Hello. I’m Stevie Potter; performance coach, age group triathlete, dentist, girlfriend, dog rescuer and dungaree-enthusiast. I wear many hats. But a wise woman once said…
How you do anything, is how you do everything.
Martha Beck
And how do I do everything? Like an athlete.
Being an athlete isn’t my full time job. I’m not an elite. I’m not a professional. My wonderful sponsors the Aesthetic Entrepreneurs, have of course made my hobby, something that can be the anchor point of my life and have enabled me to do whatever I choose in the world of sport, but I still do it for fun. As an age grouper, that means fitting triathlon into “normal” life. It means getting top quality training time in around client calls, surgery time and painting my stupid cloakroom (a three year project currently mixed shades of grey and yellow…). It ain’t easy. But then if it were, everyone would do it right??
But triathlon is THE most important thing in my life. And I say that without hesitation. Triathlon comes above my relationships, home ownership, all the other shit. It makes me who I am. Whether or not you think that’s healthy is entirely up to you. But it is the anchor point in my life and it has been for over a decade now. One of the reasons, is because it continues to teach me how to live the rest of my life, including running my business.
Athlete Mindset: My body is my most valuable piece of kit.
Athletes take top care of their body. Physios, good nutrition, time in the gym, massages, rest and recovery. Athletes know that without their body, they have no career. But as the centre of your business world right now, have you ever stopped to think about your own body like that? Probably not. The first thing entrepreneurs usually sack off when trying to squeeze in those extra keyboard hours, is sleep. Then it’s the time spent cooking at home. Then it’s the gym time. Before you know it, you’re sleep deprived, fat and unhappy. And now it’s really difficult to get out of that rut.
But what if you reframed it? What if you thought of your body as the most valuable asset in your business? You’d look after the best asset in your company right??
Well it is just that. Without you, your business would probably grind to a halt. Everything stops. There is no business or success without you. So treat yourself that way! Eat right, recover properly, get the sleep you NEED, get exercise to help your mind unwind and switch on and be open to inspiration.
When I first launched my business, I knew it was going to be tough. I knew life was going to have to shift a bit, even if it were temporary. But there were non-negotiable: good food and home-cooking time, time in the gym and training, weekends to take time off and go racing. Yes, this was because triathlon was priority number one. But it was also because I recognised what a positive impact that would all have on my ability to cope with stress, to be resilient to the ups and downs I would inevitably experience in business. I knew that there would be sleepless nights, that there would be hundreds of hurdles to get over…which meant I needed to know I would be able to face those and keep going. I knew that living my life like an athlete would help me avoid the most common entrepreneurial disease of all; burnout.
You are in control.
There are loads of other parallels between sport and business, but this is the one that irks me most. But that’s because we all have control over certain elements of our lifestyle. We are all the bosses of our own bodies. We may have chronic conditions, injuries or little “quirks” we have to deal with. But it is entirely our responsibility to monitor and manage those. The thing you have to do as someone who has chosen to take a path to be your own boss, to have independence and freedom, is also accept responsibility for all the things that come with it. And whatever you do in life, you have to take responsibility for your greatest business asset: Your body.
Sport and business: Mental & physical challenges.
People think that triathlon is about spending hours and hours training to be fitter – and it is that to some extent. But it’s about more than that. i firmly believe that once you get over a certain point, you can’t train your body to go further. Your body has either learned what to do by now or not and the length of time it has to do it for at some point, becomes irrelevant. Because the real battle is what goes on in your head. Likewise, when it comes down to my short and fast international sprint races, the ability to endure the pain of speed, alongside the temptation to blow everyone out of the start blocks (and consequently blow up and fade later) is entirely mental. And it isn’t just something your born with. It’s a trained attitude. It’s a constant focus on what it is you want to achieve.
Business is the same. It’s about staying focused among other easy-to-reach short-term distractions that may take you away from your major goal. It’s about being able to endure the voices that tell you it’s easier to give up when stuff gets hard. These are skills we can train. And how do we do that? Exercising is an easy way! It’s a ready-made way to test yourself. Not only will it make you healthier, but there is often a battle, even in training, about whether to quit or carry on. And the more your practice not giving up, the easier it becomes to execute it, not just in sport, but in life and business.
And of course, living like an athlete teaches you the physical benefits. It’s true that regular exercise increases your perceived energy levels. But it also tends to aid you making healthier choices in your diet and that really does affect your energy levels. Instead of reaching for mid-afternoon biscuit pick-me-ups, you start reaching for your trainers instead…
My entire philosophy is built upon the parallels of sport and business.
The reason I’ve become such a successful high performance coach, is because I realised how important it is to get the basics right. And I didn’t learn that when I became an entrepreneur. I learnt that when I became and athlete. Suddenly I knew how to approach everything else in life. And every time I applied the same blue print, the same principles, the same attitude, guess what? It worked! And the really exciting part was that IT WORKS FOR EVERYONE ELSE TOO. Every client that has been open to change, to listening, to improvement, has used the strategies that I’ve learnt in sport, to accelerate their own personal growth and their lives and businesses are FLYING.
So next time you think about taking some advice on your business, maybe put down Forbes or Business Insider and instead look at what you can learn from 220 triathlon or runners weekly…
And if you want to get started on sussing out where you are right now and how you can make instant improvements in life to take you to the next level, check out the Super Human scorecard for free, NOW.