At the age of 10, my dad told me I had to play a sport. He didn’t care what sport it was but I had to do something that made me go out, exercise, and meet new people. I tried a few different sports before deciding I wanted to play hockey. Reluctantly I took the basic learn to skate classes alongside my dad before jumping into the game. Once I actually started, I realized I loved playing hockey. I started out simply playing the game. I didn’t watch any pro games on TV, I didn’t know many other players in Knoxville, I didn’t even know there were other teams you could play for in the southeast besides the team I was on. All I knew was, I loved playing hockey.

All I knew was, I loved playing hockey.

Moving down the road a few years, I thought I knew everything about the “hockey world” because it was what I had been doing for the last five years. With that thought in my head I tried out for the only big AAA hockey team in the south that didn’t force you to move (there were no AAA teams here in Knoxville). After a few people dropped out, I made the team. I was thrilled, I thought “finally, I get to play more hockey and have much more fun doing it!” Well that’s not exactly what happened.

I realized I didn’t know anything about hockey pretty quickly.

The season felt like it started right after tryouts. It was not quite that fast but it was close. I was used to having nothing in the summer then starting the season later than all the other teams in the league. Right then I realized I didn’t know hockey like I thought I did. I quickly learned the ropes but it was not the sort of routines I was used to. This was an organization, not just a youth hockey team. We were required to attend team dinners, workout on our own, be on time, and wear a suit and tie to every game. I had to buy a suit and tie just for that season of hockey.

I had to buy a suit and tie just for that season of hockey.

At the time, it looked like we had rules just to have rules. I thought: “Why would wearing a suit and tie to a game make me play better?”. What that season really did for me was show me, for the first time, that everything you do attributes to what your goals are. I remember a coach from another team someone coming into our locker room after a tough loss and saying: “You all have to have the discipline to put all of the hockey gear in your bag the same way before every game, if you want to start winning.” We didn’t exactly know what to think of that comment until he explained to us that it wasn’t about having tons of rules, it was about making hockey a way of life.

It was about making hockey a way of life.

That season of hockey did much more than help my hockey skills, it made me realize a lot about what it took not only to be successful in hockey, but in life. Hockey made the think about the future. We were so often asked about our plans moving forward, what we wanted to do, how we planned on getting there. I didn’t know. I had no idea and no one had ever forced me to think about it. That season of hockey forced me to become interested in bettering myself.

That season of hockey forced me to become interested in bettering myself.

I knew that I needed to look ahead and as much fun as I had playing the game I realized the rest of my life wasn’t going to be focused around me playing hockey. So I tried to figure it out. I knew I at least had an interest in technology so I started messing around with all types of computer software. I tried 3-D modeling programs, software programs, and I even took an old computer apart once. I found all those things interesting but I just didn’t have a passion for it, a drive to do it everyday like I did when I started playing hockey. After trying all types of programs, I realized my passion was right in front of me, literally. It was the Web. That tool I used to research all those potential passions, turned out to be my passion. I finally found a new passion, but didn’t know where to start.

That tool I used to research all those potential passions,
turned out to be my passion.

I started learning how to design and build some basic websites and jumped at every opportunity I found to build someone a website. I created a company “Nathan Anderson Designs” which was just me doing consulting work but I thought “my company” sounded better than “It’s just me figuring it all out”. Once I officially started, it was time to find some clients. With only a few clients and just a touch of experience I thought I was ready to grow my company without thinking of the long term. I did not know how I could grow, what other requests people would have besides websites, and how I would turn this into something that made money. Starting out, my prices were so low I didn’t make any money.

Then I read “The Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell”. My uncle recommended the book to me and despite not reading much at the time, I made an exception for my uncle. Gladwell’s book has a lot of interesting information but what stood out to me was the 10,000 hour rule. Gladwell explains the 10,000 hour rule as the minimum amount of hours someone has to have before are have truly “mastered” their field. The explanation of that rule had such an impact on me at the time. It made me stop and think “would I want to do 10,000 hours of this?”.

Would I want to do this for 10,000 hours?

Gladwell spreads the average persons 10,000 hours at about 10 years. So that got me thinking: “Do I want to be doing this for the next 10 years?”. The answer was no and yes, what I realized was that I didn’t want to do any one thing for 10,000 hours.

I continued to take on small clients with the intention of growing at least my clients for the short term. I knew I loved having the flexibility of working from home and choosing what projects I take on but that was all I knew.

With no intention of doing so, I became a freelancer. My clients slowly transitioned from single jobs to contracts with bigger and bigger companies. I went from “the web designer” to “the media guy” basically going from only making websites to covering anything that needed to get done related to any form of media. I found out that what I truly enjoy is being a part of everything.

I found out that what I truly enjoy is being a part of everything.

I now spend my days jumping from web design, web development, project planning, customer support, and anything else that comes up. I don’t know where I will end up but I am sure I will have a good time getting there. Who knows, maybe I’m already there.

With that season of hockey 4 years behind me, I think of how everything has changed. I am not sure what would have been different if I had not played that one season of AAA hockey but I know I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.

I now work for many companies and I do many different things everyday but perhaps the most significant, is the work I do for a company called TPH, that same hockey company that let me play for their AAA hockey team for one season 4 years ago.