Quarantine, a word I never thought I’d be using as often as I have been the past several months. It’s been an interesting time, lots of time cooped up inside but also plenty of time to give thought to other parts of life as well. Unsure of what was to come when restrictions first began, I started drawing up scenarios in my head. What if the Olympics gets cancelled, it’s what the past two years of my life have been dedicated too aside from my faith and family? Will I compete another cycle, an extra 4 years, transition to coaching, do mma, tryout for the WWE, use my degree? Questions so many people have asked me over the past two years that I didn’t give much thought too that are now flooding my mind. I didn’t and still don’t have the answer yet I decided the best thing I could do was I begin using the extra time I’ve been blessed with wisely. 

• Started reading, finished Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell and currently reading Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Found creative ways to continue strength training in my garage
• Signed up for an online class on the topic of Contract Law (which I haven’t done much of, haha)
• Started thinking of different ways to make money. I’ve always enjoyed business and wrestlers at the senior level do not get paid like pro athletes should, so brainstorming on different ways I could potentially generate more revenue for myself was important to me so started side hustling. 
• Signed up for Instacart and began shopping and delivering groceries for customers who were not able to make trips to the grocery store throughout the day around my training schedule
• Started woodworking and building things to sell
• Cleaned out the garage and threw items up on Facebook marketplace to sell

Most importantly started thinking about creative ways I could start monetizing myself as an athlete. I teamed up with a company called BOLT, a brand management company, and began investing more time into building a brand. I’m still training, still focused on the primary goal at hand but have realized more and more that building outside of your sport is just as important. Our window of opportunity as professional athletes is short and it’s our responsibility to make the best of it, not to just invest in your skill and goals in competition but to build across the board. LeBron James opened up an elementary school in Akron, Ohio called the I Promise School, founded a Sports Nutrition Company called Ladder, started a production company called SpringHill Entertainment, and signed endorsement deals with companies like Coca-Cola, Dunkin Brands, McDonald’s, Nike, Beats by Dre, Statefarm, and Audemar Piguet a watch company, all while being one of the top athletes in the world. There are so many examples, Shaquille O’Neal is on the advisory board of several companies like Tout Industries and recently joined Papa John’s Board of Directors. While he was playing he was also an active real estate investor. Learning to build life beyond sport has been a fun process, it’s been a lot of learning and growing in challenging ways. Excited to continue thinking big and working towards the vision God’s put on my heart. Thankful for this time, I have been focusing on what I can control and trusting God with the many things I can’t. Hope you all are staying safe.