Contentment, Being-in-the-Zone & Giving Back
Shaun Johnson played his last rugby league game this past weekend bringing to an end a 14-year career. He will be remembered as a really good player, who potentially did not achieve as much as he could have, but definitely as one of New Zealand’s greatest. He played some of his best footy over the last couple of seasons after returning to the team he started his career with in NZ. This season was marred by injuries, but some in the game believed that he could have gone on for another year or two.
Playing his last game on Saturday, Shaun led his team in a come-from-behind win producing a “miracle pass” in the last minute of the game that led to the final scoring effort helping the team win by two points. Following is a video of his press conference after the game and there are three things that stood out for me –
1. Contentment – he spoke about being content with the game, not because of what the result was but because of how he and the team played.
2. Being-in-the-Zone – he speaks about being in the zone, “in the groove”, feeling “really good”, enjoying what he and the team were doing. He was “locked-in” to execute his role, thinking beyond the emotion of the occasion.
3. Giving Back – he expressed his intent now to give back to the sport, specifically in helping young players “develop their game”, “building a program that gives them access to knowledge that I wish I had access to”.
According to me, these three represent a great state-of-mind to strive for when we call it time on our chosen vocations, no matter what they are. Thank you Shaun!
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