The world is enthralled with the Olympic games. I find myself, along with my family really enjoying watching Olympic favorites like swimming and gymnastics along with some of the more obscure sports we often only see every four years such as badminton and table tennis. The sheer dedication, tenacity, talent and sacrifice of these athletes is astounding. Olympic broadcasters have also reported some great backstories; the story behind the athlete’s trek to Olympic greatness. It’s inspiring to see what some of our athletes have had to overcome in life to be in London.
No matter what the sport, we love to win don’t we? We love to win on the athletic field and we love to win in business. As I’ve watched the games, it’s such a strong reminder that there are many parallels in athletics and business success. I came across a great article in Forbes about top lessons for entrepreneurs by Naveen Jain that lead to success not just in business, but in just about any endeavor you choose. I’ve listed a few of his top 10 lessons in today’s briefing. If you’d like to see the rest, click here for more.
Be passionate about what you’re trying to achieve. If there’s one thing the Olympics have demonstrated it’s this: that without passion, being the best isn’t going to happen. Success always involves sacrifice. With passion, both your team and your customers are more likely to truly believe in what you are trying to do.
Execution, execution, execution. A great plan isn’t always what wins the game, the win comes from basic blocking and tackling. Strategic planning is key, but in the end, there’s no substitute for taking action.
Focus. It’s sounds like the simplest rule to follow on your way to accomplishing a goal, but it’s often the most underrated trait of all. The article notes that companies often suffer from doing too many things at the same time rather than doing too few things very well.
Rely on your team. Are you one of those individuals who thinks they can do it all? Know who you are; where you excel and where your skill set falls short and rely on others to complement your strengths and compensate for your areas of weakness.
These sound like basic tenets because they are. Every once in a while, we just need to be reminded that it’s the basics that lead to success in any endeavor if we simply apply them. Make this your week to really focus on a few of the traits listed above and see if you’re able to accomplish more this week than you did last week.
