Kevin Markarian is the cofounder of Roopler, an AI-driven lead generation platform built for the real estate industry.
There is a lot of advice about the link between exercise and business success, but for a good reason. I know from personal experience that when I’m physically fit and dedicate at least a small amount of my time to taking care of my own health, my business ventures thrive. Over time, I’ve come to appreciate why investing in your health also can be a great investment in your business. And I’ve learned lessons that apply to business as well.
1. Find what energizes you as a leader.
I’ve found exercise to be the fuel that energizes my focus throughout the day, and I have science on my side. Research consistently concludes that physically active adults are less likely than their sedentary counterparts to report feelings of fatigue and low energy.
It takes brains, grit and discipline to succeed. This lesson seems to hold just as true on the court or in the arena as it does in business. As a busy entrepreneur, the challenge is finding time to ensure your own fitness routine—or whatever it is that energizes you—doesn’t become the thing that always gets pushed off the calendar.
I hold myself accountable by block-scheduling my workouts as early as possible. Ideally, I’m at the gym well before the competition or any of my business partners are even out of bed and starting their day. You don’t have to be a morning person to make this method work. All you have to do is ensure that the time you block off for what energizes you doesn’t get pushed off your calendar (if you have an assistant who manages your schedule, they also should be fully on board).
2. Managing challenging situations requires confidence and perseverance.
Overcoming physical strain and pain helps me overcome other challenges. If you work out, you know that overcoming physical challenges is just as taxing on a mental level as on a physical level. Pushing yourself physically on a regular basis is also a great mental workout.
You might even say it’s a great way to keep your mindset for business in top condition. This is why I always think about business while exercising, and I always think about exercise while doing business. Overcoming physical challenges can also be a great confidence boost and fuel your perseverance.
Of course, whether you’re training for a marathon or preparing to weather the next great recession, it also helps to have a great mentor or coach—someone with the insights needed to offer sage advice and ask the right questions at the right moment. Having a few raving fans, including a great team at home and in your broader community, also goes a long way.
3. The right mindset helps you compete with the best.
Before I found myself competing in the business world, I was competing on the mat as a wrestler. In fact, some of the most valuable things I learned in high school were on my wrestling team. What I learned early on is that to have a competitive edge, you not only have to have the right mindset but also have the agility to adjust under any circumstances. The same logic holds true in business.
Some of the most successful businesses in the world are those that have demonstrated agility. In some cases, the pivot is visible (e.g., when Suzuki switched from manufacturing weaving looms for Japan’s cotton industry to manufacturing high-performance motorcycles).
In other cases, the shift isn’t about rolling out a radically different product but rather a radically different business model (e.g., the recent decision several social media platforms have made to start charging a subscription fee for premium services rather than rely solely on advertising sales and revenue generated from vertical products and services).
4. Patience and discipline can take you far.
Like exercise, business development is incremental. You don’t go to the gym twice and end up with ripped abs. Similarly, it takes more than a few months to turn a startup into a unicorn. That said, if you do invest time in your workout or business, day by day, you will start to see results.
Exercise and business are both types of grinds. Exercise is a great way to appreciate the value and necessity of the daily grind. As a result, it is also a great way to build the patience and discipline needed to succeed in business.
In business, long-term gains nearly always require at least some short-term pain. Whether it is putting in extra-long hours when you are scaling a new company or taking calculated risks, building a successful business with the potential to keep growing over time requires becoming comfortable with a certain degree of discomfort.
5. Downtime is a necessity.
If you’ve ever engaged in interval training, you’ll already appreciate the value of interspersing periods of intense physical activity with periods of rest. The same principle applies to running a business.
While you might convince yourself that working all the time is the only or best way to guarantee your success, taking downtime is also essential. If you’re always working, you’ll neglect everything else in your life, including your physical fitness, health and personal relationships. If you’re neglecting these things, your business could also suffer.
6. Tend to all the pillars of your life.
Business is one pillar of life. There is also family, health, finances, spirituality and more. Achieving success in business without achieving success in these other domains isn’t just less satisfying. Over time, it may also put your business ventures at risk. After all, if you are ill, fatigued or distracted, your business could suffer as a consequence.
To ensure you’re prioritizing all pillars, accept that you can’t do everything yourself. Then, focus on prioritizing your work, delegating anything that can be carried out by a team member or a subcontractor, and automating tasks that can be carried out using one or more digital platforms.
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