http://www.inc.com/thomas-koulopoulos/5-of-the-most-important-things-you-ll-learn-about-being-a-success-come-from-an-u.html?cid=sf01002
What can the gym teach you about starting and running a successful business? Lots. But here are five of the most important lessons I've learned from a lifetime of sweating it out.
1) It's tougher than it looks. (If it wasn't you wouldn't be reading this...)
Here's the thing, everyone wants to be fit but very few people want to get fit! One is a destination the other is a process--with no time-lapse photography involved. You will need to traverse every inch of the journey--including the inevitable setbacks! And, by the way, once you lose those five pounds you're not done. Be ready for that. Too many business owners expect that once they get through the first year they're home free. The fact is that while new business survival rates are worst during the first year, with 25% dying off in that time, another 25% die off in the next four years, and it's not until about 10 years out that business survival rates start to taper off and stabilize! During that first decade you are constantly at risk. The antidote? Be disciplined, persistent, and more than just a bit paranoid.
2) You can't just want it. You have to need it--really bad.
"Do you want this or need this?" Hesitate for a second and you're in the wrong place.
Want is temporary and based on desire; that's' the 80% who sign up for a gym membership and bail out after four weeks. Need is permanent and based on beliefs and values; that's the 20% that stick it out, sweat like crazy, and just keep at it until it's part of who they are. It's also what separates successful entrepreneurs form wanna bees. You can't want to run a business; you can't want to be successful; you can't want to change the world. You have to need it and commit yourself to it and whatever it entails. It's why the first question I ask anyone who talks about becoming an entrepreneur is, "Do you want this or need this?" Hesitate for a second and you're in the wrong place; try the green coffee bean extract in the vitamin shop next door.
3) Breakthroughs create a new baseline--for everyone.
Athletes who break through physical limits are not only able to sustain the breakthrough but also create a new sense of what's possible. When Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile in 1954--thought for centuries to be impossible--he cleared the way for 21 other runners to do the same over the next 6 years. Nothing evolutionary happened to our species, no new techniques, exercises, or equipment; just the knowledge that it could be done. If you're running a business make sure your people know about each and every success. Advertise breakthroughs and big wins and celebrate them--in a big way. At my company we used to have an app that would cause every device in the company to ring in a distinctive way whenever any sale was made. It was like a metronome, and when it slowed down people hustled to get it ringing again, and they knew they could.
4) The greatest competition is always against yourself.
Chances are the guy or gal with the six-pack abs isn't looking at you as much as you're looking at him or her.
Hey, we all have to dream and visualize before we get there, but if you're spending most of your time admiring others you may want to ask yourself if you're really setting the bar high enough. Too many entrepreneurs try to emulate competition. It's great to have targets that you want to surpass but it's even better to go where your competition fears going, because that's ultimately where the greatest opportunities are.
5) Set backs are inevitable--and necessary
"If you're going through hell, keep going."
One of the hardest things to do when you work out regularly is to get back into the groove after a long illness or injury. It's hell and it feels as though you've got to work so much harder just to get back to where you left off. It's a great, guilt -free reason to stop. But the greatest setbacks create the greatest opportunities to prove our resilience and strength. Without them you simply wouldn't grow. I've yet to see a business that follows a straight line to success. I've worked with so many CEOs of successful companies who each tell the same story about the day they were just about to shut down because they couldn't make payroll. So what do you do? Churchill said it best, "If you're going through hell, keep going."
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