How Business Owners Can Be Like World-Class Athletes

Lately I’ve been thinking about the similarities between athletes and entrepreneurs. Athletes train for long hours every day. They are driven by goals, passion, and performance. They have setbacks and face life challenges that are beyond their control. Most importantly, they persevere. You could say exactly the same about entrepreneurs.

I’m now in my ninth year of entrepreneurship, and I often reflect back on the journey. In my past life as a corporate employee, I worked long hours in exchange for a paycheck. Now I still work plenty of hours (though not as many as I did in the early years), but my return on investment is much greater than any paycheck. Owning a business has brought me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. It is the hardest work I’ve ever done, but my goals are always in clear sight, pushing me to work a little harder. I imagine that’s how world-class athletes must feel as they push themselves daily to reach the next goal, propel over hurdles, and get a little closer to achieving their dreams.

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers,” he noted that professionals, such as musicians, must practice their craft at least 10,000 hours before reaching greatness. If you worked for yourself for 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year (allowing two weeks for vacation), you would reach that magic number of 10,000 hours in five years. That sounds about right to me.

My five year entrepreneurial anniversary happened in 2008. That was also the year when the fog started to lift and I gained clarity into my purpose and passion for business. I transitioned from a consultant/author/speaker to a CEO/author/speaker. Instead of my income relying solely on selling my personal time for dollars, I launched a new business venture (Authority Publishing), with the goal of building a team to deliver services. That was the year that my business turned a big corner financially, emotionally, and spiritually.

Making the decision to build a team freed up more of my time to focus on what I am most passionate about: writing, learning, and teaching. The new business model was a perfect fit for my goals and talents. It was clear that everything I had done prior led me down a perfect path that got me to exactly where I was meant to be.

Entrepreneurs and athletes both face fierce competition, but one thing I have learned over the years is that competition is a good thing because it makes you work harder. Competition is not to be feared, but rather to be used as fuel for the engine. Good competition creates better products and services, and causes athletes to strive even harder.

Yes, entrepreneurs and athletes alike work very hard. We also don’t win every race. But it’s not just about winning. It’s about doing your best every time, no matter how hard that may be, how exhausted you are, or how much further you have to go. A world-class athlete doesn’t quit after leaving the starting line, and neither do we.

Consider some of the most famous entrepreneurs and how they have achieved world-class success: Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Martha Stewart, and Jeff Bezos. None of these people achieved their goals overnight. They put in the hours, passion, and dedication needed to reach the top of their fields.

Not all athletes achieve gold medal status, but we will still cheer them on, admire their courage and strength, and celebrate their efforts. This is a good reminder for us all as we face good days and bad, setbacks and wins. We should celebrate every part of the journey, strive to blow pass the 10,000 hour mark at full speed, and keep looking ahead. World-class athletes don’t stop or slack off when they hit 10,000 hours; they keep working even harder because that is what it takes to achieve greatness.

Disclosure:

I am blogging on behalf of Visa’s Go World Olympic Campaign and receive compensation for my time from Visa for sharing my views in this post, but the views expressed here are solely mine, not Visa’s. This post was sponsored by Visa Small Business. From now through August 31st, visit http://www.inc.com/visa-business-of-the-olympic-games/ to learn about Team Visa Olympic athletes who are also dedicated small business owners. Visit Visa Business’s newly-launched Facebook Page

(http://www.facebook.com/visasmallbiz) for more details, and follow @VisaSmallBiz for ways to help make your small business more efficient and successful. Discover more at http://visa.com/business.

Stephanie Chandler is the author of LEAP! 101 Ways to Grow Your Business.
She is also CEO of http://AuthorityPublishing.com, a custom publisher of
nonfiction books, and http://BusinessInfoGuide.com, a directory of resources
for entrepreneurs. Also visit http://StephanieChandler.com