How do sports help you in life? Learning from Tim Tebow and Tom Brady
How do sports teach life skills? The better question is, what do you do when you don’t make it. What can we learn from sports and precisely how can playing games help us in life. I can personally say that sports have helped me tremendously. It gave me the foundation to build upon in all areas of life. But I won’t use myself. I will highlight to athletes that stand out Tom Brady and Tim Tebow; you might be asking yourself why I use these two athletes in the same sentence. Lebron is one of the greatest athletes of all time, and Tim Tebow is probably the most well-known athlete that did not make it. The reality of sports and life is unexpected turns and unforeseen circumstances that you are faced with. So back to the question, How do sports teach life skills? The better question is, what do you do when you don’t make it?
Tim Tebow and Learning From His Experience
Tim Tebow represents all that is good about sports because he probably has every skill needed to compete at the professional level, yet he had a very short career. I did not say start, nor did I say superstar, but he has the talent, physical ability, and intangible to be a professional athlete, yet his opportunity and experience were short-lived. The beautiful part of the story is that Tim Tebow was able to use sport as the foundation for personal development along with his faith. He developed all the life skills necessary to overcome the obstacles and thrive in a non-ideal situations and tremendous heartbreak. Tim Tebow probably felt sad and betrayed by football, but he was able to continue in life.
The better question is, what do you do when things don’t go your way. What do you do when you cannot live out some of your dreams, or they get cut short. We celebrate athletes, but maybe we should take time to acknowledge athletes and all those people that had the ability and qualifications, but for whatever reason it did not go as planned. But these athletes still became great; they were still able to go on with life and experience achievement in a different way. What’s more difficult, being a pro athlete or being good enough and doing all meeting all the necessary qualifications, yet the opportunity is not there. All of us can relate to coming up short, even the best of us.
Here are my 25 Life Lessons That You Can Learn From Sports:
1. Discipline
To succeed in sports, you must have discipline and a work ethic. Sport teaches you to discipline your self to reach the highest levels of achievement. We live in a world that pushes group thought, popularity over hard work, and discipline, which usually results in a positive outcome.
2. Integrity
To win or be part of a team, you must have integrity; in sports, it is very easy to identify a lack of effort, preparation, and absence of ability. To succeed, you must approach the game with integrity as an absence of integrity is usually short-lived and met with tremendous criticism. For example, many have used performance-enhancing drugs to succeed in athletics for the short term, but now these same athletes must deal with the scrutiny and shame. The scrutiny and shame is a much longer time period than the athletic success based on performance-enhancing drugs.
3. Grit
Grit is the primary skill necessary for peak performance in sport. Rarely does winning or completion come easy. Success requires not only physical talent but also mental fortitude.
4. Responsibility
Sports and life achievement are based on responsibility, responsibility for putting in the practice, time, sacrifice, and last for the obstacles you face. As an athlete, you learn to accept responsibility for the challenge set before you.
5. Teamwork
The ability to work in harmony within a team is a trait that will serve you well for your entire life. Whether you are working, leading a family, you must be able to work well with others. Specifically, those you work with! Sports teaches players how to be around different types of people while staying focused on the same goal.
6. Adversity
Life is far from easy and smooth! Sports are teaching you how to deal with adversity while continuing to move forward. Sports is full of adversity and struggles that teach athletes how to build grit.
7. Dealing with Authority
A large part of life, and sports, is about learning how to thrive in different situations, especially when dealing with authoritative figures. Whether it’s a head coach, CEO, supervisor, or staff, you are likely to encounter a person in a position of high authority who does not like you or who you don’t care for. Sports teach young children to respect authority and often deal with uncomfortable situations.
8. Coping with Abusive Authority
If you play sport long enough, you will often run into a coach or leader that abuses their authority. Additionally, as an athlete, you learn to not only deal but thrive in situations that are abusive and or out of your control. Imagine playing for a college coach that dislikes you, but you learn to thrive and still get drafted into the NFL or NBA.
9. Concentration
Sports require the full focus of a child, as they concentrate on the tasks right in front of them. This is an important trait that translates over to life, business, and the workplace. Being able to focus on the activities at hand, as well as being able to let go of past failures are essential traits in all areas of life. Sports will improve mental focus and toughen children so that they are ready for life challenges.
10. Confidence
Success in sports is impossible without confidence in one’s ability. Is Winning and achievement is great for confidence, and once children have experienced success, that feeling will translate to other areas of life.
11. Mistakes Are Not As Important is Your Recovery
There will be many situations when athletes make mistakes during games or practice. The key is recovering with a different appraoch, having practices, and prepared for the next challenge.
12. How to be a Leader
Leading in sports is not only about telling people what to do but also about being an example. Athletes play, and daily habits show more than words ever could. Sports teach children that actions speak louder than verbal chatter.
13. How to Be a Son or Daughter
So many people want to lead and stand in front of others. But sport teaches young athletes how to be a son, how to serve, follow, and take instruction. By experiencing how to listen, athletes will learn how to take correction and how to do so without complaint. Sports teaches you to respect authority and to listen to those that may know more than you.
14. Body Language Speaks Volumes
Bas body language in sports is something that wins organizations have, and losing organizations fail to figure out. Body language can communicate many traits such as confidence, anger, lack of control, and frustration. Learning the power of body language will do well in life and in relationships.
15. Setting and Achieving Goals
Youth sports are a great opportunity to learn how to set goals and achieve goals.
16. Success Requires Hard Work
Athletes will learn that the best athletes are usually the players that have worked, dedicated, and sacrificed to improve in their sport.
This sports learning lesson will show them that if they want to become good at anything in life, whether that be the guitar, learning a foreign language, then it’s going to take hard work.
17. How to Win/Succeed with Class
In youth sports, there is always a focus on sportsmanship and respect for your fellow competitor. Compete as hard as you can, prepare, practice, and play to win. If you lose, you must take responsibility that the better person won and get back to work. Don’t waste energy mocking, talking, and showing acts of bad sportsmanship as it will just waste your energy. This practice with losing will serve young athletes well in their later years.
18. How to Lose with Honor
Youth sports are a good environment for athletes to experience the harsh emotions and feelings that come from defeat.
This can be after losing a game, or not getting an opportunity to play.
19. Success Requires Sacrifice
Success requires effort, sacrifice, and players will know that they can’t succeed without sacrificing time and things they may value.
20. Knowing Personal Strengths and Weaknesses
Everyone has diverse strengths and weaknesses.
It’s critical t for all players to know themselves, as it will give them better awareness of how to use their gifts and develop shortcomings.
21. Health is Essential
Sports teaches athletes about being healthy and gives them the discipline to maintain this healthy lifestyle well into their later years.
22. No, I in Team, But There is I in Win
Team sports players learn that teamwork wins games, but individual responsibility for assignments is always required. Teamwork is necessary, but individual responsibility for tasks is a must.
23. There Will be Tough Times
Perseverance is a skill that is essential for all athletes to learn at an early development age.
There will be obstacles. Children will fail. There will be obstacles, challenges, and struggles they must overcome.
24. You Learn How to Manage Your Time
Youth sports players have many commitments, and they must adapt, juggle. School, sports, family, employment, and other activities. Learning to multitask is an essential trait in the world we live in.
25. Respect
Youth sports teach respect and honoring your opponent; Not just head coaches, referees, but also teammates, opposing players, and fans.
26. Focus on You and Not on What You Can’t Control
Head Coaches always tell players they can control effort, preparation, and mindset.
Coach doesn’t like you? Practice, prepare and be ready when your name is called. Play a different sport, so you have multiple opportunities,
Not as talented as your teammates? Work on your game IQ, understanding opposing defenses, and how you can utilize the strengths of your offense.