Why My Favorite Sport is Entrepreneurship
Before tonight I didn’t think I had much in common with your typical athlete. I’m lanky. I have flat feet. I break a sweat on 10-minute walks. I’m less coordinated than a badger on a typewriter. And I don’t like to hit others who can strike back without fear of legal recourse.
So you can imagine my surprise when I realized that athletes (albeit toward different ends) perform a number of the same functions as we entrepreneurs:
- They keep themselves mentally fit
- They discipline themselves – “Early to bed, early to rise…”
- They play for more than money
- They plan and test, and they monitor themselves and their competitors
- They execute rapidly – A coach names a play (tactical) in terms of a greater plan (the long-term strategy). Players execute moments later.
- They adjust constantly – They execute, sure, but not before updating their tactics in light of new information.
- They delicately manage public images – Think “Tiger Woods”
- They channel their anger / focus their aggression
The final insight is that which motivated this article. Consider the last time you were really, really mad. Perhaps a colleague undermined your authority. Or maybe a relative broke a promise s/he made. Or a computer problem tested the limits of your sanity.
At any rate, I bet that you:
- Got mad, and
- Got to work.
I know because I do the same.
As entrepreneurs, we’re predisposed to turn our anger toward our work. This has both positive and negative outcomes, but I emphasize the favorable elements here.
With exception to fear, nothing makes us work harder, faster, or more deliberately than the seeds of anger. And there is no more productive way to channel the adrenaline those seeds deliver than to focus it in the form of a renewed vitality toward our occupations.
The lesson: When applied appropriately, anger can allow us to get lost in our work, and to remove ourselves from that which troubled us in the first place.
That’s why it’s is such a tremendous tool for the entrepreneur – because it’s both invigorating and remedial. And because it increases our productivity by maximizing our inputs and optimizing our outputs.
“Anger” and “adrenaline.” “Inputs” and “optimization.” Notice how these terms – applied to the new venture - bear undertones from the world of sports?
In the words of the successful athlete, “I love this game.”
Brian Lash is founder of The Tipping Blog and writes about the entrepreneurial experience at BrianLash.com.
2 Comments
David Askaripour
February 27th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Awesome article. Anger and fear are definitely great tools for success — some of the best! They have helped keep me in the game over and over. But, let’s not forget “passion”, which has been my number 1 motivator all along.
Mitza
February 28th, 2007 at 3:29 am
I’m not PRO this idea.At least not 100%.
When you are angry you can start to work, but think about the results that will come.You are supposed to be relaxed, when you do something, to have your mind clear.
Think a little about my words.
Leave a Comment