The Chiefs won!

What can we learn from the Super Bowl?

1.    It takes hard work to get to the top.

2.   And hard work to stay at the top.

3.    It may take a team to get you there (and supporters too).

4.   You need a leader (aka coach) to teach you what it takes to get to the top.

5.    Amidst the celebration/glory, remember to be grateful for having made it to the top and all the people who got you there.

The Super Bowl is the football equivalent of the World Series, the NBA finals, the US Open, and even the PGA Masters. It is where the best of the best square off against each other to prove who is the best football team in America. It doesn’t matter which team you root for you know that each player has put in tireless hours over their lives to get to this point. Most players thought the highlight of their lives was being in the NFL draft.  Wrong!

As a solopreneur, I don’t work on a team. It is just me. However, like a football team, I have supporters and even a “coach.” This is important to me because it validates what I do and helps me to perform at my best. A good “coach” will tell you what you are doing well and what you aren’t so you can do better in the future. NFL Quarterbacks got to their positions by getting better at what they do well and making sure to work on what they don’t do well so it goes in the “well” column.

So the last thing we learn from the Super Bowl is that to be good at what we do, we must work on what we are not good at and get good at it.

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” — Peter Drucker

As you have learned from a previous blog post, measure is the M of SMART goals. If you aren’t checking the number of visitors to your website, how do you know if you are increasing the number? If you want to run a faster mile, how do you know if you are doing this without timing your mile? “Because, if you can’t measure something, and define the measurable goals to establish the desired outcome, you can’t possibly get better at it. For example, it’s nearly impossible to lose weight without stepping on a scale once in a while to measure your results – if you don’t, you have no idea if you are succeeding or not.” — Dave Lavinsky, GrowThink

To get to the top, you need to improve what you're not doing well, do better what you are doing well, and be able to show that these are improving. Here’s to get to the top!