Recently I was listening to the final episode of this podcast titled Start Up. In the episode one of the first investors in Uber was talking about Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s quirks and really calling attention to how strange a species guys like him are.
This got me thinking about how strange all successful entrepreneurs are. Myself included.
For the most part we are far from normal. We take more risks than normal people do and have a tendency to be obsessive if not down right neurotic about projects we are working on. This begs the question that if entrepreneurs are not conventional people then shouldn’t they be training their body and mind in non conventional ways. I think so. So much so that I started a company teaching entrepreneurs how to train their fitness.
In this article I want to share a few of the best unconventional tactics that I have found to work best for entrepreneurs who want to perform at a high level.
1) Train your emotions as much as you train your body
When most people think about fitness they think about six pack abs. Training your physical fitness is important, but something entrepreneurs need to constantly do is train their emotional fitness as well. An easy way to do this is by never starting your day until you are in a peak emotional state. That means doing a morning routine that gets you in that state; be it meditating, journaling, shouting affirmations, dancing or whatever. Just do what you need to do to get yourself in a resource state of mind. Your business is depending on your emotional state, so you need to spend 30 minutes or so training it daily.
2) Move your body and mind with intention daily
Whether you are exercising, having a meeting or doing work solo you need to do it with intention and clarity. Go into any of these activities with a defined theme in the same way you would go into a yoga class with an intention for your practice. When you are intentional about everything from burning fat to getting done a task you will get better results in less time.
3) Work and workout in cycles
The best results can be found in both business work and workouts when you train in cycles. High intensity interval training is a type of cycle that is optimal for fat loss. It’s as simple as doing 3 minutes of all out effort exercise like running or cycling with 2 minutes of moderate effort exercise for 4 separate cycles. Boom you just spent only 20 minutes exercising and have already burned a ton of calories. When it comes to business work use a tool like a pomodoro timer to work in cycles of laser focused energy for 25 minutes with a 5 minute break. Cycle through a handful of these a day and you will dramatically improve your productivity.
4) Create an unstoppable identity that aligns with your mission
Something you may not think of training is your own identity. Who you are and how you show up in the world. If your identity does not align with your greater vision and mission for life it’s going to be much more difficult to achieve your goals. To make it easy on yourself close your eyes and ask yourself “If I was going to achieve my vision for what I want life to be, what kind of person would I have to be?” Once you get that clear picture of your identity find ways to train it into existence. Do visualizations, affirmations, whatever it takes to get you living that identity you know you need to take on.
5) Eat for energy instead of comfort
It’s easy to fall into the trap of eating for a state change after you’ve been grinding away on a project for hours on end. Instead of reaching for the junk food, opt for the food that you know is going to supply you with lasting energy without the crash. Foods like vegetables, sweet potatoes, nuts and lean protein. If you want to win the marathon you need to stay in the race. It goes without saying that eating healthy foods keep you energized longer and feeling better.
These 5 unconventional types of training span across your spiritual, mental, emotional and physical fitness. The four pillars that I believe are necessarily for peak performance as an entrepreneur. What kind of unconventional training are you doing to get ahead as an entrepreneur?
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