WHAT IS AN EXECUTIVE ATHLETE?

We admire elite athletes for their strength, endurance and skill. We admire high-powered executives for their acumen and mental resilience. The athlete is the master of the physical science that is sport; the executive has mastered the mental art of business. The Executive Athlete practices both arts.

The Executive Athlete understands that, though the mind and body are separate, they are linked.

Physical training is an opportunity to learn how to persevere when life gets hard. Each session provides an immense challenge that gives you an opportunity to practice how to put aside any self-doubt and just go for it.

It’s about creating a body that is resilient to fatigue, immune to stress and the mentality that you can physically rise to any challenge.

It’s about developing the resilience needed to succeed in highly volatile and uncertain environments.

It’s about being comfortable with risk.

The level of success that an executive is able to achieve is directly proportional to the level of risk they are willing to take. This relates to their job, their investments and most importantly their relationships.

The unhealthy executive for whom tired has become a way of life may be a risk taker in areas where they are highly skilled. But, when the risk far outweighs their skill — they stop, they are afraid and they are fearful.

These moments that can come equally in their professional or personal lives. They are also the moments where they have the greatest amount to gain. When any person is not willing to take on the level of risk that it takes to be successful they live a life that is not equal to their dreams and they are unhappy.

This is why developing the health of an Executive Athlete will be their greatest asset.

What pulls top performers away from the pack is the ability to perform at peak levels at key moments. When the pressure and the stakes mount, those who are truly exceptional distinguish themselves by rising to the occasion.

They risk it all while others hedge their bets. These are the moments that create greatness.

This article was first published on my website: executiveathlete.co