8 Life lessons which you can learn from sport and hobbies

This morning, I was looking for some contemplative time. I wanted to read something which required me to reflect upon my life. I took out an excellent book called 'Hold That Thought' by Ronan Scully. Ronan is originally from my home town. He has done tremendous work for charity over the years and is currently working for an outstanding charity called Self Help Africa. In his book, Ronan offers 52 thoughtful reflections. These reflections are valuable life lessons which can benefit anyone. They are life lessons which help you to connect with the very essence of who you are just by practicing a little personal reflection. This morning, I opened the book on one story which really resonated with me – ‘I want to talk to the manager’.

You are always learning life lessons

What the story really taught me was that whatever you are learning, you are also learning a valuable life lesson. If you are a manager, a coach or, a teacher; you are not just influencing one area of a person’s life. You are imparting life lessons and principles which impact every area of their life. The way we treat each other, the lessons we teach, and the lessons we learn are more important than we could ever truly realise. Sport, hobbies and academia are important parts of society. They offer us fun, or the opportunity to advance our careers but more important than that, they help us to develop as human beings. In Ronan’s story, a stranger teaches some young boys the finer skills of hurling (an amazing Irish sport). He helps each young boy to improve their skills. When the training ends, he points out that he has taught them more than just hurling. He explains how the knowledge and skills he has taught them are valuable life lessons.

8 Life lessons

The following are some of the valuable life lessons that the stranger taught the young boys. I have added my own interpretation. They are lessons which we are being taught throughout our lives but do we ever stop to listen?

1. If you don’t have a goal, you don’t have a game

Just like sport, life works best when you have clear objectives. If you want to create the life you truly desire, you must know what it is that you truly desire. You need to have a clear vision of what that life looks like.

 2. If you don’t share the scoring, you lose

The best way to success is to help others to succeed. You cannot achieve your objectives on your own. Even the best sports people need coaches, medical support, funding etc. If you want to excel, you need to build mutually supportive relationships where all parties help each other.

 3. If you don’t follow the rules, you cannot win

Everybody wants to take shortcuts to achieve their objectives. There is nothing wrong with finding a more effective way to get things done; however, there are rules and principles which must be followed.  Breaking the rules may offer some short-term rewards but if you build your castle on a foundation of sand, it will eventually collapse.

 4. You have to be honest with yourself

You can fool everybody else but you will never fool yourself. If you are not doing the right things, or you are not putting the effort in, you will know. I often see this with people who need time management coaching. They often have full schedules. They have tried to convince themselves that by being busy, they are being effective. Deep down, they know that there is something wrong. When they accept that they need to make changes, and then make those changes, their results improve significantly.

 5. Focus on what you do best

You have your own skills and attributes. There will be things which you are good at and things at which you are not so good. You do not have to be a master at everything. You have your own unique gifts to offer; focus on offering them.

 6. Improve your character as well as your game

It is great to be able to perform to a high standard but it is not all about performance. How you play the game is more important. If you think about all the people you admire and identify what it is that you admire about them; you will find that it is mainly character related traits which you admire.

 7. Eliminate mistakes

You are fallible and you will make mistakes. Do not beat yourself up about those mistakes. Reflect upon what went wrong and identify what you can do differently. Create a plan to eliminate the mistakes and implement the new behaviour. Put the plan into action and move on. Learning from your mistakes is a great form of education.

 8. Always talk to the manager

Depending on your beliefs, the manager may be your God; your conscience; your inner wisdom and intuition; life, or whatever works for you.  Talking with your manager helps you identify and stay true to your values and purpose. During difficult times, you will know the right thing for you to do. There are many ways in which you can communicate with your manager, including:

• Meditation
• Reflection / Contemplation
• Prayer
• Keeping a journal

Again, the appropriate method is the one which works for you. When you include one, or more, of these activities into your daily schedule, you will become much clearer on what you need to do.

Life was never meant to be compartmentalised. The lessons we learn in one area of life can often be applied throughout our entire life. Life lessons are constantly being offered to us. We just need to be aware of them. Ronan’s story highlighted how we can learn valuable life lessons from sport. Each one of the life lessons offered the boys the opportunity to develop both as a hurler and a person. Whenever you are learning something new, ask yourself ‘What life lessons am I being taught?’ If you are managing, coaching, teaching etc., remember that you are always imparting life lessons so, be careful with the message you give. Image credit: Paul Brechbuhler