From professional footballer to athlete career coach - with Ryan Gonsalves of 2nd Wind

02/13/24 • 52 min

Questions? Comments? Episode suggestions? Send us a text message!

#173: Ryan Gonsalves is a former professional footballer and founder of 2ndwind Academy, a platform empowering former elite athletes in their transition to fulfilling careers. He explains the transferable skills professional athletes have, the challenges athletes face when their career ends and how to make the most of new opportunities.
What you’ll learn

[1:34] Why Ryan wanted to coach elite athletes.
[2:16] The unique challenges elite athletes face when they stop competing in their sport.
[3:10] The way your career is linked with your identity.
[4:10] The limited lifespan of being a professional athlete.
[6:38] The players Ryan Gonsalves played with at Leeds United.
[7:47] How Ryan became a professional footballer.
[9:26] Why Ryan wanted to play football professionally.
[12:47] The goals Ryan had for his footballing career.
[14:38] What Ryan’s career as a professional footballer looked like.
[17:06] What it means to be a semi-professional footballer.
[18:08] How Ryan’s mother influenced his decision to stop playing professional football.
[19:45] The amount you can learn from life regrets.
[23:47] The continuous pressure professional footballers are under.
[27:09] How Ryan transitioned to a more conventional life and career.
[31:20] The amount of luck involved with being successful.
[32:36] How to get more luck in your life.
[35:23] How Ryan got a job working with HSBC in Hong Kong.
[37:25] The importance of being optimistic about new opportunities.
[38:52] Why Ryan transitioned from banking to career coach.
[41:00] How what you value in life can change over time.
[42:38] How Ryan started the 2nd Wind Academy.
[43:13] The ways Ryan wants 2nd Wind to grow and expand.
[44:24] The essential nature of human-played sports as entertainment.
[45:52] The transferable communication skills you learn as a sportsman.
[47:25] The value of feedback in the workplace.

Resources mentioned in this episode

Please note that some of these are affiliate links and we may get a commission in the event that you make a purchase. This helps us to cover our expenses and is at no additional cost to you.

Thanks for the Feedback, Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen

For the show notes for this episode, including a full transcript and links to all the resources mentioned, visit:
https://changeworklife.com/from-professional-footballer-to-athlete-career-coach/

Re-assessing your career? Know you need a change but don't really know where to start? Check out these two exercises to start the journey of working out what career is right for you!
Take me to the exercises!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Questions? Comments? Episode suggestions? Send us a text message!

[1:34] Why Ryan wanted to coach elite athletes.
[2:16] The unique challenges elite athletes face when they stop competing in their sport.
[3:10] The way your career is linked with your identity.
[4:10] The limited lifespan of being a professional athlete.
[6:38] The players Ryan Gonsalves played with at Leeds United.
[7:47] How Ryan became a professional footballer.
[9:26] Why Ryan wanted to play football professionally.
[12:47] The goals Ryan had for his footballing career.
[14:38] What Ryan’s career as a professional footballer looked like.
[17:06] What it means to be a semi-professional footballer.
[18:08] How Ryan’s mother influenced his decision to stop playing professional football.
[19:45] The amount you can learn from life regrets.
[23:47] The continuous pressure professional footballers are under.
[27:09] How Ryan transitioned to a more conventional life and career.
[31:20] The amount of luck involved with being successful.
[32:36] How to get more luck in your life.
[35:23] How Ryan got a job working with HSBC in Hong Kong.
[37:25] The importance of being optimistic about new opportunities.
[38:52] Why Ryan transitioned from banking to career coach.
[41:00] How what you value in life can change over time.
[42:38] How Ryan started the 2nd Wind Academy.
[43:13] The ways Ryan wants 2nd Wind to grow and expand.
[44:24] The essential nature of human-played sports as entertainment.
[45:52] The transferable communication skills you learn as a sportsman.
[47:25] The value of feedback in the workplace.

Thanks for the Feedback, Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen

Previous Episode

Avoiding career change mistakes: insights and strategies for a successful transition - with Natasha Stanley of Careershifters

Questions? Comments? Episode suggestions? Send us a text message!

#172 - Natasha Stanley is a career coach who has helped thousands of people shift into work that they love. She explains the biggest mistakes people make when changing their careers, how you can avoid making those mistakes and how to find a career that you love
What you'll learn

[1:47] How Natasha knew it was time to make a drastic career change.
[5:40] How to know if it’s your job or your career that is causing you to feel unsatisfied.
[7:26] The value of job-hopping within a career before making a career change.
[9:45] When you should take a leap of faith and do something completely different.
[12:30] What it looks like to dismantle the structures in your life and how to portray yourself differently.
[15:55] Common mistakes people make when changing careers.
[18:35] When to stop planning and start taking action.
[20:50] How to learn more about yourself and what you enjoy in life.
[24:42] The sunk cost fallacy that stops people from leaving careers they don’t enjoy.
[27:24] How others can help you with a career change.
[30:44] Who to ask for career change advice.
[33:06] How to know the types of jobs you’re able to do.
[33:30] Why your CV can be a list of things that you don't want to do.
[37:00] The mindset you should have when making a career change.
[38:46] The problem of focusing on your passion when looking for a new career.
[41:27] How networking can influence your career.

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing”, Theodore Roosevelt
Friend of a Friend, David Burkus
Puttylike
Stanford Life Design Lab
Change Work Life Coaching

For the show notes for this episode, including a full transcript and links to all the resources mentioned, visit:
https://changeworklife.com/avoiding-career-change-mistakes-insights-and-strategies-for-a-successful-transition/
Re-assessing your career? Know you need a change but don't really know where to start? Check out these two exercises to start the journey of working out what career is right for you!
Take me to the exercises!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Next Episode

How to build successful relationships at work (and why you should do it) - with Nicolas Rion

Questions? Comments? Episode suggestions? Send us a text message!

#174 - Nicolas Rion is a relationship coach who supports individuals to build strong, healthy and sustainable relationships. He explains how to improve the relationships you have at work, communicate with people about your needs and build trust and support with colleagues.
What you’ll learn

[1:51] Why Nicolas became a relationship specialist.
[3:10] What it means to have emotional intelligence.
[4:50] The importance of self-care in emotional intelligence.
[6:15] How you can coach individuals to be better in relationships.
[7:28] The benefits of coaching one person in a relationship instead of couples coaching.
[8:13] The importance of having positive relationships in your life.
[10:12] The type of relationships you should build at work.
[12:30] Why it’s important to be intentional in the relationships you build.
[14:28] How to have intent with the relationships you make at work.
[15:50] Ways to approach a relationship that is lacking in a certain aspect.
[19:30] How to respond to a manager who isn’t empathetic to your situation.
[22:36] The type of interactions you need with colleagues to build strong relationships.
[26:26] How to know if you can trust someone.
[26:48] How much you should separate your work life and personal life.
[28:07] The problems with not wanting to socialise at work.
[31:57] Building relationships that make it easy to solve conflicts.
[33:39] How to make conflicts easy to solve.
[33:48] How maximising trust and support in a relationship enables conflict to be resolved.
[36:26] The best way to respond to a potential conflict.
[38:42] How easy it is to have successful relationships.

“The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion”, Paulo Coelho
Nonviolent Communication, Marshall B Rosenberg
The 10 Habits of Successful Relationships

For the show notes for this episode, including a full transcript and links to all the resources mentioned, visit:
https://changeworklife.com/how-to-build-successful-relationships-at-work-and-why-you-should-do-it/
Re-assessing your career? Know you need a change but don't really know where to start? Check out these two exercises to start the journey of working out what career is right for you!
Take me to the exercises!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Change Work Life - From professional footballer to athlete career coach - with Ryan Gonsalves of 2nd Wind

Transcript

Jeremy Cline00:00:00.419

What happens to those professional sports people and athletes who don't hit the big time? What do they do when they've poured themselves into this incredibly competitive and tough career, and then it just doesn't work out? That's what we're going to find out in this week's interview. I'm Jeremy Cline, and this is Change Work Life.

Jeremy Cline00:00:34.469

Hello, and welcome to Change Work Life, the podcast that'