Dusty ‘unfulfilled’ by incredible AFL successIn 2017 Dustin Martin won a premiership, the Brownlow, the Norm Smith medal and Player of the Year, but all it made him feel was pressure not success.
Dustin Martin reveals all: The Story Continues book extract.
Sunday Herald Sun
October 17, 2021 After climbing to the top of the AFL mountain with his breathtaking on-field performances in 2017 Dustin Martin suddenly found himself with great expectations on his shoulders but little motivation.
He was a ‘human doing’ instead of a ‘human being’.
He needed someone to get inside his head and help him find his purpose.
In this edited extract from a new book The Story Continues by Dustin Martin it is revealed who Martin turns to for mentoring and his exploration of spirituality, self-awareness and self-worth.
Of course, achieving great things doesn’t always lead to fulfilment.
By the end of the 2017 season, Dustin Martin had won the premiership, and the Brownlow Medal, and the Norm Smith Medal, as well as the Gary Ayres Award for best player in the final series, then Player of the Year awards from both the AFL Coaches Association and the AFL Players’ Association, a second straight Jack Dyer Medal, too, not to mention an All Australian guernsey and a host of media awards all lauding his greatness.
Martin turned to another voice that rings in the ears of critical people at Tigerland, the life coach, professional mentor, athlete whisperer and storyteller Ben Crowe.
Crowe was once the youngest ever director at Nike, and in his second career has turned to working with professional athletes to unlock their stories, and their full self.
He has helped world number one tennis star Ash Barty, champion surfer Steph Gilmore, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson, star wheelchair athlete Dylan Alcott, as well as groups, too – from the Australian cricket side to the senior leadership team at Facebook, a conference of Fortune 500 CEOs and members of the US Special Forces.
At Richmond, he has worked with president Peggy O’Neal, senior coach Damien Hardwick and captain Trent Cotchin – and in early 2018 he found himself face-to-face with Dustin Martin.
‘Dusty was feeling unfulfilled,’ Crowe says.
‘He had achieved, but he was unsatisfied, and was trying to make sense of those feelings, and was frustrated with the expectations of having to do it again next year.’
Crowe has worked with him in a mentoring capacity ever since.
Crowe explains: ‘If Dusty’s self worth is predicated on whether he wins another flag, or another Norm Smith Medal, well, that’s a pretty miserable existence, because he can’t control that.
‘Does that mean if he doesn’t win another one that he’s not good enough, or not worthy?’
‘It’s this idea of a human doing instead of a human being,’ Crowe says.
‘If you have to do something – achieve something – to be somebody, you’ll never be fulfilled or content or at peace or satisfied.
‘So we talked about what he wants to be going forward.
‘Brave and caring?
‘Adventurous and strong?
‘Because he can control that. He can’t control footy results.
‘Dusty was keen to courageously explore the depths of who he is, and find that unconditional self worth.
‘Watching an individual like him lean into something that most alpha males do not has been wonderful to see.
‘He went on that journey, and it’s been beautiful. The exploration of who he is and what lights him up, and what his values are and what his motivations are, and what his purpose is and his goals are – and who he is – has been deep. ‘And it meant he could then answer the second important question: What does he want out of life?’
Life coach Crowe points out that Martin loves poetry and quotes, the Gaia app – which produces documentaries and series about ancient wisdom, the nature of the universe, and unexplained phenomena.
The thing that might surprise people most about Martin, says Crowe, is his spirituality, from his Maori roots to his embrace of elements of Buddhism – not to mention the self-improvement and self-awareness literature on his night stand (such as) The Power of Now, the Japanese book The Courage to be Disliked, as well as Way of the Peaceful Warrior and the Toltec wisdom book The Four Agreements.
‘His voracious reading would surprise the hell out of people,’ Crowe says.
Still, he has his sanctuaries.
The rhythm and thud of a private boxing ring. Hours upon hours in the saddle of a road bike. Silent solo swims in the brine of Port Phillip. And of course the football field itself, in front of a madding crowd.
Martin’s ultimate purpose, in his own words?
He wants to help make people feel loved and appreciated, their lives a bit better and a bit happier.
How does he want to be remembered?
As a loving, caring, loyal person – someone who’s real and genuine, fun and funny to be around.
The values he holds dear are resilience, which he defines as not giving up.
And optimism, including the genuine belief that something positive will come from all experiences, good and bad.
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And acceptance, in realising you can’t change what has happened, and accepting this is the superpower that will allow him to move forward without worry.
This is an edited extract from The Story Continues by Dustin Martin (Hardie Grant Books, RRP $49.99). In stores nationally from 19 October.
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