2 Degrees

When I first decided I was going to write a blog, I intended to post something every day. As it turns out, that habit is a bit more difficult for me than I originally thought. I’ve been jumping around, feeling a bit anxious about writing and have to keep reminding myself that this is the reason I am doing this… to push myself out of my comfort zone to learn and grow. As a disclaimer, I know I am not a good writer but hope to work on that as I move forward.
I want to give some context as to why I am in Istanbul before I go any further. For the past 2 years, I was an assistant athletic performance coach in the NFL. With the end of a rough season, the coaching staff changed and most of the entire staff was let go when the new staff came in. Before that, I was an assistant in the collegiate setting for a number of years and had the privilege to work with some great programs in the SEC, Pac-12, and Mountain West. Throughout my journey in athletic performance, for whatever reason, I’ve always viewed the world through a different lens. I read and studied subjects outside of the traditional strength and conditioning realm and ventured into business, psychology, sociology, physics, neurobiology, architecture, history, philosophy, you name it. What’s funny to me is that I don’t feel that I have a very high aptitude for obtaining knowledge, yet my curiosity drove my passion. I didn’t realize how much this how profoundly shaped my view of the world until I listened to Michael Gervais’s podcast Finding Mastery where he interviewed Kriztina Holly, who was curator and host of the first ever TEDx and founder of two university innovation centers. She talks about how she believes to follow your curiosity, not your passions. Your passions will pigeonhole you into one specific area, whereas your curiosity opens you up to so many more opportunities and experiences in life. Instantly, this clicked for me.  Fortunately, for me what I’ve come to realize is that my passions revolve around knowledge and learning. What this has done is open me up to so many new opportunities to see the world and meet new people.

So, I am now in Istanbul consulting for an esports team (professional video gaming), helping them create a high-performance model with structure, systems, and scheduling for success. I have taken what I’ve learned and have repackaged it so it can be used in their specific context – absorb, modify, and apply. Am I passionate about esports? Honestly, no. But… I AM curious. And I know that by putting myself out there and learning about new fields will only help me in the long run. Opportunity is around every corner, you just have to be willing to remove your blinders and see what’s on the periphery or even see things from a different angle, and sometimes that’s just 2 degrees.