What going to the gym taught me about running a business
I was recently reminiscing about my school days, and thought about what I was like in sports class. If your experience is anything like mine, doing that would probably send shivers down your spine.
You see, I wasn’t the star athlete. In fact, I was often the last one picked for teams. Fast forward to today, beyond the age of 40 (but who’s counting?), and I find myself proudly engaged in a rigorous gym routine, pushing boundaries and lifting weights that are heavy to me. This unexpected transformation has made me think about the parallels between my fitness journey and the realm of entrepreneurship and venture building.
As an entrepreneur and the founder of Re:Tech, now wearing the hat of CMO at buywith—a venture-backed startup—I’ve come to realize that the gym isn’t just a place for physical fitness. It can be a training ground for entrepreneurial resilience and strategic thinking.
Here are some of the lessons that working towards my physical goals have taught me when it comes to running a business.
1. The Importance Of Breaking Big Goals Into Smaller Milestones
Success—whether that be at the gym or business—often hinges on breaking big goals into manageable, achievable milestones.
When I tackle a challenging workout routine, I focus on executing an exercise, one rep at a time. Similarly, I’ve tackled my entrepreneurial journey by setting and achieving smaller milestones, like acquiring my first client. This became a foundation upon building subsequent achievements.
When you break down a daunting goal into actionable tasks, it streamlines the process as well as fosters a sense of progress and momentum. Let’s take launching a new product as an example. As a whole, the task can seem intimidating, but if you break it down to the following steps, it becomes much more manageable:
Once you have these steps, you can then break down each step into smaller ones.
2. You Need To Start Slow To Sustain Long-Term Momentum
Whether your goal is to achieve a squat PR or scale your startup, you need to pace yourself to do it for the long-haul. If you’ve never lifted a dumbbell in your life, your body will not be able to handle five days of consecutive heavy lifting. Likewise, if you try to achieve too many things at once when it comes to your business, you will burn out. The key is to scale your efforts gradually, so you can conserve energy for the journey ahead and not crash and burn before you can get there.
Startups, in particular, benefit from a measured approach. Particularly in the initial stages, overcommitting resources without a solid foundation can lead to setbacks. By implementing a pilot phase or targeted market entry, you can make adjustments based on feedback, which minimizes the risk of overcommitting resources.
3. Sometimes, Strategic Self-Deception Is Necessary
Sometimes, tackling challenging exercise at the gym often requires strategic self-deception. Your brain will often want to give up long before your body needs to, so you have to trick your brain into believing that you can do it.
Entrepreneurship requires you to do the same thing—mental resilience that involves convincing yourself that each step is more manageable than what you perceive. This positive feedback loop reframes challenges as opportunities for growth.
In business, when dealing with setbacks like losing a big client, break down the recovery process into achievable steps. Convince yourself that each financial milestone is reachable, and you’re more likely to come up with ideas on how to get there.
4. You Need To Be Able To Adapt to Unexpected Challenges
Adaptability is a key factor in both sports and venture building. Unforeseen challenges in the gym, such as injuries or changes in workout plans, requires you to adapt in order to make progress. Similarly, in entrepreneurship, economic shifts, technological advancements, and market fluctuations necessitate the ability to pivot and adjust strategies on the fly.
5. Choose Consistency Over Intensity
I‘ve learned that when it comes to success in fitness and business, consistency trumps sporadic intensity. Sustained effort and commitment yield long-term success. Whether in the gym or in the startup world, consistently committing to doing the best builds results, and in the case of business—trust and loyalty among your customers.
6. Teamwork Can Be The Key to Success
While I prefer solo workouts, I’ve seen the benefits that teamwork can bring in fitness and in business. Working alongside my husband at the gym provides motivation, and similarly, my experience at buywith emphasizes the significance of a cohesive team. Shifting from a micro-managerial role to empowering my team has been transformative. Each team member brings unique skills, experience, and ideas. By allowing them the autonomy to do what they do best, we achieve collective success.
7. Find Your Inner Motivation
Building a venture or working for a startup can be challenging, with every individual’s success crucial to the company’s survival. Amidst stress and uncertainties, focusing on the why and the big vision becomes paramount. Just as a workout routine may have started as a necessity for health, finding love and passion in the process is key for long-term commitment.
In the startup world, daily reminders of why the journey matters—what change your company brings to the world or the personal growth it offers—help navigate tough hours, challenging KPIs, and slow market feedback. Asking and answering these questions daily keeps the momentum and motivation alive.
8. Don’t Forget To Breathe
I learned that even when the exercise is getting too hard for me, taking a deep breath full of air can get me going a bit longer. Same with entrepreneurship. When things get stressful, allow yourself to take a day (or a few) off, so that you can take a real break, re energize yourself, and come back full power to conquer the next milestone.
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