Professional athletes train hard to bring their best selves to their sports. What if we did the same thing as a way of winning big at work?

What do World Champion Athlete Usain Bolt and a JSE Listed Company CEO have in common? At first glance, not much. But look closer. Today’s corporate world isn’t all that different from the sporting world: It’s fiercely competitive, mentally and physically demanding, and it requires constant preparation in order to succeed.

Yet, there’s one crucial distinction between athletes and corporate workers:

Athletes train rigorously for their relatively brief moments of competition. Executives, on the other hand, have to be in top form all day, every day — in the boardroom, during negotiations and strategy meetings, and when planning budgets and meeting deadlines. Unfortunately, few train for these relentless demands.

What if we took a hard look at our sources of energy and prepared for each workday the way a pro athlete prepares for the demands of competition? What if we actually trained for our careers?

Without a doubt, the higher your level of fitness, the greater the capacity you have to perform your job, and the greater capacity you will have to deal with the demands in your life.

Unfortunately, getting fit is rarely at the top of our professional to-do list. Our physical fitness is often the first area that gets ignored or overlooked when we are faced with high levels of demand at work. If you don’t have enough energy in your tank — or it isn’t the right quality of energy — you won’t be able to bring your unique skills and talents to life personally or professionally.

So, if you’re overworked and low on energy, how do you begin placing more emphasis on fitness? Energy can be derived from many different sources, including physical vitality (through exercise, rest and proper nutrition), spiritual energy (from feeling connected to nature, God or something bigger than yourself), mental focus and emotional energy (from meaningful relationships and having a clear sense of purpose). To perform at your best, you need to cultivate motivation from one or more of these sources.

Whether you’re a high-powered executive, a midlevel manager, or you’re just starting your first job, chances are you’ll encounter a variety of challenging scenarios daily. Here, I will walk you through some typical events in a busy professional’s life and explain how adopting the training mentality of a “corporate athlete” can help you create a winning situation:

THE EVENT - Getting to Work on Time

The Average Professional: Probably logged fewer than seven hours’ sleep. Drags self from bed and immediately begins multitasking. Skips breakfast and downs a cup of coffee en route to the office.

The Corporate Athlete: Eats a healthy dinner and goes to bed early the night before. Wakes early, feeling rested. Eats a healthy breakfast and mentally prepares for the day.

In the corporate world, taking time for sleep and recovery is considered a sign of weakness. But to athletes, adequate rest and relaxation is essential to their performance. In order to experience peaks in energy, you must sleep at least seven to eight hours every night.

When you wake, don’t hit the ground running, which can trigger a fight-or-flight physiological response and lead to burnout. Instead, ease into your day. Creating smooth transitions from rest to activity will increase your performance in the long run, because you’ll more efficiently access all your body’s energy and mental resources.

THE EVENT - The Never-Ending Task List

The Average Professional: Completes one task and immediately moves on to the next. In fact, he/she is already thinking about and preparing for the next before the first is completed. By the end of the day, they are mentally and physically exhausted, barely able to focus or keep her eyes open.

The Corporate Athlete: Has the stamina to perform well during a hectic day by taking mini-breaks between tasks.

Consider your day as an interval-training workout, and treat back-to-back meetings or items on your long to-do list as high-intensity bouts. Then, when you exit a meeting, treat the time before your next task as a recovery period. Take two minutes to disengage. Step outside or go to a completely different floor in your building — take the stairs to get your blood flowing — and think about something other than work. After those two minutes are up, reengage and start the next task. This will break the linear pattern in your day and allow your performance to peak again during the next session. To keep your body and mind sharp, do actual interval workouts — running stairs, group-fitness classes or cycling — a few days each week. It doesn’t take much — several studies in recent years found that just 20 minutes of intense aerobic exercise three times each week will yield physical and mental benefits.

THE EVENT - An Important Presentation

The Average Professional: Jams on PowerPoint till 3 a.m. Rushes to the presentation, glancing at notes on the way.

The Corporate Athlete: Completes his preparation and practices a few times a day or two in advance, gleaning good ideas along the way. Practices visualization for peak performance.

A great corporate athlete has several effective preparation rituals. A physical ritual might include deep breathing to relax, or climbing a few flights of stairs to clear your mind and get some feel-good endorphins flowing. An emotional ritual could include reading a humorous anecdote or talking to a friend. For a mental ritual, try reviewing your outline one last time and then visualizing a successful presentation. A spiritual ritual might include a few minutes of meditation or prayer, or simply looking at a picture of your family and remembering why you work.

These rituals not only help you feel more calm and prepared, but they also keep your brain sharp.

One final step on the road to corporate success, is to hone your sense of purpose, set some goals and stay focused on the small victories. Even successful athletes need occasional pep talks, and you can do that for yourself by writing a mission statement, journaling, and creating a vision board with images and words that represent what you hope to achieve: physically, professionally and spiritually.

And while you may not be wearing a sports jersey or training for victory on the field, devoting a similar level of dedication to winning at work can result in another kind of victory — a satisfying and rewarding professional life.

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