Be a business athlete

If you want to be a high performance entrepreneur, then you need to know how to prepare and train for it. Just like an athlete, it’s about knowing when to sprint, perform and rest. Here’s my take on the business athlete meaning…

I think of myself as a business athlete, meaning if you’re serious about the long game, you should too.

An Olympic athletes training and competition time ratios have a lesson to teach us as business athletes.

Olympic athletes spend two per cent of their time in competition and the rest of their time training and resting. Competition time takes the smallest amount of time in their overall program. If you’re a hundred meter sprinter, you might spend four years training for an 11 second race.

So how much time do you think they spend training and developing? They probably spend about 38 per cent of their time in training and development. Then they spend 60 per cent in rest and recovery.

Now, let’s flip this.

As entrepreneurs, business men and women, we typically spend 50-60 per cent of our time performing on the job, and maybe two to five per cent in rest and recuperation.

You’re seeing the theme here, right?

The greatest dilemma as an entrepreneur, isn’t learning how to grow. It’s learning how to manage energy. It’s not about time management, it’s about energy management.

How do I manage my energy so I don’t wake up in the morning, sprint for two hours, and then, I’m a zombie for the rest of the day?

How do I wake up in the morning and pace myself so that I’m highly effective throughout the entire day and not just for a small window of it?

Take a leaf out of the Olympic athlete’s play book – learn when to sprint, when to perform and when to recover.

Hope that helps.

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