Being in Business Is a Marathon and a Sign of F-A-I-T-H

Welcome to a new month! It is May, and spring on the North American continent is definitely here. With spring comes hope, flowers blooming, the start of baseball, the return of leaves on trees, and nature coming alive.

As I reflect on this month’s article, I feel we can all agree that these past 12 to 14 months have been a marathon! When you run or train for a marathon, you need to do a lot to get ready:

• You must work on your mental game.
• You need to work on diet and nutrition.
• You need to limber up and stretch, because there is nothing worse than pulling a “hammy” as you run the marathon (hamstring)!
• You need to practice the run and prepare for what it is like to go the distance.
• Then you need to run and prepare some more.
• Oh, and you will need to rest and rejuvenate, too!
• You may need medical care.
• You will need a coach!
• Oh, and you need a support team around you, too.

It sounds like running a marathon is like running a business in 2020 to 2021, doesn’t it? However, this training and getting yourself ready are the keys to having “faith” in your success. The following are five “faith” elements of running and training for a marathon that will match you running a business.

1. Fear:

Fear will replace the passion. You will still have passion in your business, but there are days where that might wane. Where fear, doubt and worry overtake your goals to make an impact with venture, and that excitement takes a leave of absence and the grind begins to be a bit much!

2. Appreciation:

The second element in both running a marathon and business is that not everyone is going to back you emotionally or support you or appreciate the fact that you have mortgaged the house or taken a 2nd mortgage this year to meet payroll.

Have you ever noticed when you make a major change, the naysayers come out and might make a comment or question your new version of you? It might be that you lost weight, or you have changed, and you don’t hang out with your friends or family as much as you do learning new technology to morph your business online. The bottom line is that some key people in your life will not be so sure about you doing what you are doing, especially if it changes you for the better. I say, stay with the positive change because no one matters more than you!

3. Intake:

When you train for something as grueling and mind challenging as a marathon or 40 K, you must seek a doctor to help you with your diet. If you are running a business, what are you eating? Similar to a runner, you need to eat well and pay attention to your diet. It is a must. It is about food. Your body will not be able to stay at peak levels if you are wolfing down burgers and fries.

But, what about your other diets? Are you watching the news too much? Are you comparing yourself to people on Facebook? Or are you wasting time with those that do not appreciate your journey or race? If so, you need to change your Intake and diet.

Cut out the fat — the negative voices and the ones who make you feel guilt or badly. Believe me, five minutes of the news can put you in a low vibe mood, and you will not win the day in business by being low vibe!

4. Tolerance:

If you have worked out at the gym or have lifted weights, you are going to feel pain. Imagine running that 26K or a full on 40K? You are going to hurt making cold calls; getting rejected; dealing with a lull in business or rising costs; or not closing deals in a few weeks. All of this is painful.

However, if you have been training for these in your venture, your tolerance level will go up. You can move past the pain and carry on. You need a good vision that drives you, or a mission statement that defines why on earth you are running a 40K or a new business!

Watch the tolerance level. Be able to roll with the punches and get back off the mat and go another round! Do take time to rest and get your breath, though. It is wise to be smart about managing your tolerance levels and rest: Take a walk in the park, goof off for a half day, or play with your kids. Getting you away from the pain of running your entrepreneurial marathon is a wise move!

5. Happiness:

Give your business your best. Be happy that: you survived this year; happy when a client loves your work; happy when the phone rings; happy that you made 5 extra cold calls; happy that you did up a new business plan; or happy, when you hit your sales goals and you did not over-spend! When you run, be happy that you competed in a marathon: You did your best, your shoes held up, and the blisters were manageable.

You see, whether you are an entrepreneur or running, you are in the minority. Did you know that there are roughly 509,000 marathon runners in the United States? That is about 0.15% of the total population. The fact that you even tried is amazing. There are over 30.9 million business owners in the United States — about 10% of the population (stats from Google).

Here is where I close: When you add the traits of a successful business owner or runner, you get F-A-I-T-H, and you are in the minority in both cases. So, walk proudly and be bold moving forward! Have a good month! Keep shining!

The post Being in Business Is a Marathon and a Sign of F-A-I-T-H appeared first on Home Business Magazine.

source https://homebusinessmag.com/lifestyles/self-improvement/being-business-marathon-sign-faith/