subject: What Top Athletes Can Teach Us About Running A Successful Business! [print this page] If you've had a chance to catch any of the 2010 Winter Olympics this year you've had a wonderful opportunity to experience the passion and dedication that these young athletes put into their sports. Through their outstanding achievements we can learn many lessons from them. As business owners and entrepreneurs, we should be practicing some of these same principles top athletes use in their day to day training.
The first thing that is evident is the passion they carry for their sport. These individuals have not only given up a great portion of their adolescent and teen years for their sport - but they go at it with a determination that is second to none. They love what they do and it is evident in how well they perform. Remember back in the school days when you always got higher marks in the subjects you liked? "Do what you love and love what you do." This concept makes your job so much easier. If the business that you do is your passion, then you will be more successful at it.
The second thing about these individuals that makes them stand out is their commitment level. They train for hours every day, repeating the same "perfect practice" techniques. Have you ever heard the saying "It's not practice that makes perfect, but perfect practice that makes perfect".
Focus is the key. The need to be able to get out and focus when the day of competition arrives. Without focus it's too easy to get distracted by crowds and outside activity. Don't let your competition or the state of the economy or negativity, create a loss of focus. Without focus you will not be able to complete any one task efficiently. A young figure skater who lost her mother just 3 days before having to skate her first program credits her bronze medal win to the fact that she had to completely focus in those few minutes on the ice. She had to forget all of the great distractions around her (including the roaring crowds) for those few minutes and perform to the best of her ability what she'd trained all these years to do.
Another thing that winning athletes have is a coach and a mentor. Even athletes that are at the top of their sport employ coaches to keep them on top of their game. Someone to continually watch and fine tune what they're doing and keep them current on what is happening in their particular sport. Having a mentor to look up to, who has accomplished great things in your particular area of expertise, helps you to strive for greatness too. As business owners we often don't have anyone to look to for a second opinion or to ensure that we are continually practicing the right things. This is where belonging to a Mastermind group helps. Hearing what other people's successes and accomplishments are often buoys us up and keeps us motivated and confident that we're moving in the right direction.
Teamwork is not only important in sport but in business as well. Building a team of similar minded individuals is crucial when you are growing your business. Each member of your team brings his or her own strengths and individual talents. But it is more important that each person be striving to work together for the same end result. Without a team that works together you set yourself up for failure. I remember asking a very successful sales manager once how she managed to have such a great sales team. She told me that her number one hiring criteria was that the individual had to be a "team player" first. Everything else was secondary. She actually let go her top sales producer because she wasn't getting along with the other members of the team, as she believed this would ultimately result in spending more time fixing personnel problems, rather than selling. As soon as this person was gone, everyone else stepped up and improved their game. The greatest hockey teams credit their success to their ability to work effectively as a team.
One of the most important qualities that top athletes have is their commitment to excellence. In your own business you should strive for no less. In everything that we say, do and provide to our customers, it should be the best that we can give. Your clients will recognize it because the clients you want to have will be practicing it themselves in their own business. Clients will feel your passion, your dedication and your perseverance in your voice, your written communication and in whatever you supply. Never deliver anything less than what you consider to be the very best!
by: Mike Kowalski.
welcome to Insurances.net (https://www.insurances.net)
