Finding an Athlete’s Life Purpose
The 2021 NFL Draft came to a close early last month with some 259 young athletes officially beginning their professional football careers. Many of those athletes believe they were born to play football, destined for Hall of Fame greatness. They grew up dreaming of scoring the winning touchdown, sacking the MVP quarterback, making the game-saving interception or field goal. Football is their life, or at least it has been up until now. Many players will say that being a professional athlete is their calling. They will enter the NFL believing that this is their life purpose. Well, unfortunately for them, it is not.
The life purpose of any athlete is not to play a particular sport—it can’t be. The reality is that all athletes will be unable to physically play their sport for their entire lifetime, with most retiring or having their careers end before age 30. To the extent that you understand your life to have meaning, purpose and value in this world, surely that does not all end before you turn 30, right?
Everybody has a life purpose—something they are uniquely designed to achieve in this lifetime. This life purpose is intrinsically tied to who we are as individuals, how we see the world differently, and the value our understanding—our “truth”—has on society and culture as expressed through our words and actions.
According to a study conducted by a global wealth management firm, the average playing career ranges from 5 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) to 6 years for the National Hockey League (NHL), and 7 years for National Football League (NFL) players. According to that same firm’s research, the average retirement age for MLB players is 29.5, followed by 28.2 for players in the NHL, 28 for NBA players, and 27.6 for NFL players. These sorts of studies are used to compel young athletes to make responsible financial decisions early on in their careers and to plan responsibly for an early retirement, all of which is sound advice. However, we all know that money does not buy happiness, nor does having money necessarily lead to you living your life purpose. What is an athlete supposed to do with their life once they “hang up their cleats”? While playing sports may not be the answer itself, understanding why an athlete plays sports may very well be the key.
Everybody has a life purpose—something they are uniquely designed to achieve in this lifetime. This life purpose is intrinsically tied to who we are as individuals, how we see the world differently, and the value our understanding—our “truth”—has on society and culture as expressed through our words and actions. If you are an athlete, your life purpose is usually expressed through sports early on in your life. Understand why you started playing sports in the first place and you will begin to understand your bigger purpose in life. Understand your bigger purpose in life and you will know what to do once the game ends and the rest of your life begins.
For example, take the common scenario of a professional athlete who grew up underprivileged, and who chose sports as an opportunity to escape to a better life. What matters is less the facts of the athlete’s life and more the truth that is expressed through those facts. “Escaping to a better life” could be built upon many different individual truths, such as the limitless power of human will, the concept of designing your own life or controlling your own fate, the pursuit of peak human performance, achieving higher states of consciousness, or experiencing the divine through the mundane, just to name a few. Whatever it is, your core truth can be revealed only through a deep analysis of your life experiences, thoughts, beliefs, etc. It all depends on what you see and understand through your life experience. This is your “why,” the driving force behind everything that you do. It is that which compels you to create. Your life purpose is essentially “how” you choose to live your “why.” This is accomplished first by understanding how you experience happiness and personal fulfillment generally.
For some, happiness is achieved through experience—the act of doing. This would be the athlete whose sole focus is on playing their best game, no matter the outcome or whether anyone sees them play. Of course, winning games and championships is always preferred, as is the praise of adoring fans, but here it is not necessary for the athlete to feel complete and satisfied. Then, there is the athlete who must make a statement and experiences joy and happiness only when that statement is effectively communicated. This would be the athlete who wants to show the world he or she is the best, who wants to assert their dominance, display their talents, prove something to the world, etc. Here, validation by an audience is key. Finally, there are those athletes whose sense of satisfaction comes from the impact they have on their audience. These athletes want to entertain, inspire, instigate, or have some other causal effect.
Helping athletes understand early on in their careers that playing sports is merely one way their life purpose can be lived and uncovering what that larger purpose is will ensure they thrive off the field as much, if not more, than they did on the field.
How an athlete is personally fulfilled matters greatly because the opportunities the athlete seeks off the field should align with what makes them happy. For example, many athletes look to become sports commentators once their professional athlete careers end. This may be suitable for someone who enjoys the experience of performing on camera, reporting or even debating, as well as someone looking to communicate their message to an audience (assuming their message is aligned with whatever show they are on), but it will most likely not satisfy someone driven to impact an audience.
It is widely known that athletes face a high risk of depression, substance abuse problems and other mental health issues after retiring from professional sports. This is undoubtedly related to their sense that they no longer have a purpose to fulfill because they believe that playing sports was their purpose. Helping athletes understand early on in their careers that playing sports is merely one way their life purpose can be lived and uncovering what that larger purpose is will ensure they thrive off the field as much, if not more, than they did on the field. Like the recent Lebron James campaign states, they need to know they are “more than an athlete.”
