Have you ever stopped to wonder why some sports players or teams just seen to be able to be more consistently successful than anyone else? If so, have you ever taken that analogy one stage further to consider whether this knowledge can be applied to both personal development and business (and, if so, how)?
I would not be at all surprised if your answer to the first question is yes - after all, if you are like me and follow a sports team that has never been exactly overwhelmed with outstanding success, you would have no choice but to think about it all the time! However, even if you have tried to come up with an answer to this question in sporting terms, I wouldn't mind betting that you have never tried to apply the same logic to business.
You should try however, because (again, if you're anything like me), you would come up with some very interesting answers. I discovered this very recently when reading a brand new book that draws many parallels between the author's success on the soccer field and his subsequent success in business, so it is a book that makes both fascinating reading and is an illuminating 'how to' guide to ensuring that your business is successful.
You see, this is one of those books that when you read it makes perfect sense, but most of it is nevertheless perfect sense that you had probably never even considered before.
You might for example believe that one soccer team is always likely to beat another because they have a higher level of skills, and while this does undoubtedly apply sometimes, the majority of the time, both teams are likely to be pretty well matched. In the same way, it is also unlikely that one team is going to be significantly fitter or better trained than the other, so you end up with something of a conundrum.
Why is it that when Team A plays Team B, they will win 9 times out of 10, even though the two teams are well matched and balanced against one another on paper?
The answer is simple. One team simply wants to achieve success more than the other and their will to win is therefore significantly higher.
Now, think about that in business terms. How determined are you to win, to beat your competitors so that you gain the largest market share in your business and therefore enjoy maximum profitability?
Can you see why I would suggest that there are many valuable lessons to be learned here?
It is obvious when someone else puts forward the suggestion in such a clear way, but it is unlikely to be something which you have ever considered in these terms before.
Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that unless you are operating in a very tightly defined market niche, you will have direct competitors, and in order to dominate your market, it is those competitors who you will have to defeat.
Even if you are not a big sports fan, this is really a book about personal development, and how that development can be channeled to achieve business success. It is a book that I would thoroughly recommend to anyone, and you should grab a copy as soon as you can.
You can find full details about 'Life's a ball - soccer success stories' on my site - just visit http://budurl.com/soccersuccess3
