There is a lot of similarity between sports and business if we take the time to think about it. From our teammates or business partners that become like family. The grind of putting in the hours to master your craft or market. Check out this list about handling the pressure in sports & business.
Show Love for the Fans
This is like rule number one. You cannot disrespect your fans as an athlete. If people are willing to show your love and support, you have to show it back. No matter how good you are if all the fans hate you, it’s going to be a very tough career.
In business, your fans are your customers. It does not matter if you have 3 or a million; you need to treat them well and show them that you care about their thoughts and needs. If you can handle people well in this world, you will be able to find some business that works for you.
Get Ready For Overtime
It does not get sweeter than a game that goes into overtime. It could be a shootout or extra time, but by this point, you are tired and just want the game to be over. You have to dig deep and find a part of you that you did not even know was there.
There will be nights when you have to stay up late working your butt off because when you run your own business, you are in charge. Many times when things are starting you can only depend on yourself to get things done. It is not like you don’t know how to handle overtime though. Just like when you are in a battle in sports, you have just to dig a bit deeper to make your dreams come true.
Bounce Back Strong from Setbacks
In sports, you are eventually going to get hurt at some point in time. Every single time it happens it is going to suck I can make you sure of that. It is vital to find the positives in the injury and allow that to bring you back stronger the following year. How you deal with an injury or repeated injuries shows how strong of a person you are.
Business requires the same type of strength in character that athletes need. You are not going to be physically injured (I hope not anyway) but you will be mentally injured. Your cash flow will go up and down, things will go wrong, you might get scammed, people will quit on you, and you will think you should be doing much better than you are. Only the strong will get over this stage and get to see financial success though. The weak pack their bags and just stick with a job.
Handle the Pressure
As an athlete, you are judged by how you perform on the big stage. Can you handle the pressure or do you fade off like the dusk of dawn?
Business is the same in the sense that there can be a lot of pressure on you. Everything that happens, or does not happen is your fault because you are running the show. You have to know how to step your game up when significant opportunities arise.
You Can Always Be Better
As an athlete, a business person, or a human being getting better is something we are always able to do. As an athlete, you can never be satisfied with last year or your previous performance because you have to find ways to be better the next time.
They are so closely related, but too many athletes do not realize it yet.
You don’t have to figure this all out alone. Join an athlete-driven community full of athletepreneurs and athlete transitioning like you pushing to achieve their goals in their next chapter.
