Exercising, It’s NOT for the Birds!

I recently had a chance to talk with my good friend and author, Carol Frank. You may have seen her on Oprah or NBC News giving advice to struggling entrepreneurs. Her latest book, Do as I Say, Not as I Did: Gaining Wisdom in Business through the Mistakes of Highly Successful People, offers some extremely helpful insight-the kind of information that just may keep you from making mistakes she and others have made, so your learning curve won’t be as steep. I’m all for those kinds of lessons, the kind I learn from others’ painful blunders and not my own.
Fighting, and ultimately surviving, the daily battles of running a successful business can definitely take a toll on a person’s physical and emotional health. So, according to Carol, how does one get through these tough times?

Carol answered with the calm sense of confidence from someone who had obviously weathered some hard storms. “After interviewing dozens of America’s most successful entrepreneurs for my book, I determined that our ability to successfully bounce back depended on some universal ingredients that all business people should have in their lives, one of the most important being a consistent exercise routine.”

It was these words of wisdom that had helped her to survive some trying times in her own business. Before she was an author, Carol was the owner of a birdcage company called Avian Adventures. For Carol, it was what she called her drug of choice, daily exercise, that kept her grounded while her (much larger) competitor sued her and her company for the sole purpose of putting her out of business. “For three years, I battled this lawsuit, watched my sales plunge into oblivion, and lived in daily fear of bankruptcy. When the dust finally settled, and I had my company back on track, I can honestly say that my commitment to fitness was one of the main reasons I kept my sanity intact.”

Living a healthy, well-balanced life proves invaluable when dealing with prolonged stress, which is often the “soup de jour” of many entrepreneurs. People that are fit can better deal with stressful situations and are more resilient in the face of adversity. So what activities, when the chips are down, can keep you moving and motivated, and give you an avenue to vent your frustrations? Carol enthusiastically replied, “I personally enjoy running, tennis, cycling, swimming.”

When you’re passionate about what you do, you can absolutely overcome any obstacles that come your way, even the ones you never thought were a possibility for YOU, of all people. But she also stressed that You can’t be just about business all the time. Not only does this make you a boring person to be around, or a sales person that people try to avoid, you just get burnt out too often. You must get involved with other activities you enjoy, and also take time to give back to your community. I believe that when you just do things for yourself and your own world, there’s not enough joy in that.”