Here are Nashville entrepreneur/millionaire Marcus Whitney's five top tips for success.
1. Connect your health with your performance
"I think that’s more important than saying focus on your health. Your health is directly correlated to your ability to perform," he said.
"Even if you’re performing well and you’re not in good health, that means you could be doing so much better."
2. Practice suffering — and make it physical
"If you are averse to suffering, you can totally get walloped by it. Entrepreneurship is a full-contact sport. It will tax you emotionally, physically, mentally," he said. "If you don’t know how to thrive under that pressure, either your business will suffer or your life will suffer.
"I strongly believe that physiological experience is necessary. Think about moments when something hard happens. You feel it physically. Mental practices alone are insufficient.
"Think endurance sports, or even planking. Most people can get into a plank. When it starts burning, focus on your breath. Your arms start shaking, your joints hurt. Your mind’s telling you, 'Escape and run!' You can tell your mind, 'I’m going to breathe through this.' "
More: Meet Marcus Whitney, the healthcare disrupter helping Nashville up its game
3. Respect the craft
"Entrepreneurship, like woodworking or photography, is a craft. There’s a method, there are skills.
"It’s a craft you’re going to have to work at. I give eight fundamentals in my book. It will take years of doing to become a great entrepreneur."
4. Fail
"I talk about failures because that’s entrepreneur school. My experience is you certainly will fail. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying to do something that brings a risk of failure. No one bats 1000."
5. Give yourself a break
"If you’re a white belt, you’re a white belt. Not everyone can be a black belt. Have patience with yourself.
"You’re playing in one of the most wonderful games you can play in the world – the free market. Winning is making enough money and having a system that works for you such that you control your time. Controlling your time is winning."
Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384 or on Twitter @bradschmitt.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Marcus Whitney: A millionaire's tips for success