Declare Yourself Game-Ready

Hanging on the edge of our seats, forgetting to breathe, is how we’ve watched Olympic events thus far - and we still have a week of thrills to go.

One of the things we appreciate most about the Games is watching athletes declare themselves game-ready.

Each step onto the pitch, into the pool, or out on the road tests their ability to rise above, believe in themselves, and summon their best in the moment. #respect If you watched the final pommel horse routine of the USA Men’s Team Gymnastics or the USA Women’s Rugby 7’s win, you enjoyed two examples.

As business owners, these stories are an inspiring reminder of three important lessons on the road to success:

Pause the testing and tweaking, and give yourself a chance at winning. Once you’ve built strong fundamentals, it’s time to start talking about and sharing what you do in the Wild West of social media and online platforms. Let people get to know you and learn from your work - while you learn from them. Start posting, send the email, upload your video, or record that podcast. You can only get so far on the practice field.

Cultivate your creative edge and connect it. If you spend all your time immersed in skill development but never risk people seeing it, you miss the reward. While it takes persistence and commitment, impact happens when people value your work (buy), share it with others, and treasure it. Seeing your services transform someone’s life or your products make a lasting impression is powerful. Don’t stop before the connection part, keep going.

Building relationships and gathering feedback doesn't happen by chance; it’s the result of intentional engagement. Stand in the spotlight, attend events, and talk to potential clients—actual humans—to learn what's working. What if you score a win?!

As we enter August, the Games encourage all of us to sharpen our skills, focus our efforts, and prepare to shine in the season ahead.