Are you a property investor or in business for yourself and want to achieve a high level of success?
Have you ever considered the possibility that some of your biggest lessons may come from outside of your area of expertise or speciality?
To become successful there are many pieces that make up the puzzle.
I know for myself, the huge amount of lessons I have learned, have been in my younger years where I was a semi – professional footballer.
Sure, I was playing a sport I loved, but years later I now understand that so many of the lessons I learnt along the way, subconsciously, have played a big role in achieving a greater level of success.
I have learned and played alongside some of the big names of the AFL and I know what makes them tick.
You also get to see why some make it and why the majority do not.
Here are my first 5 lessons that I learnt from Professional Athletes;
1. A Burning Desire – dream BIG
It all starts with a big event, think the pinnacle, a one-off event like and Olympic Games or making the cut for an NFL SuperBowl team.
Professional athletes develop a fire that cannot be put out- no matter what happens, and they overcome every obstacle put in front of them, big or small, from injuries, naysayers, to events outside of their control.It’s what gets them out of bed at 5am on a -5 degree morning.
As an investor or businessperson what gets you out of bed?
What is your one-off event or pinnacle or your big dream?
If you don’t know what it is and you can’t develop a burning desire to achieve it, even the smallest hurdle may be a stumbling block.
2. They set clear goals
Once they have their burning desire, they then work backwards and reverse engineer the steps it takes to get there.
A Professional Ironman will understand what it is he needs to do every single hour of the day, to ensure they are at their peak for the day.
They set bite size goals and checkpoints for where they need to be.
It is not just the swim, ride and run – it is the nutrition, the recovery and the mindset that plays an equal role
I know for a fact that many business owners and investors don’t take the time to put the checkpoints in place for where they need to be to achieve their big goal.
Equally they don’t take time to work on their mindset or their well-being.
Pro Athletes take a Holistic approach to achieving their goals, leaving no stone unturned.
3. Build a great team around them
With the fire lit and the firewood standing by to keep it burning in the form of checkpoints and bite sized goals, professional athletes now get the best around them.
They realise they do not have to be the best and their Ego allows them to hire the best to make them better.
The old saying, if you are the smartest person in your team, you are in trouble!
They have a team of experts and coaches that drives them and holds them accountable on the journey.
Many property investors I meet with think they know it all, their Ego is not willing to admit that there may be someone who knows more than them.
It is the same in business and it holds you back!
4. Visualise
I listened to a Podcast recently about David Goggins, who has an incredible amount of mental toughness, he is a Navy Seal and has completed “Hell Week” (a brutal week of training to make the cut) not once but three times!
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He was asked what the difference is between the tiny percentage that make it through one of the most excruciatingly, torturous weeks of training and those that don’t.
His reply took me a little by surprise.
He said those that make it have been there before in their minds and are comfortable being in agony and pain, the experience is therefore not new to them
He went on to explain that the guys that made it through spent years, months visualising that week and living the moment in their minds every hour, week and day.
It is likely why the best athletes perform well under pressure, they have visualised that moment for months, years and perhaps even decades.
Do you visualise your outcomes?
Do you spend time living in your moment or what your victory and spoils would look like?
You only have to listen to the greats like Anthony Robbins to understand that visualisation or even meditation is the key to being successful in any aspect of life.
5. Adaptability
Professional athletes are very good at adapting to a change of circumstances, both positive and negative.
They might have an injury that sets them back, they may have a poor performance or fall behind their checkpoints.
But that burning desire and ambition does not allow them to give up, it just inspires them to change the game plan and work harder.
This is paramount for investors and business owners – the rules of the game change, get used to it.
A poor year in business or a poor few years in the property market and many give up, they are not willing to adapt, or their ambition and fire is not strong enough.
There is a great meme of success doing the rounds of social media.
Success is supposed to be a straight line but looks more like a strand of Spaghetti thrown at a blank piece of paper, with an unlimited number of ups and downs and twist and turns.
If you can’t adapt, regroup and find a way to move forward, you will just get lost in the mayhem and never achieve your pinnacle.
With my first five lessons, I have done what my mentors have told me to do, start with the end in mind.
Develop a burning desire for an event or outcome that fuels the fire within and will make you unstoppable.
Then work backwards to help you understand the steps you need to put in place and how you can get there.
Develop a team of professionals around you to push you and work on your weaknesses and blind spots.
Spend time out visualising your end goal and be comfortable with how it looks and feels and do it every day!
The finally accept the game plan changes and understand that there will likely be more downs than ups, but with a burning desire, you won’t lose track of what it is you are trying to achieve.
Watch out next week for part 2 of this 3 part series.
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