Athlete Mindset

Across the various verticals in our industry, former collegiate and amateur athletes make up a significant portion of the workforce. I'm not surprised by this, pursuing a sport in a competitive setting builds many of the qualities required to perform well in high stress, high pressure jobs.

This past weekend, I was talking to someone about whether an individual's capacity to shape their thought processes diminishes so rapidly past the age of 21 that they cannot "retrain" themselves. I started to think about my own development in my teenage years and whether that experience in competitive sports would have had the same effect on me in my 20s as it did in my teens.

My question is; suppose there is an individual in their mid 20s (young enough to change, but not so young that they have the biological advantage of increased neuroplasticity). Let's assume they are reasonably intelligent, have ambition but have underperformed and always chosen immediate gratification instead of the delayed gratification that athletic endeavors tend to teach us. Do you think it would be possible for that person to retrain themselves and become a competitive, high achieving individual?

 

Endurance athletes typically peak late 30s. Some top endurance athletes are even early 40s.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
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