Did you play a sport as a kid? Perhaps your group of friends played soccer and you followed suit. Or maybe you were an excellent runner, a track star.
No matter how much experience you had with organized sports, it’s likely that your participation has affected your work ethic or career in some way. Research shows that women who played a sport as a child or teen benefit in the following ways:
- Go further in their education
- Land better jobs
- Make more money: 82 percent of women in executive positions played an organized sport after elementary school. And one out of every two women who make $75,000 or more identifies themselves as an athlete.
How can playing sports really help you become more successful in your life and career? Here are a few things you learn while being part of a team:
The importance of hard work. Sports, as well as other hobbies, teach us that hard work can pay off – particularly if you’re not inherently great at the activity you enjoy.
Self-discipline. Playing a sport requires dedication and training, an important thing to learn for your future career.
Winning isn’t everything. Sometimes you lose. It’s a fact of life. And the sooner you can accept it, make the best of it and improve for next time, the better attitude you’ll have about challenges in life.
Always do your personal best. In life, there will always be someone better than you (and worse than you, for that matter). As long as you strive for your personal best and continue to improve, you shouldn’t measure success by comparing yourself to others.
What did you learn from participating in an organized sport? How does it affect your career today?
And if you didn’t play sports as a child, what other activities helped you learn these skills?
Heather R. Huhman is founder and president of Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for organizations with products that target job seekers and/or employers.
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