"The most important thing in life is to have a goal that makes you wake up in the morning"

The Hungarian Olympic Committee (HOC) organised its third Athlete Career Programme (ACP), an initiative brought to life by Athlete 365 within the framework of the Career+ programme, delivered with the Adecco Group, creating a friendly atmosphere.

The interactive workshop which covered such essential topics as ‘Sport and Education’, ‘Who am I? – discover yourself!’, ‘Prepare for the competition that is LIFE’ and ‘Networking & Social Media’, was held by the Seoul Olympic Champion pentathlete and successful coach, Attila Mizsér.

At the workshop, participants with all sorts of backgrounds, were given a detailed description of the advantages of a balance between sports and education and their proportional breakdown in different life stages (e.g. school age, preparing for an Olympic Games and after retirement).

Those interested in the ACP workshop included HOC Women in Sport Committee member Anett Fodor, heptathlete Györgyi Zsivoczky-Farkas, European Champion sport-shooter Zsófia Csonka, cross-country skiing and biathlon athlete Evelin Vivien Laczkó, Hungarian Competitive Sport Federation Head Coordinator Viktória Holló, successful cyclist and Hungarian national coach of the road bicycle racing team Zsolt Dér, athlete Bence Apáti, cyclist Ádám Karl and wrestler Balázs Kiss.

The interactive programme spanning 7 and a half hours aimed at facilitating the transition of pro athletes and giving them dual career advice provided a splendid chance for athletes to give their view on what is important in life and how to approach such a transition.

As one athlete, the youngest with his 18 years, the 2017 EYOF and 2018 European Athletics U18 Championships 1500 metres silver medallist, Bence Apáti put it “the most important thing in life is to have a goal that makes you wake up in the morning. The journey matters only as long as you are on that journey, no matter how you get there, as 3+3 and 2+4 equals 6, too. If you love what you do, love yourself and give back to others, you are on the right track.”

In another account the 4-time Olympic Games participant Zsófia Csonka gave a glimpse into the perpetual fight she has had to wage and the endless disputes in her tertiary education while preparing for competitions and the Olympic Games. The difficulties of getting customized curriculums and exam dates approved were plenty. Yet the Hungarian sport-shooter described the positive, character building effects of these struggles.

Therefore, the workshop introduced the notion of ‘skill transfer’ to the athletes, namely how certain skills and knowledge acquired in professional sport comes in handy in other areas of life. Following the instructions of Attila Mizsér, participants also discussed the versatile athlete portfolio: the plethora of skills and personality traits built and honed by sport, such as consistency, persistence, understanding, tolerance, getting to know different cultures and countries, teamwork and cooperation and Olympic values.

Based on the Ancient Greek aphorism “know thyself”, Mizsér emphasized the significance of digging deeper and getting to know ourselves better, so athletes got acquainted with the perks, strengths and weaknesses of the four basic personality types (the owl, the lion, the dog and the peacock) and how one is made up of multiple archetypes, not only one.

In the last section the Olympic Champion taught those in attendance a new way to look at social media: to consciously communicate our values, who we are and our messages to reach out to people. The pentathlete stressed how critical it was for one’s success to learn communication strategies, to properly use the different platforms for building personal brand and to consistently post on our profiles in today’s social media-driven world.

The day ended with participants giving feedback on the usefulness of the workshop. Everyone went home wiser and more conscious, having collected their nuggets of wisdom.

(HOC/Péter Szalmás)