My childhood revolved around playing sports; every day, all day! I always dreamed of becoming a professional athlete. It’s a true blessing to be paid for playing sports, especially considering that less than 1% of the population possesses extraordinary athletic talent. At 37 years of age, I can finally admit that I was not talented enough to be among that 1%.
Although I never gave up my dream of becoming an athlete, I knew that I had to pursue another career. My father works in sales, and naturally, I desired to follow in his footsteps. In 2011, I secured my first job in this field and quickly realized there is a direct correlation between my sports and sales skills.
Playing sports helped me prepare for the mental grind of selling. Sports also helped me to:
Develop teamwork and communication skills: Sports require teamwork and effective communication between teammates to succeed. In sales, these skills are also crucial when working with colleagues, managers, and customers.
Build competitive spirit and resilience: In sports, you learn how to deal with setbacks and learn from failures, which can help you develop a competitive spirit and resilience. In sales, you will face rejection and failure regularly. Having the mental toughness to handle those challenges can help you stay motivated and bounce back immediately.
Improve confidence and assertiveness: Playing sports can help you build confidence in your abilities, which can translate to greater assertiveness in sales. Being confident in your product or service and in your ability to communicate its value can help you close more deals.
Enhance time management skills: Sports require practice, training, and games, which can help you develop time management skills. In sales, being able to prioritize your tasks, manage your time effectively, and meet deadlines is critical for success.
Become more humble: In sports, how you handle a win is just as important as how you handle a loss. Likewise, sales is a roller coaster. Whether you win or lose a deal, the next deal (or the next game) is just as important as the previous one.
Playing sports has taught me invaluable life lessons and has prepared me for a career in sales. The skills and qualities that I developed through sports, such as teamwork, resilience, confidence, time management, and humility, have all translated seamlessly into my work in sales. I may not have become a professional athlete, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to pursue a career that I love, just as I loved playing sports. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll find a way to combine my passion for sports and my career in sales. Until then, I’ll keep striving to be the best I can be in both areas of my life. I am concerned, however, that I will never recover from the setback of the Green Bay Packers losing Aaron Rodgers!!!!!!