You did it.
You finally did it.
After all the blood, sweat, and tears (literally), you can finally hang up your jersey, throw away your gear, and embrace the sweet silence of life. No more coaches hounding you down, no more 5:00 am practices, and no more pre-game anxiety. Everything is falling into place…
Now what?
You dedicated your entire life (or part of your life) to this sport. You feel… Empty? Relieved? Upset?
What do you do now? Start a new hobby? Enter a new career? Become an evil mastermind and try to take over the world?
The unknown can be daunting. Being a former D1 athlete myself, it was quite the challenge to step out of the comfort zone of the athletic world after 5 years. However, I have found ways to overcome these hurdles to adjust to the demands of the career-driven world.
1. Revisit Your Old Hobbies
We all love hobbies. Whether it’s mountain climbing, video games, or painting, keeping the mind and body occupied can turn outlooks into positive opportunities for you to grow!
2. Find a sport substitute.
For some of you, you might have ended up getting tired of your sport. Others, you might just want a change without taking away the athletic thrill. Luckily, there are many sports out there for you to explore. You can play sports casually or sign up for a young adult league near you (if you can afford it). For me, I have hung up my volleyball knee pads and transitioned my love to pickleball. An easy and fun sport to fall back to!
3. Take A Budget-Friendly Vacation
Now, I do not expect you to travel around the world in 80 days. Nor do I expect you to go to the world’s most out-of-pocket vacation spots. A simple, budget-friendly trip close to your home would suffice. You graduated from college as a student athlete. You earned it!
4. Enjoy the nightlife (without the athlete risk).
You can enjoy the nightlife a little more now without the constant fear of being caught by the coaches. Of course, have a fun night out safely and responsibly.
5. Keep going to the gym!
Pretty self-explanatory. It is very tempting to completely stop your efforts to work out now that you are a regular. However, you must continue to work out not only for your physical health, but for your mental health as well. Exercise is a great way to release stress and anxiety after a long day at work. Your time at the gym does not have to be thousands of hours. You can spend 45 minutes to 2 hours getting the energy out.
Adjustment to the post-college athlete life takes time, and it is okay to feel like you are in a rut for a few months. The important thing is: find activities that will help you physically and mentally throughout this crazy world we live in.