Today I want to take a fun approach to a little personal development and encouragement for you!
There was a time where I spent a considerable amount of energy, effort, and investment as a competitive gymnast and cheerleader. I recently watched the Netflix series “Cheer”; there was a lot of good and a lot of bad, but as I was watching I found some underlying principles that could be applied to business, life, and everything in-between and I thought it could help you find success “off the mat” [cheer analogy☺].
Let’s start with something fun!
‘Mat-talk’ is what we cheer chicks call the action of encouraging others and hyping up successes. The good news for you biz boss? You can ‘mat-talk’ your way through anything you are struggling with; this is true personally and professionally. I, myself, have lived this multiple times.
You know by now, I am not a fan of just focusing on mindset and lifestyle to cultivate success, but I do think there is something to be said for how we think and what we do based on that. ‘Mat-talk’ makes sense when you think about the underlying principle… how you act is based on how you think! I am a big believer that both personal and professional success is available to anyone willing to do the work and has great ideas they see to fruition.
Remember, there is a place for everyone!
Something else that comes to mind in a team-based sport is the concept of ‘the hard work of the many verses the few’ and how this applies outside of competing. The reality is, we need people at all levels. Of course, we need big-thinking people who have these audacious goals and go after them and put forth money, resources, and time to see them through. We also need people who can support great-minded founders and entrepreneurs and there’s need for the people at the mid-level who can manage and take care of the delegation needs an owner has.
So, while I agree there is place for everyone there, I do not think everyone gets to the same level of success. Whether you are desiring to have the path of the many, or the path of the few, I think wherever you are willing to work towards is exactly where you are meant to be.
The Cheer documentary talks about “full-outs”, this means doing the whole routine to your full ability and effort. Although 2 minutes and 15 seconds sounds short if you have never done cheerleading or gymnastics, it feels like a lifetime when you are tumbling and being thrown in the air – all of which was a part of my formal life. At the end of a ‘full-out’ I remember feeling winded and exhausted. One thing I do know, as a flyer and as someone who had chops on the tumbling side, it is incredibly important to understand my skills did not just appear overnight. It did not even happen over a couple of years!
The mind and heart of a champion ♥
It has become perfectly clear to me – champions train like champions! After contemplating my years of competing it came to my attention that these successful athletes do not train lackluster routines: they go out on the mat with the best choreography, the best stunts, the best tumbling, and they focus on where they are uniquely excellent (sound familiar?).
They go full out every day, every practice, every competition – the team that goes full-out often and hits their routine hard is more likely to be the team that wins at competitions. It is just that simple!
This concept has a great ability to reflect onto business and personal life. If there is something you really want, be a champion in everything you do now so that when you have reached your goals and success, it is consistent. Build your foundation of your business with this way of thinking. Because champions do not become champions overnight, or by accident – they train like champions EVERY👏 SINGLE 👏DAY! (Get my drift!? This matters!)
How to approach new opportunities like a CHAMP aka #boss!
Having the ability to take anything that is thrown at you and make it something great is the foundation of being a great entrepreneur. Though I cannot say becoming an entrepreneur crossed my mind while I was being thrown around or tumbling on the mat – what I can say is when I think about what makes me strong, it definitely has ties to my experience with cheerleading and gymnastics.
Being able to move and pivot to where the market takes me, being knowledgeable in many areas, and also being an expert in specific aspects that are meaningful for what I love doing. This is all very synchronist to the life that I lived when I was much younger and possessed less grace – let’s be honest!
Allow yourself to get excited and think big about the opportunities you do get. Do not just stay small – like turning an opportunity to compete into an entire routine, then turn it into nationals, then take it farther than the average person would!
Fun Fact: I was too tall to be a flyer and too light to do anything else, and while I did have good tumbling skills, I would get extremely nervous and experienced the ‘twisties’ quite a bit as my skills grew. I’d get pretty freaked out about the crazy amazing things I was doing… with good reason tbh! Thinking about how I do things now (very intentional and strategic as a business coach and success strategist) it really did start at the stage of my life where I was competing in gymnastics and cheerleading. It is the grit from these sports that allows me to be great for my clients, family and friends today!
Thinking ahead of your competition.
Most people think of their neighbor, the business that is comparable to theirs, and the person that has a similar career path. But you can’t control an opposing business or your teams’ outcomes. So, what can you do to get some of that control back?
There is a very unique part of Season 2 of ‘Cheer’ where the coach went the extra mile to have her team practice on a stage instead of just a mat. That one detail could seem very small and insignificant, but it makes all the difference.
In the past, I was a part of a team that this very detail was troubling for us. Different mats and different settings can definitely keep you on your toes! We all have no idea how to react physically to things that are out of our control. Mentally that can really mess you up if you’re not prepared and you don’t have a coach that is willing to go the extra mile to prepare you! This is entirely similar to your business life.
While thinking ahead and analyzing competition, I recommend you look at it this way.
What can you do with what you have N-O-W to be the very best?
Be exemplary and relentless while striving for these goals!
It may cost extra money, you may need to make a lot more effort, or you may need to get more stakeholders involved, but it is entirely worth it. If you are thinking through something you got to leave it all on the mat! Leaving it all on the mat means giving your very best everyday with no excuses, at the highest level you can.
I probably need to clarify this; I genuinely do not mean adapt the ‘go big or go home’ burn-out driven style of life or entrepreneurship that’s so often purported in our culture today… I’ll tell you what I do mean.
Show up every day and do, not only the basics, but go above and beyond and figure out how to do the basics to the very best of your ability.
And the great news is… you have to rely on people to do their part! This can mean people in your community, people in your business, and people in your life – there is a place for everyone to do their very best and bring that to the table. I think this is where I get excited about the autonomy and the team-based approach to these sports — whether you are performing on your own or performing with others, it’s very similar to what we go through every single day in our lives.
I am truly honored to be a part of a team with my clients! They look to me to be their Chief Revenue Officer. I know they are putting a lot of faith in me, and I need to be at my upmost every single day. My job is to nurture you, support you, and prepare you for the level of success you are striving for, because I know it is possible… since I lived it! I am honestly so enthusiastic about ‘the few’ getting to the point of success they strive for.
I’m curious! Don’t tell me all the stuff I don’t want to know about the Cheer documentary, tell me the stuff that I care about… Which is, how are you putting these practices into play in your personal and professional life? Where are you stuck? So, I can encourage you along the way!
Let’s talk more about this, soon!
The secret to getting good at anything is the ability to withstand learning how to use it to your benefit, even if you’re not good at it at first. -KK FIT TIP #2431