Beyond the Athlete

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Beyond the Athlete Helping former athletes channel their discipline sustainably in life after sports.

03/09/2026

I spent the first 5 years after soccer wondering why nothing in my life felt as fulfilling as I thought it would.

I have this vivid memory of heading to a workout class immediately after a 12-hour shift at my six-figure job, and thinking about how badly I wanted to throw it all away.

I thought something was WRONG with me.

Meanwhile I was ambitious, disciplined, and using the same mindsets that had made me successful as an athlete…. All without getting any of the internal reward I was used to.

Every time I got what I (thought I) wanted, the excitement wore off and I found myself looking for the “next thing.” Nothing I did felt like enough.

Eventually I realized I had learned how to *achieve*, but never how to build a life where achievement wasn’t solely responsible for my happiness and identity.

And once I saw that, I couldn’t ignore where I was headed.

If I kept this up, I was going to resent the life I had worked SO hard to build.

& idk about you, but I refuse to spend my life accomplishing things I’m too burnt out to enjoy.

Instead, I spent years learning how to keep the ambition I loved about myself while building a life that actually gave me that feeling of “winning” I craved.

I put the framework that changed this for me inside Trophy Life, my free private podcast for former female athletes.

Comment PODCAST and I’ll send it to you. Happy listening. 🤝

02/09/2026

When I first stopped playing soccer, I struggled to define who I was. I filled every second with work and eventually was so burnt out that I changed jobs (did this 3 times… lol)

Eventually I realized that it wasn’t the career that was the problem.. it was that I was treating my career the way I treated my sport…

Only to end up resenting my career and having no idea who I was outside of it. I’m on the other side of that now and this is what I help former athletes with every day.

If you scroll through Alyssa Hermann | Success Coach for Former Athletes videos on my profile you’ll see all the lessons I learned along the way and what YOU can do if you’re a former athlete struggling w identity loss, fulfillment, consistency, and more :)

02/09/2026

As a former athlete it was engrained in me that “if I wasn’t first I was last.” Inadvertently this fed my obsessive fear of falling behind or being seen as lazy.

No one would have picked up on this because I masked it by working harder than everyone around me. What others didn’t see is the internal sacrifices I made to uphold that image:

1. My fulfillment
2. My own judgement of what was worth my time
3. My mental health
4. My workout routine
5. My self-confidence

Eventually I worked to redefine success in my own terms and realized that not every room deserved my “100%.” I had to overcome a fear of disappointing others and let go of my need to control how other people perceived me.

Now that I’m on the other side of that, I STILL am often the hardest worker in the room. 🤪

I just am much more intentional about the rooms I spend my time in. And because of this my life is reflective of my values, goals, and purpose.

PS- This is the work I do with former athletes. If you find yourself being split in two: half of you outworks everyone, and the other half of you is secretly suffering because of it…

comment “STRATEGY” for a free session on how you can tap into your potential without sacrificing yourself in the process.

01/09/2026

Like… the fact that you know what to do and aren’t doing it…. Makes it worse???

PS- knowing what to do and understanding why you’re NOT doing it are two very different things.

Signed, someone who coaches former athletes around this style of procrastination every single f*cking day. 😉

31/08/2026

As a new former athlete I thought if I COULD achieve something, I NEEDED to go do it. I’m much pickier now, and care more about whether the person I’m trying to become would actually choose to pursue it.

Being capable of more does not mean you owe the world more. Respectfully… You don’t owe em 💩

I talk about this transformation in Episodes 3 + 4 of Trophy Life. Comment “PODCAST” for the private link. :)

PS- follow Alyssa Hermann | RN, BSN, NC-BC if you’re a former athlete who’s untangling themselves from this toxic relationship with achievement

- Alyssa

31/08/2026

“Just tell me what to do.” 🚩

It’s a a BIG red flag if this is your approach to success. What I mean:

When there’s no clear game plan, I guarantee you feel lost or lazy despite knowing how capable you are. (And having years of proof of your potential from competition)

Other people don’t notice because you ARE still succeeding at work, in the gym, any room where the process is black and white.

But behind closed doors, your shoulders sag and the light leaves your eyes. They don’t get that accomplishment doesn’t carry the same sense of meaning or fulfillment that it used to.

This occurs because you’ve never TRULY defined “winning” for yourself as a former athlete.

And continuing to box yourself into someone else’s definition of success isn’t going to change the lack of satisfaction you’re experiencing.

This is why I immediately call out your “just tell me what to do” mentality. There’s a need that’s deeper that cannot come from another person.

I can teach you the skills for consistency or goal setting, and help you see the patterns in your decision making that you can’t see yourself, but I cannot tell you what a meaningful life looks like for you.

That part has to come from you.

This is a piece of what I break down in my free private podcast called Trophy Life.

Comment “PODCAST” and I’ll send it to you.

30/08/2026

Heavy on # 5 because too many former athletes put so much pressure on their exercise routine to solve all their problems instead of addressing the route causes.

I.e. all or nothing mentality, identity wrapped up in being viewed as the “fit” one, pushing past your limits, only having hobbies that are productivity based 👀

Bonus point —> consistency INCLUDES down time and recovery.

If you struggle to:

take your foot off the gas,
alternate between PT and the gym (I see you), and
recognize that these patterns stem from the athlete mindset that no longer serves you…

comment “STRATEGY” for a session with me to help you redefine consistency not just in the gym but in every area of your life. 🤝

28/08/2026

I’m 29 and mildly embarrassed to share that:

1. Despite playing a team sport my whole life, I struggled a lot with feeling like an outsider. I still feel like this a lot of the time.

2. I let my achievements define my worth for 15+ years to the point that I didn’t know who I was if I wasn’t working towards something. Not to mention that this made me resent things that I once wished I could accomplish.

3. Before owning a business, I couldn’t stay in a job longer than 2 years. I’d get burnt out and blame the career instead of actually looking at the choices I was making with my time, priorities, and focus. Did the same thing to soccer.

4. I dropped out of a grad school program because I finally understood that changing my external environment wouldn’t fill the void that slowly grew when I retired from athletics.

5. Despite helping former athletes through this exact thing, I often feel overwhelmed by my own expectations and it requires constant effort to differentiate between my potential, my goals, and my desire to just be human.

6. I’m learning to give other people the opportunity to truly get to know me, and hopefully if you relate to any of these you know that you’re not alone.

Follow along if any of my experiences resonate with your former athlete journey. 🤝

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