemmons.com.