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There are those who dream of being athletes; there are those who play sports on the weekend; there are those who are serious about their sport and perhaps play in a semi-pro league; there are professional athletes; and, there are the small few who get to the Olympics for the chance to compete for gold and a “best-in-the-world” title.
It’s similar for entrepreneurs. Some dream but never become business owners; some moonlight; some have good businesses; some have great business; and some achieve Olympic-level success.
In the days leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympics, I examined 31 traits that I believed were key to being a successful Olympic-level entrepreneur.
Here they are in one post with a link to a more detailed post:
To be an Olympic-level entrepreneur…
- … you need to remember that there is a right time for training, parading, competing, and reveling.
- … you need to be ready to leverage your success.
- … you need to trust your teammates to perform at the expected level.
- … you need to pick yourself up after failure.
- … you need to sign up for the whole package.
- … you need to work at a higher energy level.
- … you need to be willing to fail.
- … you need to be willing to go where you need to go.
- … you need to ignore the competition.
- … you need to slow down only after you’ve crossed the finish line.
- … you need to control as many factors as you can.
- … you need to recognize that things will be different after… then prepare for it.
- … all of your life centers around this moment.
- … you need to play fair to win.
- … you need to love what you do.
- … you need to overcome obstacles and use them to grow stronger.
- … you need to have the right gear.
- … you need to understand and embrace the extreme risk/reward relationship.
- … you need to go when the starter pistol fires.
- … you need to be single-minded while competing.
- … you need to decide to be an Olympic-level entrepreneur.
- … you need to find your optimal competition zone.
- … you need to always be training.
- … you need to make improvements, however small.
- … you need to make sacrifices.
- … you need to be part of a team.
- … you need to know your competition. Really well.
- … you need to climb the proficiency ladder.
- … you need to understand and accelerate your processes.
- … you need to be confident in your delivery.
- … you need to master one thing.