Julian’s Business Tips: Swim to Win
I watched an interview with Adam Peaty today, a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.
He said that it was one of the hardest things he’d ever done – because it involved working with someone else – you relying on them, them relying on you.
Business is like that, many of us start as sole traders, but hopefully things develop and more people get involved and you need to cooperate. It’s not easy.
But this article isn’t about cooperation, it’s about winning. And Adam Peaty the swimmer, is very, very good at that. As well as Olympic gold in 2016 and 2021, he is the world record holder in 50m and 100m breaststroke!
Oh, and he’s unbeaten in those events, in global championships for 14 years – which is why he is an 8 times world champion and 16 times European champion. All at the age of 26.
So what’s his secret? ‘Sport is ruthless,’ he said, ‘So I work smarter and I work harder than anyone else.’ ‘When I go to the pool,’ he added, ‘I look around the others and I say to myself, I know you haven’t worked as hard as me. You’re not beating me today’
In your business, are you working smarter/harder than your competitors?
But Peaty also points out that you can’t relentlessly pursue the next goal – or you’ll burn out.
‘After Strictly,’ he said, ‘I’m doing nothing except ‘looking after me’, then I’ll start training on Jan 1st. I’m going to take a step back, physically and emotionally to keep my faculties strong, fit and sharp – because later,
I know I’m going to need them!’
And running a business is the same – when the opportunity arises, take care of yourself. So enjoy the festive season and I’ll see you in the New Year!
