An Athlete Is a Human Being First

When you see an athlete on the court, on the field, or under the spotlight, what do you see?

Most people see a position, a skillset, a stat line. A point guard. A quarterback .But beneath the jersey, before the trophies, and long after the final whistle—there is a person. And that person matters more than the player.

The Athlete Is Temporary. The Human Is Permanent.

An athlete is a human being first, then a human being plus an athlete for a limited period of time, and continues to be a human being for many, many more years. An athlete’s competitive window lasts a few years. The human being within lasts a lifetime.

If we coach players only for performance and winning, we only coach the athlete part of their being and miss the opportunity to support their human being part. We also miss helping them for their whole life because we are obsessed with squeezing the most juice out of their athletic life. It is almost as if an athlete is a lemon. For many athletes, it’s their “life after sport” that presents the toughest challenges—because no one ever trained them for that.

When their stats fade and their spotlight dims, do they still know who they are?

This is where mental fitness—not just physical prowess—becomes important.

We Don’t Just Bring Bodies to the Game. We Bring Our Minds.

Every athlete walks onto the field with more than just their gear. They bring personal struggles, relationship dynamics, and self-doubt. They bring childhood narratives, pressure, and insecurity. They bring dreams, hope, and ambition.

We may not see all of that because we are too focused on watching the loud show—but it’s all there. And it also impacts performance. But most importantly, it impacts their human being. It impacts their peace of mind.

If the mind is cluttered with unresolved noise, how can it be at peace? 

If the mind is not at peace, how can the body perform at its peak? If the mind is heavy, how can the player be light on their feet?

You cannot leave the human being at the locker room door.

Train the Mind like you Train the Body

We dedicate hours to strength, speed, and skill. We train the athlete’s body to the maximum extent possible. But the uppermost body—the mind—is left untrained.

I have asked multiple professional athletes this question and the conversation almost always goes like this:

Question: In the last ten years, for how many hours have you trained your body?

Answer: Let’s see. At least 4-6 hours a day, sometimes more, so about 150 to 200 hours a month, so about 2,000 hours a year. So in ten years, I have trained my body for about 20,000 hours.

Question: And in these last ten years, for how many hours have you trained your mind?

Answer: Almost never. I might have done some meditation or visualization here and there but no specific and regular mental fitness training at all.

Just like you train your physical muscles daily, you must train your mental muscles daily. You  must train your thoughts, emotions, and choices through a system. We are not talking about a motivational or a “just be confident” talk. We are not talking about a visit to the therapist because you feel stressed. We are talking about a systematic mental fitness training system, based on clarity and peace of mind.

This is not “shatter the fear and push ahead” training approach so you can win that trophy. That’s anger training. We are talking about training your mind to be peaceful, not angry. Training your mind to be clear, so you can make the right decisions - at home, on social media, before, during and after the game.

Training, Not Telling

Bad decisions such as doing something you shouldn’t on social media, being too self centered in a team or getting into unnecessary arguments can sometimes change the course of your athletic career. Being able to control your emotions at that delicate point in time needs training, just like shooting a free throw needs training. 

We are talking about a systematic mental fitness training system, and not just telling an athlete to keep their cool or do the right thing.

Because telling is not training.

Telling them "Don’t stress" isn’t enough. We need to teach how to de-stress. Telling them "Get your head in the game" isn’t enough. We need to show how to clear the head, first.

Would it work for you if you only told your athletes what to do in the game but never trained them to do it? Would you expect them to perform during the game?

The same goes with the mind. But the problem is, we only tell them without training their mind, and expect results. That’s a wrong expectation. You are relying on hope. “I hope he doesn’t say anything stupid.”, “I hope she stays calm.” 

Hope is not a strategy. Training is.

Coaching the Human Being First

As a coach, athletic director, general manager, or sports professional, you’re not just shaping the athlete. You are shaping the human inside that athlete as well.

You’re shaping identities. You’re shaping decision-makers. You’re shaping people who will one day look back and ask: "Did my sport help me live a peaceful life—or just perform and win?"

Using the sport to teach grit and perseverance is helpful. But if anger is your only strategy to push through obstacles, you may be unintentionally setting up your athletes for a successful sports career but a miserable life today and tomorrow. You have the best intentions, but you might have been swayed by the popular narrative - Winning is everything. Would you like to rethink that and create your own narrative instead? The one that feels right, more peaceful?

The problem is that we tend to define success as only winning the game, trophy or the championship.

It is time to redefine the meaning of success in sports. Success must mean enabling an athlete to maximize their potential as well as maximize their peace of mind. 

Success must mean:

Human + Athlete, and not just the Athlete.

Peace of Mind + Performance, and not just Performance.

Wellbeing + Winning, and not just Winning.

Winning is still important. But not at the expense of an athlete’s wellbeing. 

Performance is still important. But not at the expense of an athlete’s peace of mind.

Not anymore.

When we coach the person behind the player, something powerful happens.

We don’t just create champions. We create clear, thoughtful, and peaceful human beings who also happen to be phenomenal athletes. Or not. It doesn’t matter. Some may continue to play the sport. Some may not. But all of them will continue to live. All of them will continue to be human beings. For the rest of their lives. 

An athlete is not a lemon. An athlete is a human being. Let’s do what is right. Because it is the right thing to do.