What a 5 mile race teaches you about successful business

Yesterday I ran my first 5 mile race, round the beautiful undulating landscape of Blenheim Palace. This was of particular significance to me as last year I injured myself and have only come back to running in the last two weeks. 5 miles is the furthest I have ever run, and I was elated that I managed to run every step of the course. As I was going round, it struck me how much running this race was like running a successful business or dental practice.

 

I would like to share my musings and learnings with you so that you can implement them into your practice if you choose to.

·        Chunk size when my personal trainer and coach Barry Grinham,  http://www.primeenergy.org/personal.html suggested I entered the OX5, I was completely overwhelmed because until yesterday the furthest I had run this year was to the end of the village 1 1/2 miles away. I knew that if I focused on the run being 5 miles I would never achieve it because it was too big, so I broke the rundown to 1 mile run, which I knew I could do, five times, now the distance became achievable. In your practice that might be a project such as updating your practice manual, recruiting and training a treatment coordinator, zoning your appointment book, which would you think of it as a whole seems to large and unachievable and consequently you don't start it or maybe you start it and don't complete it. How can you break this large project down into small manageable chunks? How can you do 1 mile five times instead of one 5 miles?

 

·        Steady pace I run to the pace of a metronome 180 steps per minute, I ran this pace uphill, downhill and on the flat except for the final sprint to the finish. Towards the end of the race one of the other runners commented to me that I had a sudden burst of speed because I had caught him up and subsequently overtook him, the truth of it was I was running at a steady consistent pace and he had slowed down. This reminded me of the comparison between Amundsen and Scott and their different approaches to conquer the South Pole. They each had a very different approach and one of the key features of Amundsen's successful journey was his 20 mile march philosophy. Amundsen and his team trekked 20 miles each day irrespective of the weather conditions, in good conditions and terrible Amundsen and his team always covered 20 miles. Conversely, the unsuccessful Scott had an erratic pace dependent on the conditions on the day, in poor conditions Scott stayed in camp good days he made up for lost time. Many individuals and business owners are looking for a quick fix solution, how to get rich overnight, how to lose a stone in seven days, how to build a successful practice in the one-day seminar. Fast quick fixes don't work, steady and consistent improvement, as I discovered yesterday, will get you to the finish line.

 

·        Focus on your destination I am not going to pretend but I found yesterday's race easy all the way round, there were hills to go up and then to come back down, the was mud and in some places the route was very crowded. As I was ascending one particularly steep hill that I was finding hard work, I noticed that my attention was focused on my feet so I chose instead to look up and focus on my destination, the top of the hill. All of a sudden when I was looking up, out at my destination I noticed how much easier each step became. As I did this it struck me how to this also is in business, times can be challenging there to be a shortage of patients, dip in income or many other circumstances or personal situations that make running a business hard work. How much harder do you make it by focusing on where you are now and the challenges you have compared to how much easier it can be to overcome the current challenges when you focus on your destination and your goals. Have you got a vision for your practice and for yourself personally that you can focus on at times of challenge?

 

 

·        A coach. When I completed the race I rang Barry elated with my achievement and I commented to him that I never believed I could run 5 miles without stopping and that as I was going round, I could hear his motivation voice encouraging me and that meant that I could finish running every single step. Barry replied, “I would have never have suggested it to you unless I knew you could do it and I knew that you could.” That reminded me to some the benefits of having a coach in business, seeing your potential that you can't see, believing in you when you doubt yourself, holding you accountable to reach your goals, giving you motivation and encouragement when you need it most and being there to celebrate your success. Is it any wonder that the first person of world-class athlete thanks when they achieve success is that coach? What areas of your life and business will blossom when you recruit a coach?

I would love your thoughts on my thoughts, please comment below.