One month ago, an awesome ex team-mate who’s now a good friend wrote an article in her blog here. “I knew very little besides volleyball.” She is part of a not-for-profit volleyball club, City Rangers Volleyball Club, set up by ex-national players to share their experience and play a part in nurturing the next set of young players and to eventually elevate the standard of volleyball in Malaysia. It is a noble goal and one that requires lots of commitment. The members of City Rangers Club Volleyballs would have to be successful in the corporate world so that they could also continue to fund their own fun with volleyball. I assume very few of them have billionaire parents who can continue to fund their adventure. Perhaps better still, all sportsmen or sportswomen should also spend a little time to be ready for the world after sports.
Forever does not happen. No one could play competitive sports forever. Some may have to stop before 30 because of younger and faster competitors. Some may extend their career into coaching but usually, these are the minority. For nearly everyone else, they have to work. This is where a job starts and perhaps a career to follow. My good friend said this when she graduated. “I went from somebody to nobody.” She was a team leader who could motivate the team even when they were facing tougher opponents. Yet, in the corporate world, she felt so lost because suddenly, she lacked the necessary skills to become a new ‘somebody.’
Knowledge matters, especially the financial side. For players who won a lot of prize money during their competitive period, it is very easy to lose them all without a good understanding of investment. Seriously, it is a perilous journey for a sportsmen with lots of money because it can provide them with huge returns or huge losses! To start right, kopiandproperty.com is a free resource but beyond that, keep learning and reading about financial management. This is one good site to follow. KCLAU.com For stocks, we can focus on dividend ones. Here’s one such resource. Dividendmagic.com.my Refer to our good friend google for even more.
Diligence matters, especially if we are starting from the beginning, again. For those who did not win a lot of prize money during their sports career life, it’s even more important to work extra hard during their second adventure in the corporate world. Stop doing the same thing every year. Even when you were playing sports, you were improving every week! A very real example. Most employees would never receive above average salaries and increments. Only the top 20 percent would and should. The awesome thing about sportsmen? I echo my good friend’s concluding statement in her article.
” The thing about being an athlete is that you are trained to take up challenges, you work hard, you are coachable, you are good with people, you don’t crack under pressure, and you’ve definitely experienced failures and bounced back from them.
You may not know what you want to do in live right now, but I trust that you will be brave to take the next step and face the challenges ahead. It may not be easy and it will take time. I’ve seen so many friends go through this phase and thrive! Many are successful in their own ways. ” Take this seriously. It came from a manager who’sdoing very well today, after her volleyball career with the national team ended.
Financial matters, the MOST. Okay, assuming we are not that lucky. No matter what we do, somehow the boss did not see it. When we want to apply for another job, somehow the next organisation does not see fit to promote us. Well, if we did not spend all our money on some stuffs to impress others, we should have saved enough for some investments. Want to know how saving can transform our future? Earning higher is great. Saving it to earn even more is vital In fact, we should lose a little today to have something huge in the future. Losing a bit now to have a winning surprise in future Yes, even a RM200 per month will have a huge snowballing effect…. By the way, it is really possible to be richer than the manager who hired you. 🙂
If you are still reading this, I think you realised that sports have given all you awesome people a lot of learnings. It has given you that ‘never-say-die’ attitude even when the opponents are far stronger than you or your team. It has taught you that hard work means continuous improvements. You have made so many friends and even your ‘enemies’ from the other side / court / field are your friends today. Now, start learning things that will make you successful in the future. Working harder would usually elevate you to be within the top 20 percent. If your current boss fails to see that, your next boss would. Last but not least, FINANCIAL AWARENESS is a foundation to something great. This includes even providing the funds necessary to help even more of your juniors in their sports journey. Here’s the great volleyball club again. All the best.
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written on 3 Dec 2017
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