Why Retired Sportspeople Struggle in the Workplace

Like all athletes and all entrepreneurs, I spent a large portion of my life on drugs.

Imagine you spend years pumped up on a cocktail of feel-good drugs. You got a hit of these drugs every day. One day, it all stops and you cannot rediscover that same fix.

This is what happens when professional athletes retire and enter the workplace.

It also happens an entrepreneur when she has made her money by selling a startup. Despite being financially free, she rolls the dice again, because she is having withdrawal symptoms and wants to rediscover that high.

We are all Pavlovian

You may have heard of Pavlov's dogs. During his research on the physiology of digestion in dogs, Ivan Pavlov noticed his dogs began to salivate in the presence of the technician who fed them, rather than simply salivating in the presence of the food the technician was serving. 

Pavlov expanded his observations and played a sound and then gave the dogs food. After several repetitions, the dogs started to salivate in response to the sound (the stimulus).

Pavlov concluded that if a particular stimulus (the technician or the sound) was present when the dog was given food then that stimulus could become associated with food and cause salivation on its own. 

Humans, like Pavlov’s dogs, are constantly reacting to stimuli we have been subjected to.

Unfortunately, this begins long before we had the wisdom to choose for ourselves and this is how triggers for certain modes of thinking start.

The undervalued gift of curiosity is stamped out at a young age, preschool kids ask their parents an average of 100 questions a day. Shamefully, by middle school, they have all but stopped asking questions. 

In a world of abundant data and information, asking the question is a valuable skill, not simply having the answer.

However, because children are rewarded for having the answer and not for asking a great question they/we learn (through stimulus) that this is the correct behaviour. 

Driven by Drugs

“All human behaviour revolves around the urge to gain pleasure or avoid pain. You pull away from a lighted match in order to avoid the pain of burning your hand. You sit and watch a beautiful sunset because you get pleasure from the glorious celestial show as day glides into night.” - Tony Robbins

We are constantly driven by the avoidance of pain or the allure of gain.

The little voice in our head and the fight or flight response is hugely responsible for pain avoidance (or the illusion of pain avoidance). That voice is there for a reason, to ensure that we don't get hurt. It originates from our palaeolithic brain when we could be eaten by a predator. Back then, anything outside of the ordinary "triggered" a flight response to protect us. 

For the purpose of this thesis, let us park the little voice factor and focus on the chemicals/drugs that stimulate behaviour. 

EDSO

The following four chemicals influence our behaviour and are responsible for feelings of happiness or otherwise. Understanding them is great, mastering them is liberating.

E = Endorphins

Endorphins mask pain. Revisiting our origins (when we were cavemen), we were designed for endurance. We have the capability to endure and not to give up simply because we are tired, especially when being chased by a man-eating tiger. When we are in this physical state, our body releases endorphins.

This is why it feels great to break through the pain barrier when you are training for example.

This is why some people get addicted to going to the gym or going for a run (getting their endorphin fix).

This explains why your partner is a bit cranky at the weekend, because they may be having withdrawal symptoms. 

D = Dopamine 

Dopamine is considered the most addictive of the EDSO chemicals.

Here is a good way to think of the effect of dopamine. Many of us conduct our day by following a to-do list. Being honest with ourselves we often put things on the list that are nearly done or sometimes even when they are done we add them to the list and cross them out. Every time we do this we get a dopamine kick.

Dopamine is released when you achieve something and when you are satisfied with your achievement. Cross something off the list = dopamine kick. Finish your gym session = dopamine kick. "Love it when a plan comes together" = dopamine kick.

Dopamine, like any drug, has a dark side.

Dopamine can influence inefficient productivity behaviours such as allowing email run our day. This is because when we check our email we get a little dopamine kick.

• Check your mail = dopamine kick.
• Check Facebook notification = dopamine kick.
• Check phone push notification = dopamine kick.

Important for parents is to know that this is why kids want our smartphones, this is why they become cranky after they spend too much time on the Xbox. They are getting a dopamine boost and this can become addictive for them. 

As a recent guest on the innovation show, Nir Eyal tells us, so many software and app development companies are very aware of this. They are so aware of this that they design their products to manipulate such chemical responses. 

Equally, this is why previous innovation show guest Maura Nevel Thomas tells us to own our focus by turning off notifications, stop checking our phones and unsubscribe from newsletters. Why? Because we are training ourselves to become increasingly distracted and we are feeding the habit.

S = for Serotonin

Serotonin, like dopamine, is a neurotransmitter. Serotonin improves our moods and protects against mental health disorders. We can boost serotonin through exercise.

Serotonin is released when we feel respected, admired, valued and we are given preferential treatment.

This is why it is so important for leaders to thank their people when they do a great job. This is why peer recognition feels so good. This is why we crave more of the same and keep raising the bar.

This is why considerate and authentic leaders can truly lead their people. By making people feel “valued” and praising them for doing a great job, people become more loyal to their company (or team). 

O = Oxytocin

Oxytocin is associated with the feeling of love or being loved. I first heard of oxytocin n childbirth. After the pain of childbirth, a mother is handed their child to hold to their breast, this releases oxytocin and creates a bond.

Oxytocin is released when you cuddle with your partner; when you spend time with friends and when you are part of a close-knit community of like-minded people. It is associated with tribal behaviour.

Oxytocin means safety. We get an oxytocin spike from touch. This is why a (man) hug bonds us. This is why a handshake and in-person business meetings are so effective. This is why we need to “press the flesh”.

The Retired Athlete, Cold Turkey and the Workplace

Now we have an understanding of how we are stimulated by chemicals and how our behaviour is influenced we can look at the life of a professional athlete through this lens.

Here is a flash through a typical day of an athlete: 

1. Hit the gym/Do a fitness session (Endorphins) 
2. Achieve a personal best/Complete a training session (Dopamine)
3. Fitness coach pats you on the back, "Great job!” (Serotonin)
4. Hit the showers/train with your teammates/high-fives at training (Oxytocin)

Or

1. Play a match, push yourself to your physical limits (Endorphins)
2. Score/Tackle/Win (Dopamine)
3. Most valuable player/Coach, peers, crowd applaud you/Newspaper article on your great performance/VIP treatment in nightclub (Serotonin)
4. Celebrate scores with high fives, hug, handshakes/Celebrate victory/Commiserate loss with your teammates (Oxytocin)

Purpose

This thought would be incomplete without mentioning purpose.

As a sports player, you entered professionalism with a purpose. You were preparing with purpose for years before you ever became a pro.

You become a pro, your purpose is to play to the best of your ability/play for your country.

Every day had a North Star.

Then you retire.

The Workplace through the eyes of an Athlete

You join as a (quasi) senior intern or you are positioned in business development (mainly because you have contacts and access). 

Bear in mind, you have spent your whole adult life striving to be the best you can be. When you lost a game, your coach steps up to help you improve. When you have a bad day, your coach and teammates want to help, Why? so the team wins. Why? because that is how a team operates.

You expect the workplace to be a similar team environment.

You are oblivious to workplace politics.

You find it incredulous that discretionary effort hovers around the 30% mark.

You cannot understand why everyone does not want to be the best they can be.

You become disillusioned, you question if this is just the way it really is?

Reverse EDSO

1. Your work is not challenging. (No Endorphins/ No Dopamine)
2. You question your own purpose. (No Dopamine)
3. There is little or no leadership, you don’t know how you are doing. (No Serotonin)
4. Your company does not have a purpose, nor is it a team environment. (No Oxytocin)

Solutions?

You leave the corporate environment and join as startup or smaller entrepreneurial outfit or you start your own business.

You realise that an entrepreneur is an athlete in a different guise.

An entrepreneur is driven by some of the same chemicals that drove you as an athlete.

It makes sense to you that entrepreneurs struggle to retire, even after they have made their money.

The penny drops, they are looking for their next chemical fix, just like you.

Everything/Everyone needs a Purpose

We often hear that younger workers want to work for companies who have a purpose. The harsh reality is that the majority do not. Companies know how to do things, but rarely do they know why they do what they do.

In the absence of a company-wide purpose, we cannot simply keep searching for companies who have a purpose. We have to start with our own purpose.

What makes us tick? When work and life are so deeply intertwined it is a challenge to decouple them.

In this context, we need to make each day purposeful, each day can be an opportunity to grow professionally, each day can be an opportunity to be the best we can be.

In everything we do, we can improve, we can try something new, we can take a measured risk. In the words of a retired athlete who transitioned well:

"For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer." - Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Episode 77 of the innovation show "Becoming The Mindful Entrepreneur" explores the need for both business and personal purpose.

The Mindful Entrepreneur is a book that synthesises a wealth of business knowledge while telling the true story of what it is really like to be an entrepreneur. 

It tells the true story of existing entrepreneur and guest on this week’s show Howard Finger. Howard is CEO and founder of Vinciworks. Mapping the story from near bankruptcy to success we are exposed to Howard’s transformative journey. This includes the turning point of his meeting with co-author and guest on the show Joel Gerschman. Joel is a leading coach and educator in the field of business growth, management and leadership. We also learn of Howard’s personal transformation with his meeting and mentorship by Aryeh Goldman. Aryeh has dedicated his life to helping his students and clients actualise their potential.

If you want to hear some practical, real-life, hard-hitting advice this is the show for you. If you are an entrepreneur at your wit’s end, this is the show for you. If you want to transform your business and your life, (including your personal life) this is the show for you. 

As always, the show is broadcast on RTé Radio 1 extra 3 times weekly and is on iTunes, TuneIn Stitcher Player FM and Google play. The website is here. Soundcloud is embedded below:

Episode 78 is about overcoming anxiety and is related to the above show.

Jill Whalen is author Victim of Thought: Seeing Through the Illusion of Anxiety

Jill shares her new understanding of life, which has caused decades of anxiety and addictions to simply melt away.

We discuss this new understanding in the context of business and life, by understanding that we are not victims of other people and experiences, but we have been simply victims of thought allows us to liberate ourselves and become happier and more peaceful.