What I Learned Spectating At The Paris Olympics

Last week I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to Paris to attend the Olympic Games. It was a phenomenal experience. The venues were beautiful, the city was clean, everywhere we went felt safe, the volunteers couldn’t have been more friendly, and the crowds were managed incredibly effectively.

Sitting in the stands watching the best athletes in the world compete in their respective disciplines also gave me a lot to think about. In particular, as I watched the rowers come down the course I started to feel this urge to start training again. This was kind of funny because while I was a good rower I certainly was never good enough to be an Olympic contender. So that begged the question: why the heck was I feeling this sudden desire to get back into a sport I left behind five years ago?

I pondered this question throughout the week and the answer I finally came to was this: it’s really fun to be good at something and I know I would be pretty good at rowing if I got back into it.

I think this is probably something a lot of ex-athletes feel as they try to find their path in the professional world. We have spent so much of our lives getting really good at one thing and then suddenly that one thing ends and we’re back at square one. Only, we don’t want to be back at square one again. Sure we did it once before but for most people that was over a decade ago. The muscle of being a beginner is gone; we’re used to being great at the thing we do. So much of our confidence and self-worth came from being really good at one thing. So for it to be all over and suddenly thrust back to the start is really disheartening.

For me personally, I am one year into my business and it is still REALLY REALLY HARD. Every day I am met with new challenges and reasons to doubt myself. In short, I don’t feel good at it yet. I’m at the same place I was one year into my rowing career i.e a total novice. So for me, sitting there watching rowing of course it was tempting to get back into it. It’s something I know I would be good at. I’d bust out the old training plan, get back on the erg, and in a few months be in a pretty respectable place. Compared to the total uncertainty of running a business for the first time, that’s pretty attractive!

However, despite feeling that drive/excitement, I don’t think shifting my focus and beginning to train just to feel good at something would be the right thing to do. Instead, I think that all of us ex-athletes have to accept that we’re going to be novices again as we make the transition from school/athletics into our professional lives. And just like starting a new sport back in middle school it won’t be fun for a while. It’s going to hurt. That confidence isn’t going to be there for a long time.

What we can take confidence in though is the knowledge that we understand what it takes to go from total beginner to seasoned professional, and if we’ve done it before we can do it again. It will just take time.

P.S. Huge shoutout to the US Men’s 4 on their historic victory! That was INCREDIBLE to watch.