Elite athletes make us marvel at their agility, stamina, mastery of their chosen discipline and focus on a goal.
Could you imagine if you could capture each of those disciplines and apply them in your business? Let’s break them down and play with some ideas on how your business can join the elite few.

Agility – We see it on the sporting field all of the time, those super human feats that seem impossible, executed in the heat of competition. The most inspiring are when the chips are down and someone takes a risk that affects the flow of the game.
In business, true leaders and entrepreneurs are recognising the current economic climate as the time to make a stand and change the fate of their business. Sure, there is an element of risk, but if you are slowly watching your business decline, you need to get back on the front foot and challenge the status quo.

Stamina – Think of the epic battles that we have seen in State of Origin or Grand Finals, where all of the players look to be physically and mentally exhausted. Suddenly, someone breaks out of a pack with a sprint, and no one has the energy to pull them down.

A well-executed game plan will ensure that you put your energy into results orientated activity only. This means that you will have plenty of stamina left in your business to leave your competition behind when they feel there is nothing left to do.

Mastery – When we watch the top seed tennis players or the top order batsmen in cricket, they seem to have more time to get into position, select a shot and place the ball exactly where they want it.
It is often said that practice makes perfect, the truth is that perfect practice makes perfect.
If your business practices are not perfect, you run the risk of introducing bad habits into your game. Focus on a perfect execution of everything you do in your business and over time habits will form that makes it appear that you have all the time in the world to execute the perfect business solutions.

Focus – How many times do we see a team, or an individual that is all over the competition, then suddenly a decision goes against them? They argue with the officials, replay the event in their minds and start to run around without purpose. The loss of focus ends up costing them the game.

Often in business, decisions, legislation, compliance laws, etc., change our projected outcomes. We must quickly accept that, fairly or unfairly, right or wrong, a decision has been made that we will not be able to change. What we can do is review our plan to allow for the changes, then go back and stick to it.

Finally, all elite athletes have room for improvement. They work with their coach to identify their strengths and weaknesses, then seek motivation from their coach to push through the tasks that they do not enjoy.
Your business also has room to improve. If you are avoiding the tasks you do not like, or struggling to identify ways to improve, it may be time you got a coach to help you join the Elite Few.