by Mike Davenport, Coaching Sports Today
Picking up where we left off in Part I of this series…where we were discussing if you can make a living you desire from coaching college sports:
JOB 2: Define What “Making A Living” Means to You
Problem: You’re committed to making-a-living from coaching, now you need to define exactly what that means. Don’t blow this off. I had a coach-friend who never did this and he actually ended up living in a van, down by the river. Seriously.
Needed: Again, pencil, paper, thoughtful place.
Step 1: Define it
Making-a-living means different things to different people, and is time dependent. For example, when I first got out of college I was single and living simply. As a coach I was paid $7,000 per year. Full time, 24/7/365. And for a while I was one happy camper. However today, making-a-living means supporting a family of four, with healthcare insurance, car loan, mortgage, and kids heading off to college.
A few years completely changed my definition.
There are many ways to define making-a-living, but I’m going to suggest a real simple method that works for me.
Step 2: Paper and Pencil
Let’s determine your NEEDS. Grab another piece of paper and fold it into thirds, length-wise. Title one side “needs.” The other “income.” Under NEEDS list all the bills you NEED to pay, and how much each is. Under INCOME, list all the sources of money you expect and the amount(s).
Once you’ve done this (it may take many minutes or longer, since you need your answers to be as detailed as possible) subtotal each side. What is the balance between your NEEDS and INCOME. Which column is larger, or are they equal?
Step 3: You desire what?
Now for your DESIRES.
Desires, obviously, are different than needs. Where a need is a MUST-HAVE a desire is a NICE-TO-HAVE. The latter you can live without, at least for the short term, the former you cannot, without significant negative repercussions or hassles. For example, you may need a car to get to work, but you might desire a Volvo instead of your beater Chevy with the broken window (the car I had for my first two years of coaching).
There’s nothing wrong with desiring better, it’s what we do, as humans, but it’s CRITICAL to know the difference between needing and desiring.
In the open column on your paper write down your desires. A few might be:
- graduate school
- upgraded computer
- smartphone
- travel
Put a rough money amount with each desire.
Step 4: Now the hard part
Take the balance of your first two columns. Have any extra (okay, stop laughing and just answer the question).
Most coaches would answer “No”. But is there is a surplus? Could that be applied to your DESIRE column? Looking at all three columns can offer a snapshot of your make-a-living future, right now. No, it is not a budget, because there is too much emotion engrained in it; so don’t go waving it around to your accounting friends. They will just scoff. But it is a balance sheet, of importance.
Now put down the paper, close your eyes, and try to visualize a sentence or two that describes making-the-living you desire.
My definition of making-the-living I desire is “having a job that allows me to support my family in a healthy manner and allows for positive development and growth for everyone.”
Now do yours.
See it in your mind, then write it down. You now are armed with what Making-a-Living from coaching sports means to you. Get it on paper, don’t hold it in your head. That’s worthless. Written down it is priceless.
Part 3 will be about it you current coaching job, or one you are applying for will support the standard of living you desire.