The Void.

Recently I have been speaking with many former student athletes about their experience in college and the transition out to life after college; a common theme has come up.

“How do I fill the void that the end of college athletics has left behind in my life?”

Does this sound familiar? The days, weeks and months after you leave behind your college, the team, the gym and the huge support system can feel empty. Quieter. Lonelier. Busy but in a different way. Not organized. Hectic.

This is a common feeling of student athletes after they leave a college career behind for the workplace, a new city, a new community and a new way of life. They feel like there is something missing in their life. And the question that comes up is, “How do I replace my team?”

The short answer: you don’t.

Your college team, coaches and support system are irreplaceable. The atmosphere of college athletics- the weight room, the training room, the locker room and the field- is extremely unique and can not be replicated. So my suggestion: don’t try to replicate it. Instead, explore what support was helpful during your college years and how you can find similar support in your life now. This support will look different than your college community.

In your life after college athletics, you will face new challenges, new opportunities, new headaches, new achievements and an entirely different set of people that you interact with on a day to day basis. And you can not do it alone just like you did not create a successful college career by yourself.

Here is the good news: You get to recreate your support system!

So here is my suggestion: get out a piece of paper and write down all of the people, places, tools and systems that supported you to be your best self as a college athlete. Write down what support they provided and how you interacted with them. Define what your role in that relationship was. Then take some time to define who or what can be a part of your support system in your current life. How will your foster that relationship?

You are creating your new circle of support. And it is different than in college- you get to choose these people, places and systems instead of them already being in place. You get to decide who your circle of support is, how you will spend your time, what choices you make and what actions you will take. Take ownership.

This is your future, go create it.