After watching some competitions in Rio de Janeiro – Brazil due to the Olympic Games in 2016, I was inspired to do this analysis about lessons that high performance athletes can offer to entrepreneurs.
Especially, based on fact that the day by day in new business is full of challenges closed in many details of the reality experienced by athletes, and many of them struggle as athletes to accomplish their dreams, put into practice their purpose and achieve their goals.
And the key lessons presented by Olympic athletes are:
1) Self-confidence and mindfulness
The construction of the entrepreneur’s self-confidence is fundamental because if he or she did not really believe that can achieve his or her dreams, how will lead his/her team to build something, involving partners, investors and suppliers, as well as captivated the customers who consume the products and services offered by their businesses.
Another key factor is the mindfulness which is the quality or state of being conscious and aware of something in the present moment, maintaining focus and concentration, and avoiding getting anxious about the future or looking only for the past. And this approach is very clear to athletes due to they have to be 100% in the competitions and a minimum inattention can cost elimination or defeat, and similarly for the entrepreneur since he or she has either support decisive moments with a strong trust, as well as the reference to everyone in the building of his or her dreams.
2) Realization of purpose
The importance of purpose for the entrepreneur is like a flashlight at night to the traveler, without it he or she cannot have the clarity and the strength to go through obstacles and maintain focused on the pursuit of their goals, and this reference is also a key to athletes who without it could not achieve the marks that approach to superheroes and go beyond our perception overcoming the human capacity.
Moreover, it is not enough just have a good vision of where want to go, it is very important to develop a consistent strategy to achieve the intermediate objectives, aimed at measuring progress through real and achievable goals that challenge the entrepreneur to get much beyond what he could initially imagine.
3) Focus and discipline
The entrepreneur that seeks to deliver a product or service differentiated know that needs to focus in high level, offering a perception of value to the consumer far above the competition, thus it is necessary to “delight” the customer and reaches a level of satisfaction that neither he or she could imagine that would be achievable.
It is also important to emphasize the importance of discipline for athletes who need to keep constant and exhaustive workouts, making a crucial factor also for entrepreneurs because many unattractive activities will have to be performed weekly, however they are fundamental to the growth of business.
4) Motivation and management of stress
The same way that the energy emanated by a crowd in an Olympic competition, which is well used by the athlete can be decisive for the outcome, increasing their motivation to achieve his or her goals, in the same way the entrepreneur who receives the support of their families, friends and employees can also turn this energy into success for the business.
What more could be noted about the stress control for both athletes and for entrepreneurs, which the decision-making needs to be made much faster and with high impact on their results, sometimes driven by rational and others by emotional, however always based on a wisdom (“feeling”) that is difficult to explain.
5) Commitment for excellence
A clear demonstration of excellence is the result of an athlete that can compete in the Olympics with the best of their sports, especially with who receives an Olympic medal, because this commitment is also applicable on the day by day of the entrepreneur who has to “dribble” with all the difficulties in his or her business including the competition.
And another factor related to excellence is never give up, just do the best adjustments in strategies to achieving their goals, as the athletes who overcome pain and injuries, demonstrating extraordinary resilience and knowing the best time to “lower the sails” and looking for other winds.
6) Hard measurement
Fundamental to achieving any goal is to have a clear and objective measurement of how close you are to conquer it, and athletes do it by the development of theirs records, therefore entrepreneurs need to inspire in these processes creating their own controls, for instance can be based in the customer quantity, amount of sales / revenues, profits, etc., hence the daily control will be easiest as simple as the process is performed.
7) Champion mindset
Build a mental model of a champion that allows you to be prepared to overcome the obstacles that at first glance may seem unbeatable to you, but through a strong mental structure can be resolved in a conscious and innovative way. As many authors have explored this concept that you only get what you really desire hardly, and the power of the mind can be crucial for a runner to finish a marathon and can also be the destruction of a business by the self-sabotage of their entrepreneurs.
In conclusion, it is clear that there are differences in the daily life of an athlete and entrepreneur but through these lessons is possible that the entrepreneur inspires in the results of Olympic Rio 2016 to conquered the success of his or her business, achieving amazing records of so many athletes and also the whole of Brazil and the United Kingdom delegations.
And what lesson do you believe that most applies to your daily life?
Share with us to evolve together.
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