HOLIDAY SPECIAL: A Deep Dive into Singular Focus Trauma

Mindset

Singular Focus Trauma... What is it?

Growing up I was always a huge sports fan. I loved watching the great battles of Peyton Manning's Colts vs Tom Brady's Patriots. Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics taking on Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals was what inspired me to play basketball.

Eventually I went on to play collegiate lacrosse at the Division 3 level. It was here I came to realization regarding athletes and sport. Starting almost as far back as middle school for many, athletes spend so much time, focus, energy, and resources into immersing themselves with everything they need to become a top tier athlete in their respective sport. It is this unbreakable dedication and insane work ethic that eventually allows the few who make it that far to be successful. However, this generates an interesting line of questioning regarding athletes that is still minimally explored.

With how much time athletes spend singularly focusing into athletics, how drastically can this impact those athletes when sports are no longer something they can continue?

I have decided to classify this term as "Singular Focus Trauma" (SFT) for us to discuss further. To clarify what this is exactly, SFT I am stating is the consequences that could derive from a person spending a large portion of their mental concentration into a singular task, leading to that individual feeling trapped in a "box" of sorts, only feeling a sense of value when working or doing activities surrounded by the very thing they were singularly focused on.

For example, a top tier division 1 athlete spends their childhood dedicated to becoming a great basketball star and eventually graduates college but was not selected or signed to play professionally. Without adequate development of other professional skills, the athlete could begin to feel trapped, where their only career path now is a trainer, coach, or manager in the basketball space. This circumstance then could lead to the athlete developing symptoms of anxiety, or depression due to playing the sport being no longer.

How Interconnected Are Top Athletes To Their Sport?

In a study executed by Frontiers in Psychology, a deeper examination into the connection between top tier athletes and their sport was made. In simpler words, out of 72 retired Olympic level athletes studied, 49 were found to be employed within their specific sport discipline. This means that out of 72 Olympic level athletes studied, 68% of them continued work within that sport after they retired.

Of those 49 retired athletes the most common types of professions seen where administrators, managers, or supervisors. While some of the least common professions were that of artisans, skilled-workers, and owners.

What does this information tell us?

A large percentage of top tier athletes choose to remain in the sport they dedicated so much singular focus into becoming great at. While some will chalk this up to these athletes just working in the career path they are passionate about, at almost 70% of athletes staying in their sport, this begs the question that maybe these athletes feel like there isn't other options available.

Perhaps the leadership qualities that are so commonly developed in sports are a significant professional trait that is the most transferrable to a professional work scene, leading to many athletes going on to be career administrators, managers, or supervisors.

Perhaps the reason skill specific work, artisans, and owners are so seldom pursued could be due to the impact of time. While many athletes have the work ethic capable to learn these jobs, they were so singularly dedicated to being great at sports that they never had time to develop skill specific work outside of the sport.

Is Singular Focus Trauma Exclusively in Athletics?

Above I provided my definition of singular focus trauma as such;

"SFT I am stating is the consequences that could derive from a person spending a large portion of their mental concentration into a singular task, leading to that individual feeling trapped in a "box" of sorts, only feeling a sense of value when working or doing activities surrounded by the very thing they were singularly focused on."

Based off this definition, no, SFT is not just limited to athletics, although it can most commonly be connected to sports.

In addition to having experience as a college athlete, I will also mention I grew up as a member of a military family. We moved and relocated states multiple times and from observing my parents experiences, there are similarities in the mindset of athletes, and military lifestyle, especially when referencing team based sports.

Soldiers are expected to join and dedicate their time learning a specific role. In this role, soldiers are trained constantly to become the best they can possibly be at serving in that position for their unit. Over an extended time of humble service, many soldiers upon retirement age realize that their entire being was engulfed in being in the military, leading to similar struggles when transitioning into civilian life.

Based off data collected by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, veterans since 2014 were MORE likely to work in management positions compared to non veterans. Furthermore, veterans during the same time frame were LESS likely to work in professional occupations. Professional occupations are classified as work requiring extra certifications and training to be determined a professional. Examples are teacher, doctor, and lawyer. Once again, the professions or careers that require more time dedication are not the professions these groups of people are getting into. Can this be classified as military folks following a passion? Due to military workers very singularly dedicating themselves to serving their country in a specific role, there is much less availability to develop other transferrable traits to benefit them outside in civilian life.

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