One person I think is cool is Mario Ancic.
He was the number 7 tennis player in the world. Beat Federer on grass. Made the Wimbledon semifinals. Then mononucleosis forced him to end his career at 26.
Instead of becoming another ex-athlete who got stuck in their identity and now commentate or coach, he went to Columbia Law School. Passed the bar. Rose up the ranks at different law firms. Then he switched into finance. Now, he's a principal at a major private equity firm.
What's cool:
His LinkedIn doesn't mention tennis. Not in his headline. Not in his bio. Only a tiny mention hidden if you drill into all his work experiences.
That's the part that gets me. Most people who achieve something significant spend the rest of their lives reminding everyone about it. They become prisoners of their best achievement.
Ancic just moved on. Started over as a law student. Then again as a junior associate. Then again in private equity. Each time accepting being the beginner in the room despite having been world-class at something else.
Some takeaways from his story:
- Reinvention is hard, but it's possible. Just because you've spent years becoming great at one field doesn't mean you can't excel at something completely different.
- Letting go of old achievements makes life more interesting. You get to be a beginner again, learn new things, meet different people.
- Growth requires being bad at something again.
- When moving fields, you might feel you're losing years of experience. But you're not. Your skills are more transferrable than you think. But you only get to use those skills if you're willing to let go of the identity first.
I LOVE inspiring stories like this that go against the norm. Most people think you always need to stay in your lane…but it’s nice to see that even wild reinventions are possible. And your current chapter doesn’t always need to be your final one.
Btw:
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