How Sports Can Greatly Improve Productivity in a Business

We have all known for a long time how valuable sport is for all spheres of our life. By leading an active lifestyle, you can improve your appearance and health, normalize your emotional state, and reduce stress. Among other things, sport can significantly influence your productivity at work and in business. 

How Sport Helps Well-Known CEOs to Succeed In Business

There are many examples of outstanding businessmen who do sports without any excuses and even with great pleasure. Exercising seems to support their passion for life and innovation, energize them, and move on. Let’s look at the prominent business representatives and their sports hobbies.

Tim Cook, Apple CEO, prefers working out in the gym every day for an hour at 5 a.m. The head of Apple used to go in for rock climbing and still goes hiking. Cycling also remains one of his most important sports. In addition to playing sports, Cook goes to baseball and rugby matches. Also, he makes sure that he makes at least 8,000 steps per day. Tim believes that doing sports helps to avoid stress.

Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, goes in for sports at least three times a week. Most often he runs, sometimes even with his dog. Zuckerberg always likes to try new sports: surfing, foiling, fencing, rowing, or spear throwing. An interesting fact: in 2016, he challenged himself to run 365 miles during the year. He completed that goal in the middle of the summer. The Facebook founder believes that exercising allows him to stay more energetic. While energy is needed to complete any task at work, sports have become an integral part of his life. Mark claims that he frequently catches insights and new ideas during sports activities.

Nick Woodman, GoPro founder, with his love of surfing, was inspired to create one of the most famous companies in the world today. At first, he used the already existing tools to film his surfing sessions, which led to the idea of creating a professional camera for active sports. Besides surfing, he is known for his love for snowboarding and race car driving. He is confident that people deserve to do exactly what they love in their lives. This story, like no other, demonstrates the close connection between sports and business.

Larry Ellison, Oracle founder, is passionate about sailing. He often participates in risky sailing regattas. People say that Ellison was striving to get rich just in order to get himself a fashionable and expensive yacht. Now, he even owns his sailing team Oracle Team USA. In addition, he is famous for his love for planes and golf. Needless to say, Larry has assets in various sports clubs. Ellison asserts that ​​sports and competition keep people on their toes and give them the motivation to take new initiatives.

Do Sports and Business Have Something in Common? 

Evidently, sports and business have many things in common:

• A unique sense of teamwork. Both in work and sports, you need to work in conjunction with all participants in the process. Sport, like nothing else, develops this ability to the maximum. If you want to win, play, taking into account the opinion of everyone in the team.

• Ability to go all the way. In no sport can you reach the finish line by stopping halfway. It seems that exactly the same thing happens at work.

• Skill to make every effort. Whatever you do, there is always someone who does it better. In such conditions, there are no options but to do your best to achieve the goal.

• Competitiveness. What, if not sport, develops the value of the competitive spirit? The ability to accept a challenge from someone who is better than you is a skill that drives you so much in business.

• Self-discipline. All athletes comply with the daily regimen, follow several specific rules every day to stay in good shape. Do the world’s top businessmen not follow the same principles?

• Endurance. It so happens that you can lose 10 times in a row. And only the strongest and most prepared person will go to fight for the eleventh time. Such resilience is a must in both business and sports if you want to achieve something.

Tips on How to Sports Can Help You Succeed in Business

Let’s take lessons from these successful people and bring sports to our lives. There are a few life hacks that will make your  way to success smoother:

• Try out different activities to figure out which one suits you the most. Sometimes you choose this very sport that, instead of bringing pleasure, demotivates you. There are a huge number of different workouts, from an elementary run on your own to squash in pair or team volleyball. Don’t give up if you didn’t find your passion on the first try.

• Start small. If you are not planning to become the best athlete in the world, do not overload yourself at the very beginning. There are tons of workouts that last 7 minutes, for example. If you have demotivating fatigue after exercising, just slow down. Start small, and step by step it will become easier and more enjoyable for you.

• Find like-minded people who motivate and challenge you. When a competitive spirit emerges, playing sports becomes even more exciting. You can go in for group sports and find friends. Or just chat in apps with those who are going towards the same goal. If you have a friend who also lacks the motivation to start, it’s a nice idea to start together!

• Introduce sports into your daily routine. For example, you can create a ritual to do a short yoga workout between waking up and boiling the kettle.

• Create a plan for the week ahead. Once you’ve made a plan for your workouts for a specific time, it is psychologically much easier to tune in to training. But don’t berate yourself too much if you missed a workout, catch up tomorrow.

• Praise yourself. When you succeed, don’t underestimate it. Great efforts should be rewarded not only with a pumped-up body and a clear mind but also with self-love.

Now, no one can have the slightest doubt that sport helps you stay physically active and healthy, improve your emotional state, and excel in business. Start today and be successful forever!