Who are you outside of your sport?

"Athletic identity is the degree to which an individual identifies with the athlete role and looks to others for acknowledgement of that role." (Brewer, Van Raalte, & Linder, 1993).

Regardless of what level of sport you compete in or even your age, this concept is not uncommon. Athletes will often put so much time and effort into their sport that this becomes their primary focus, resulting in how they relate and identify their feeling of self. As explained further in this article, there is a different in the following statements:

"I am a basketball player."

"I play basketball."

This feeling of athletic identify can make it difficult to explore and recognize other areas of interest and skills that you may have outside of the chosen sport, while also not properly preparing you for the inevitable time of athletic retirement. What is your life when you are no longer playing the sport?

As the aforementioned article suggests, there are benefits and positives that stem from athletic identity, such as increased feelings of self-confidence or self-esteem within the sport and higher levels of performance.

In the last year with the pandemic, many were impacted in ways we never would have imagined. This is true in every area of life, including sports and general professions.

I work for an amazing organization where the culture really thrives on that feeling of connectedness and family feeling. This last year challenged our work as well. We saw a period of significant uncertainty in our business, and this was honestly a major wake-up call for me personally similarly with my identify. I am a person who has always put much of my identity and weight of self-value in my work. Experiencing such an unprecedented time and feelings of significant uncertainty in our business left me feeling increased levels of anxiety and a realization of just how connected my self-worth and identity truly was connected to something that potentially was out of my control in a time of crisis.

Though it is much easier said than done sometimes, the main way to navigate identity is by finding balance and being self-aware. For me, that is knowing the intense levels of focus and effort I am putting into my work and realizing when I need to step back, take a break, and channel some of that energy into other areas of life that I enjoy (like this website, for example). With professional athletes, your career may end abruptly with injury, and it is important to have that balance and awareness to know who you are outside of your sport to transition to a new way of living in the future. The same is said for a regular working professional like myself.

While we working professionals expect to find a career we love that we can contribute to until the age we are set to retire, the unexpected global pandemic that hit last year was an unfortunate and important reminder that we should always be prepared for uncertainty and know who we are outside of work with that identity in check.

Take the positives with identity, while also staying self aware to keep your focus and energy balanced with other areas of interest and skills outside of your chosen sport or profession. Think about your own personal skills and interests, and where do you put all of your time, energy, focus, and effort. Who are you outside of your sport?