Featured Story

What does success look like to you? Is who you are at your core aligned with how you make a living? Shawn Smith, a supervisor for an insurance carrier and current president (2023) of local soccer club dedicated 3 years to developing his leadership abilities and set a personal goal to land a management position by the age of 30, which paid off when he was offered a supervisor’s position in 2016. In spite of being 1,000 miles away from friends and family and many hours spent on the road, Shawn decided to accept the position, as he saw it as accomplishing the goal he set out to achieve. Within 6 months he was miserable as a result of the personal drain and impact on his family in addition to unforeseen financial costs that came with it. He quit this job and accepted another only to quit again within a year and find another company to work for, yet he was still unhappy. 

I asked Shawn how he handled this “failure” to which he replied, “Failure is only failure if you choose not to reflect and change. I do have some past experiences that I may have done differently with my current mindset, but, at the same time, those past experiences helped shape my current mindset.” 

In 2022, Shawn accepted the position with the current company he works for, but this time his approach was different. Shawn reports, “I was selective and tactical in my move to another company in 2022. It took reflection on what I felt I was missing both professionally and personally and I asked myself would this new company be able to provide this to me?”

Shawn has identified his wife and children as the most important priority in his life, being able to pass on values such as living an altruistic lifestyle through community volunteering. He learned that his previous goals of chasing a paycheck and a job title, compromised his number one priority which is his family and community building through volunteering, most notably with the Blackhawk Area Soccer Association (BASA) Club soccer organization based in Chippewa, PA. When asked what his biggest success was Shawn replied, “My biggest success is now. I have two wonderful children and a supportive, loving relationship with my wife where, the four of us, are a team….I began coaching approximately five years ago and have grown into higher roles within a few, local organizations over that time frame. My biggest success is seen each week when people come together and celebrate with one another. I am heavily involved in youth soccer, but will tell anyone who will listen, it’s not about soccer. It’s about giving people purpose and intrapersonal strength. Through five years, I have seen players win and lose games, I have seen players injured, and I have had players leap into my arms out of pure joy following a big goal. Along those lines, their families have enjoyed countless dinners before or after games, celebrated birthdays together, forged lifelong friendships, and ventured into other activities with one another. I learned over the last five years in my professional life that it’s not about the job title or the salary, it’s about fulfillment of what you desire in life. I’ve learned, in the same time period, it’s not about soccer…"

 If you believe in the Law of Resonance or Law of Attraction, it’s no surprise that Shawn’s path and mine have crossed. About 1 year ago, after recovering from some traumatic personal experiences, I strived to seek my own personal fulfillment and healing and spent a lot of time reflecting on my lifestyle. I realized how preoccupied I was with my personal challenges and my efforts in resolving them internally only got me so far. I was missing a huge piece of myself, which was volunteering or more to the point, helping others. As my daughter plays soccer, and BASA was in need, I volunteered to coach. From a purely intellectual level, it makes sense that to experience a sense of personal satisfaction, you volunteer in the community, most of the mainstream religions have this as a tenant. But that intellectual understanding only, makes it easy to dismiss and lean towards other ventures or avenues of fulfillment. Also, framing it in that manner is not as altruistic sounding as you think it should be. So, what am I getting at? Volunteering to coach or serve the community requires self-sacrifice. It takes time away from other things you might do that you see as more attractive. You might lose some sleep, get a little frustrated when you have a player(s) challenge you, parents criticize you, you realize you need to study up on how to coach, and how to communicate effectively with a team of developing players. The level of personal satisfaction, growth, and connection to something greater than self cannot be described, it can only be felt. To witness the contributions and far-reaching impact of Shawn’s service and the service of so many other coaches, members of the board, and parent volunteers within the BASA organization is humbling and reassuring. Despite the negativity and conflict that exists in so many corners of our lives, so do altruism and hope that across America, other community organizations are having a positive impact in their community and that it’s recognized and expanded on and out. Regardless of your motivation or fear to serve, the need for community volunteering and community leaders exists. Sacrifice, hard work, commitment to something greater than yourself, pay off in spades.  It has valuable personal lessons and rewards, and it resonates and has more of an impact on so many other people and our youth. To sum up, “It’s not about soccer” …and we need more of it.

Adam McCaa 

On the Bright Side LLC