Do you watch any of the Olympic games? I admire the athletes who train so hard and then compete to get a slot at the games. If we all had that kind of drive and dedication to our businesses, we'd all be millionaires!
Here are 7 lessons from the Olympians you as a small business owners can honestly do!
- Perfect your craft. Whatever it is you do to solve problems for others, be really good at it. Good enough to stand out in a crowd.
- Put it out there despite momentary fear. If you're one who holds back due to shyness, fear you won't do it perfectly, or fear of crowds you can take a lesson from Olympic athletes.
- Don't be afraid to compete.
- Invest in yourself. Think of the time, money, and effort each and every athlete has invested into themselves. You won't have to do even 10% of that, but you must do some.
- Practice calmness and rise above defeat. Win, lose, or draw, too fast out of the gate, penalties or not, the most successful athletes have trained themselves to remain calm. Look at Michael Phelps when he didn't win a medal in the 400 meter – the first time that's happened to him since 2000. He didn't throw a fit poolside, he warmly congratulated Ryan Lochte, and he strategically pulled himself out of a shorter race to conserve his energy for his other events.
- Be open to coaching. I'm amazed when I watch the Olympics and see a coach right out there to the last minute, being listened to intently. Coaching helps you as a business owner, just like with athletes.
- Stay focused. When I watch gymnasts and divers get ready to perform I honestly don't think they see or hear anything around them. They are focused, going over their performance in their mind up to the last minute. Small business owners have a bad, bad habit of flitting from idea to idea and never really carrying something to full completion. Many of us really need to learn focus.
We'll be talking about many of these traits and how to focus inward and get the best ideas and best answers for your business in my Visionary Business Owner mentoring group, which starts on August 14th and runs to the end of September. You can register now for the group. My short “How To Be Unstoppable video (click here to watch it) tells you all about it.
What will you get out of this small group? You'll learn to step into your own inner wisdom, make decisions without second guessing yourself, and get daily practices that keep you calm, focused, and productive.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Great tips Sue! I live #4 and know that is the key to success for me. Appreciate you.
Kiyla Fenell
Sue – great tips! and love the tie in to the Olympians who are oh so inspiring! I’d like to add one more – passion!
Trudy
Trudy,
You’re right, passion goes on the list, too!
Hi Sue,
Great tips. I find that collaboration rather than competition brings more success. Of course, there always need to be an element of competition and you are so right about being open to coaching. I think we can all learn something new no matter how ‘seasoned’ we are.
Write on!~
Lisa Manyon
Lisa,
Collaboration and competing are not mutually exclusive. To be successful in business that has to be, in my opinion, a “both-and” not an “either-or.” 😉
Sue
Great article, Sue! And I love the 7 lessons. Thanks, Sue!
Wonderful analogy Sue! I would add one other thing after watching and listening to Brian Lochte….be self confident! As your motto says, be the “confident marketer.” Only YOU can believe in yourself! I especially like #5 because we all fail sometimes (even Michael Phelps!) but we’re all human and if you are great you dust yourself off and get a gold medal next time! Sue, I was a competitive swimmer for 8+ years and I literally live every stroke of these races each night. These guys and gals are GREAT! What a boost for USA!
Mel,
I swam competition for a while as a kid, too. I love watching the Olympic swimmers.
Great post. I agree that if you can follow these traits, you can be unstoppable.
Thanks Sue for these 7. It is interesting that we learn very little from our success, but volumes from our failures … defeat as you point out in number 5. The thing I got in reading your post was a balance of the 7. They are all very important, but together.