Most of us around the world have seen the picture of Michael Phelps doing drugs. You might be thinking how could he do this? What was he thinking? Athletes in transition often have a very difficult time. In the bestseller book, Winning in the 5th Quarter, author Bob Beck explains how football and really all athletics should instill the principles of success in the players.
Athletics, regardless of the sport is really a microcosm for life. Athletes have to execute all the principles of success to even participate in their sport. Whether it is good work ethic, commitment, courage, creativity, character, belief, etc. these principles all transfer or should transfer to life after sports. Beck refers to this as the 5th Quarter. Too often athletes are unable to “connect the dots” and understand this. They believe they have achieved their full potential by their accomplishments in their sport. When the final bell rings, whistle blows, or buzzard sounds , many athletes feel it’s all over for them.
Recent I was having a discussion with an ex-Olympic athlete that was on the U.S.A. field hockey team. She related a story to me about how one of her training coaches had won a gold medal in his sport. Nine months later he was so lost and depressed when the music stopped he committed suicide. She explained the 5th Quarter applies to all sports. Think about how often you hear of an NFL player getting in some sort of trouble after they leave the league. The NFL did a study a few years ago and surveyed 1000 players that had been out of the league for four years. The results were shocking. 87% were bankrupt, divorced or dealing with addiction issues. These men had to regularly execute the fundamental principles of success to play in the NFL. Unfortunately, Michael Phelps is not the exemption to the rule with his latest incident.
Athletes in all sports should understand their game never ends! They might play on a different team, with different rules, with a different uniform and a different code of conduct, but the game never ends. The game of life is the most important game for anyone. Athletes have a real advantage over the general population. The advantage is they have been executing the principles of success at a very high level while they participated in their sport. Now all they have to do is leverage their experience, transition what they have learned to the real game-life. The Music doesn’t stop there is just a different tune. To read more about this, pick up a copy of Winning in the 5th Quarter or visit www.winningQ5.com
