The Most Refreshing Sports Interview I've Ever Heard (& What We Can All Learn From It)
Whether or not you're a sports fan, we all pretty well know what tends to be said by athletes when asked questions by the media pertaining to their career. "We've just gotta get it together on the defensive end and we can turn things around", or "we gave 110% out there and that's the type of effort we need to show on a consistent basis".
While these responses often do accurately answer the questions being posed to them, their repetitive nature makes it hard not to drown them out. But every once in a while you come across an interview that takes a turn in an unexpected direction.
For the most part, this turn tends to be either aggressive or insulting, but every once in a while it can actually offer some genuine food for thought.
As an avid baseball fan, I was happy to come across a clip from a press conference that members of the media held with Tim Tebow of the New York Mets. For those of you who aren't familiar with Tim, he is a former NFL player and Heisman Trophy winner that has shifted his focus to Major League Baseball -a transition that has more than caught the eye of many major news outlets.
Despite his clear love for various sports, and the amount of time that is required to make participating in them at that level possible, Tim is also well recognized for his charitable work. This recognition led one reporter to ask Tim how he manages to juggle his career and charitable efforts, leading to an answer I believe we all need to hear:
How Do You Handle Pressure?
We all deal with pressure in life, and whether it is inflicted by our career, relationships, living situation, or our expectations of ourselves it can be incredibly difficult to navigate. But as Tim reminds us, it's critical that we put our pressures into perspective.
Are they really worth getting ourselves as worked up about as we tend to let ourselves become? Or do we have a tendency to overdramatize them?
Remind yourself that no matter how difficult your current circumstance in life may be, there are always people being faced with much worse in this world. So rather than allowing yourself to become overwhelmed or even worse bracing yourself for your looming doom, choose to be grateful for what you do have in life.
Recognize that you're the only one that is going to get yourself through this challenge, and that it's not worth your time to make it into something bigger than it needs to be.
Reminder: Sports Are A Game
If you're a sports fan like I am, this interview is also a great reminder that despite how immersed we can all become in them, they ultimately are just a game. If an athlete that is directly involved in the sport can recognize that, then it's important that we as spectators -who really have no bearing on the outcome -are able to do the same.
Enjoy the entertainment value that sports offer, but don't let your favourite team's outcome have an impact on your overall well-being.
What Are You Here To Do?
The final big takeaway that inspired me to want to share this interview clip with you is how Tim touches upon what he feels he is really here to do in life. As much as he loves playing sports, he genuinely believes that his highest calling is outside of that realm.
Perhaps you feel the same way? Or perhaps you feel that whatever you are currently doing for work is exactly what you came here to do and are happy with? If that's the case, awesome. If not, then take the time to remind yourself of what you would like to do or accomplish in this life.
I'm not suggesting we all jump ship on our current jobs in pursuit of them, but that we never allow ourselves to lose sight of that greater purpose and to make time towards accomplishing it whenever possible
