Adjusting Your Gameplan: Transitioning from One Dream to Your Next Play

by Will Colmery, former collegiate football player

As a child, you never expect your biggest dreams to come to an end so suddenly. As an athlete, you hope that you’re able to control your own destiny. Unfortunately, the reality is that for many of us, these hopes and expectations take a U-turn when we’re least expecting it, and force our hand in life a bit earlier than we had planned for. 

Grasping the reality of an early end to your athletic career is certainly a tough pill to swallow.

For some it may be all they have ever known and loved.

We thrive on the competition. As an athlete, we have spent most of our days in a routine: wakeup, workout, go to class, practice, finish schoolwork, and go to bed. Being thrown off of this rhythm is a huge adjustment to make especially in our case, as the end of our athletic career was unplanned. But just as one door closes, others will open. If you are like me, it might be challenging to envision as nothing seems to get you going like your athletic career and being part of a team. A bit of advice: timing will never be perfect. You may be unsure now, but you’ll begin to learn the self-drivers that made you love competing in sports so much will be present throughout the rest of your life, they just need to be uncovered. 

Transformative Energy

I can still remember the day that I was given the news that my football career was over. I was miserable. I went back to my room and cried, alone and scared as the rest of my team went to practice. After hours in solitude, I knew that I could no longer go on like this, staying in my room thinking about how everything I worked for was done. 

Determined to clear my mind and flip my doubt to optimism I thought about all that I had learned through playing the game of football. I recalled the “Next Play Mentality” that coaches had preached to me through the dozen years of playing football. 

During the course of a game, it’s expected that you will get bested on some plays by your opponent or commit a mental error. You might miss a shot, drop a pass, or let a grounder through your legs. As athletes, we have trained ourselves to not dwell on these mistakes, as they are not indicative of who we are as an athlete or our potential on the next play. I love thinking about the idea of transformative energy. Turning pain or frustration into adrenaline to achieve better in spite of past disappointment. If something impacts you so strongly that you are broken down, it can just as easily be used to energize your comeback.

I knew that I wanted to stay involved with my team, and wanted to prioritize other aspects of my life that I cared about in the past, but had taken a back seat to my football career. The next day I went into the football facility and met with the coaches to follow up on an assistant coaching opportunity that was offered to me that would keep me contributing to a program that I cared so much about and still be able to spend all of my time with my best friends. I also visited with our team’s nutritionist as well as my strength coach to put together a nutritional game plan and workout regimen for losing weight. All of a sudden I had new goals that excited me to work towards and brightened up my mentality. I shifted from a closed mindset to a learning mindset. 

Strategy Mapping - Goal Setting

When this process of setting new goals started, I fell back on a common method I had used in the past: setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. S.M.A.R.T. goals not only entail what you want to accomplish, but how you will go about it. Much like creating a game plan during the season, teams don’t set out at the beginning of the week and just say, “Okay, let’s go win this one.” 

If you show up on game day without a plan, you are destined to fail. You figure out how to make it work so that you give yourself the opportunity to make it happen, and win the game. S.M.A.R.T. goals is an acronym: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound. Specific- identify what you want to accomplish as specifically as possible. Leaving grey area will only allow you to break your goals. Setting my goal as “I want to lose 10 pounds by November 1st” was much more specific than “I want to lose weight.” My goal was measurable, as weight is quantifiable. It was attainable, as I had excess weight to shed. It was realistic, as losing 10 pounds was reasonable for me. It was time-bound, as I set my goal date. From there I went on to specify how I would accomplish this task. Through meeting with my nutritionist and strength coach I put together a nice eating and workout schedule that was advised by people who know what they’re talking about.

Regardless of what you next goal may be, using the S.M.A.R.T. strategy is a great way to give yourself the tools you need to propel forward and successfully accomplish your next challenge.  Never be scared to reach out to others for advice or accountability. The more support you have in achieving your next goal, the more empowered you will be to achieve it! 

The Power of Discipline & Grit

While you chip away at your goals, lots of distractions, urges, and temptations will flood in. One of the methods that I used for getting over these urges was to reward myself for good performance. If I completed my workout schedule from Monday to Friday, I gave myself Saturday off allowing myself to eat what I wanted, and take the day off from working out. Moderation is the key. Eventually, if you can stay consistent on executing your plan, you will start to see results, and from there you can use that gratification to propel yourself forward even more. 

As I began to see results over time, I made an extra effort, more than I had originally planned. I was motivated to push myself above and beyond my original goals so that I could keep those positive results coming. If you practice discipline in your routine, you will build up grit which will make it easier to avoid distractions and focus on the things you want to accomplish. 

Wellness - Mind, Body, Spirit

Recently I have bought into the idea of feeding the three main aspects of my life that will keep me happy and motivated- my mind, my body, and my spirit. By focusing on continually improving my body, mind, and spirit, I have reduced stress in my life and set myself up to accomplish significant tasks that at first, seemed very difficult. By breaking down the biggest priorities in my life, I have created a clear vision, that allows me to take action easily. 

To feed my mind, I have picked up reading. I have found that reading books about things that interest me within my career and personal life deepens my knowledge empowering me to take action in areas of my life that I care about. 

To care for my body, I maintain a consistent workout schedule and have progressed quite a bit in my goal of losing weight. Working out consistently is proven to make you happier and relieve the stresses and anxieties that come along with everyday life. Some people like to go for long walks after work or a bike ride during lunch. Find what works for you! 

To nurture my spirit I have begun the practice of meditating before my work day begins. Just like anything, it took me a little while to get a hold of it, but through consistent disciplined practice, I have reaped tremendous benefits. Meditation gives me a clear mind heading into the day and allows me to let go of things that aren’t important in the grand scheme of my life. Being mentally and spiritually disciplined in this way allows me to focus and live in the present, which really is the best way to live if you ask me!

Taking a proactive approach towards my next play helped me tremendously during my transition away from athletics. Writing down my goals, seeking advice, and practicing discipline within my approach to everything I do, I set myself up for success in various aspects of my life. I learned to allocate my time to things that I cared about and that would benefit me in the long-term, even if it meant sacrificing short term fun. 

As long as you can take some time for yourself, put good thought into who you want to become, and seek out advice from the right people, you’ll have endless limits to your success!

The game is not over, you are just playing on a different field.  

So adjust your game plan and start grinding!

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Neither Sidelined USA nor its affiliates provide clinical or medical care of any kind via their relationship with Sidelined. At no time should a user have an expectation of clinical care or professional services offered or rendered. 

Will Colmery

Sales Development Representative, Glint/LinkedIn

“When I heard about Sidelined USA at a company event I was immediately inspired and excited to help an organization with such a clear, and understandable vision. Being a sidelined athlete I understand how hard life can get when your sport is taken away abruptly, making adjustments is no easy task. Providing mentorship and resources to these young adults is a proactive way we can go about solving this problem. Being able to lend any advice to a young athlete and truly making an impact on their future is exactly why I got involved!”