Work where you vacation. Vacation where you work.
This is Phil Tran, championship and award-winning high school coach. I was recently asked if I was looking forward to the break between summer workouts and football training camp. I said that football *is* my vacation. I am just trying to make it through break so I can experience my real vacation…and vocation.
If you coach athletes of ages 6-18 of any sport at the school or club level, the work has to be done from a place of inspiration, influence, and impact. You are here to teach sports skills competently, but you are also here to impart life wisdom, facilitate relationship building, and provide a memorable childhood experience for young athletes that will be a source of joy and inspiration for the rest of their lives long after they stop playing.
If you are counting your hours as a coach to calculate how much money you are making per hour to coach, you are coaching for the wrong reasons. If you are making enough money from all sources overall to handle family responsibilities and enjoy life, does it really matter how much time you are working on your coaching job on site and at home if you truly believe what you do is your God-given calling?
Earnings per hour is an irrelevant statistic for the individual who is doing the Lord’s work.
In a broader sense, this is true for any profession. If you are good at what you do, you enjoy what you do, the market needs your expertise, and you are paid for your expertise, you are living the good life.
Yes, I do believe in the importance of rest and recovery. I have nothing against taking personal time off. If you need a break before the start of a sports season, I support that.
Still, I work where I vacation and I vacation where I work. Football is my vacation. I was just trying to make it through the break between summer workouts and football training camp so I can experience my real vacation.
Yes, I will say the same thing when it is time to transition from football to hockey later in the year. Hockey is my vacation. I won’t need a break. I will be on the ice coaching girls’ varsity ice hockey the very next day after our last football game!
I believe every individual has God-given talents for a God-given purpose. Work becomes vacation when our passion and profession are aligned with our God-given talents and God-given purpose. That is called vocation.
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel at YouTube.com/PhilTran22. Look for my Phil Tran #22 podcast on Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe and give it a 5-star review. Follow me on all major social media @PhilTran22. This is Phil Tran saying so long. I will see you next time.
