What Ballet Teaches Entrepreneurs About the Art of Discipline

Yesterday, my daughter was cast in her fourth performance of The Washington Ballet’s?esteemed?Nutcracker

The exciting news came to us three days after she was fitted for her first pair of #pointeshoes. Obviously, I’m a proud mom, beaming from ear to ear. But as?I learned that this year she will perform as a soldier, I realized something that squeezed my heart. My little angel has been dancing now for seven years. Yes, she started dancing barely out of diapers. But the realization was deeper than that.?

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I placed my daughter in ballet because I danced when I was young

I’m not boasting. I’m not a dancer. But the lessons I learned from ballet were priceless and are still with me today.?

Ballet is challenging and strict and it will test your will. But when you must dance?because you love the art too much, those things?don’t?matter. Ballet teaches critical thinking skills and will reveal what you are made of. It may even harm you physically when you push your limits. It is all about passion and pushing yourself through the ceiling of your limits and then some. Ballet also teaches you to?persevere?and go at it against all odds, for the competition is fierce.??

When you have passion and determination, there are no reasons why you will not succeed

Tenacity never takes no for an answer. Until one day, you will look back and say to yourself: Oh wow! I did it!?

To anyone who works in?any way, shape or form, do not these principles sound?familiar??

I knew it well seven years ago when my toddler hopped around her first ballet studio wearing the cutest pink tutu - no?pliés,?tondus?or?arabesques?- just pure energy and fun. Because first, she had to learn the most basic discipline of life – how to follow the rules (later, she will make her own).?That’s?difficult for a?three-year old.?

I?liken?her evolvement to those who aspire to start a new business

Or to make something new for themselves. If my daughter had ever realized that she would take?nearly 500?classes before being fitted for her first pair of pointe shoes, she?probably would?have gotten scared. A blocked mind cannot move forward, much less succeed.?

?“Do not try to dance better than anyone else; only try to dance better than yourself.” Mikhail Baryshnikov

To all aspiring #entrepreneurs and business owners, take one step at a time. Conceptualize your brand but?don’t?look too far ahead because the challenges that you are going to tackle might scare you. Instead,?make a plan?and stick to it. There will always be someone who does what you aspire to do. You will do it better and in?a different way.?

Like my daughter who is about to go on pointe and dance in her fourth Nutcracker performance, you just might build enough momentum to launch a new future.?