Life Beyond the Sport
Some of you have a platform that people outside this room don’t have.
Followers. Attention. Influence. People who watch what you do and listen to what you say because of what you’ve accomplished as an athlete. That is a genuinely rare thing. And it comes with something that the sport itself doesn’t prepare you for very well: the question of what to do with it.
Read this passage slowly.
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability.
Matthew 25:14–15 — NIVLet that sit for a second before you move.
Each according to his ability. The amounts are different. The expectation is the same: that what was entrusted will be invested, not buried. The platform is an entrusted resource. And the question the parable asks is: what are you doing with what was given to you?
Athletic platforms can be used in many directions. They can be pointed inward — toward personal brand, personal gain, personal comfort. They can be pointed outward — toward causes, communities, people who need what the platform can provide. They can be used thoughtlessly — without intention, following the path of least resistance, doing with the platform whatever produces the most engagement. Or they can be used intentionally — with a clear sense of what matters and a commitment to using the platform for that.
The athlete who gets to the far side of a playing career and looks back at what they did with their platform while they had it is looking at one of the most significant choices of the athletic career. Not what they achieved on the field. What they did with the attention the field produced.
Invest what was entrusted. Intentionally. The platform is not permanent. It’s available now. Use it toward something worth using it for.
The platform is not permanent. It’s available now. The question the parable asks: what are you doing with what was entrusted to you?
What do you want your platform to be for? Not what it currently is — what you want it to be pointed toward. What does intentional use of it look like?
Vision question about intentional platform use. The current use versus the desired use is where the growth is.
Invest what was entrusted. Intentionally. While the platform is present.
Most relevant for athletes who have genuine public platforms. For athletes without significant public profiles, adapt the question to the influence they do have within their immediate community.