Harvey Galvin epitomises all that Supporting Champions represents, but he has no gold medal to show for his efforts, no affiliation with a top performer, in fact his story is one about not making it in his chosen field of sport. He tried and he tried again, he grafted, he applied entrepreneurial spirit, he made opportunities but it didn’t work out. During that time Harvey explored his purpose, what makes him happy, his drivers, the need to be adaptable and tenacious, the potential sacrifices and choices he’s willing and not willing to make along the way. Ultimately, Harvey switched career away from his initial intended choice of sport. But there was a particular reason that I got in touch with Harvey to ask him to come on the podcast, and that was because he was starting to share his story in support of others who might be in a similar situation and I thought that was a story worth sharing Show notesFailing in sport, you always hear about working hard and the successesNot asking for help and support and therefore failing my dissertation – the best thing that ever happened to meChannelling and building resources in order to work at a voluntary based support sports groupsAcademic sport science courses require additional experience working with actual athletes rather than theoreticalHaving a purpose and a passion is all well and good however being flexible and agile allows acquired skills to be applied to a range of opportunitiesWhat is your life purpose?Focussing on purpose focusses on what you haven’t got and drives you backwardsThe players and the coaches will begin to see the value of sport scientist eventuallyBeing strategic and finding a university with greater opportunitiesGaining experience full time at the Lawn Tennis AssociationA lack of communication leads to a contract at the LTA not being renewedApplying for 100s of jobs and not getting an interviewMaking sacrifices, money, location and time understanding which sacrifices are worth makingRe-evaluating life, trying to be the person you say you are and using actions to back those upYou can let things happen to you, or you can say that chapters done and start something newHaving a heart condition and the addition of stress is not a good combination‘Hard work will get you what you want’ is a narrative that makes you feel good, in reality try to find skills that you are talented at hard work isn’t everythingHabit making and failing to maintain a habitThe benefits of journaling and writing, particularly when having a thought time unhelpful thoughts can be recalibrated against your previous experiences written down Key lesson from sales and influencing people: Learning to get out of your own narrative in order to frame you solutionThe skills and hard work required to be successful in sport science are easily transferable to other professionsHave confidence that you will be able to do something else if the job disappears or changes and you will be okEverything you do is selling, you’re selling your worthAsk the question, don’t be a mind reader be a sponge  If you can coach, or bring information and distil it making it useful you can do well in any industryFollow Harvey on Twitter https://twitter.com/HarveyGalvin Supporting Champions on Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champsSteve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steveSupporting Champions on Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-championsInstagram https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions/A reminder if you’re keen to pre-register for the next wave of Graduate Membership enrolments then you can do so at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/membership/If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/or drop us a note at [email protected] then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.