We were lucky to catch up with Shawn Tolleson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Shawn, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I really don’t think I found my purpose until recently. Having been a follower of Jesus Christ since I was 15 years old, I’ve known for quite some time that I am supposed to be a “light” in whatever environment God puts me in. Throughout my time in professional baseball, I 100% identified as a Christian, teammates knew that I was a believer, but even still, I’m not sure I even found my identity in Christ until many years later. Or perhaps a better way to put it: I didn’t know how to integrate my faith and the game of baseball. Ever since I can remember, even as young as eight years old, I was driven to be a professional baseball player. I worked hard, really hard. Work ethic was something that was taught to me by my father. We were not allowed to use the word “can’t” in our house. That word was the worst possible word you could say. Working hard is not a bad thing, in fact, it’s something I’m quite proud about. But, what was I working for? That’s the million dollar question. And I’ve realized as I mature in my faith, that I was searching for people’s approval. You see, I found my identity, who I was, in my performance. I was driven to achieve something. But the problem is, I had it all backwards. I was trying to achieve something, so that I could be significant, so that I could be accepted. You see, all of my life I have been telling people that I was going to be a professional baseball pitcher, and now I needed it to go do it. And that’s what I worked so hard for. But that’s not what the Bible says! The Bible says that I am a child of God. And God accepts me just as I am, right here, right now! And as a child of God, we are accepted, and because we are accepted as a child of God, that makes us very significant! And with that significance, we can now go and achieve things in God’s name and for His glory! So how did I find my purpose? God showed me! God has continued to mold me into His faithful servant. He taught me a great deal of lessons through the game of baseball. And now, I want to pass that along. Our purpose at POP Athletics is to help athletes experience the fullness of God’s glory, grace, love, and power. Training athletes is simply the vehicle we use to pursue our purpose.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
First and foremost, all I am is because of Him who lives in me. POP Athletics was an idea. It is the culmination of decades of real-life stories and decades of dreaming. POP exists to help athletes experience the fullness of God’s glory, grace, love and power. We accomplish this through purposeful training, helping each athlete identify their athletic superpower. You see, we believe that God has gifted each of us with a superpower, and we help athletes figure out which one they have, and how to double-down on that superpower to perform at the next level. Nobody does everything well, and most training facilities identify your weaknesses first. We do the opposite, we find that thing that makes you special and show you to maximize that God-given ability. POP stands for Pursuing Optimal Performance, because it is a constant journey, always in pursuit, no destinations, only milestones along the way. We believe in measuring Progress Over Perfection, POP!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
First and foremost, humility. I didn’t always have it. And the longer I live the more I get. The more I learn about God, the smaller I feel. The more I begin to understand who God is, the more I realize I don’t understand. And the more that I don’t understand, the more satisfied I am resting in the fact that I don’t understand things, and that’s OK!
Secondly, I’ll call it going “against the grain.” I never wanted to do things like everybody else did them. That didn’t make sense to me. It used to be a pride thing for me. I actually used to take pride and think that I was pretty awesome because I didn’t do things like other people, but now I see it differently. In my experience, there are two ways to get the outcome that you really want, to think outside the box in order to create a solution that no one else has thought of, or to do the things that most people aren’t willing to do, like work hard. I have tried to do both, which takes me to my third quality.
Lastly, work ethic. That was something that was instilled in me at a very young age by my father. He taught that to me. Not by his words, but by watching him. It didn’t matter what he was doing, he was going to do it the very best they could. One of my favorite quotes, and my apologies, I don’t know who said it first, but it says, “The difference between wanting and achieving is discipline.” I believe that. I have seen it. I have experienced it.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
An ideal client for POP Athletics is someone who is not married to their answers. Sounds strange, I know, but hang with me. Here’s what I mean: we want athletes who are willing to walk in our doors with an open mind, willing to admit that they don’t know everything. We want athletes who have a growth mindset. We want athletes who are willing to listen. We want athletes that inspire to be great. We want athletes who take ownership of the things that they have control of. We want athletes that are willing to accept the things that they cannot change. We want athletes that are willing to eliminate those things in their life which are just flat out unacceptable. I call this “taking out the trash.” And the truth is, all of this should start with the parents. You could replace the word “athletes” with “parents” in each of the previous sentences and it would be even more impactful to our facility, to our community, and to the next generations.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://popathletics.com
- Instagram: @pop.athletics
- Linkedin: PopAthletics
- Twitter: @popathletics
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