How playing sports can prepare you for being an entrepreneur
There is still no definitive formula for success, but they are well-known elements that can make someone more likely to achieve their goals, take a look at how playing sports can prepare you for being an entrepreneur.
Playing or competing in youth sports or later in life, will teach people essential lessons that can be translated into many facets of life, and are especially important in business.
The best part is that most ways in which sports help you as an entrepreneur are organic, meaning you pick them up and make them a part of your behaviour without noticing. Because they seem like second nature, it doesn’t take much of an effort to use these skills.
You’re obviously not making a last-second shot or hitting a home run in the office, so how are playing sports preparing you for being an entrepreneur:
Hard work and discipline
Committed athletes are some of the hardest working people out there, it doesn’t matter at what level you played if you were serious about winning you worked hard.
There’s no need to look further than the example set by student-athletes like the ones that apply to asmscholarships.com to reach for their dreams, who have to rely on their own skills and work ethics to achieve those goals.
In the same way, athletes overcome hardships, entrepreneurs have to rise above the challenges with the push of their own strengths, the belief in their business or idea plus the drive to get the work done every day.
Playing for the team
One of the mostsignificant ways in which sports prepare you for being an entrepreneur is byteaching the nuances of collaborative work.
This lesson is specially enhanced for those that played team sports but even for individual disciplines winning required a joint effort from the athletes, the coaches, staff, and training partners.
A venture that is led or integrated by people that know how to work together is more likely to succeed than one filled with individualistic members.
Some companies recognize this advantage to playing sports so much that they create their own in-house teams to encourage integration and teamwork.
Self-confidence under pressure
A last-minute shot to win the game has so many similarities to making a pitch for investors, that professional athletes often make a new career out of teaching others how to perform under pressure and being motivational speakers at business events.
Entrepreneurs that have sports experience under their belt are usually better equipped to handle stress, have more tools to manage expectations, and come up with strategies for fixing crises.
Maintaining sports as a part of life can also help entrepreneurs release stress, stay healthy, and even create a network through camaraderie with other athletes.
Helpful then and now
Whether as a former athlete or a current one, sports continue to offer valuable lessons and benefits to those that create and manage their own business.
So consider spending some time on the court next time you are wondering what you could add to your life to bring you business goals closer to reality.
