Hobbies That Can Improve Your Entrepreneurial Skills

They say that it takes about 10,000 hours for one to master a certain skill. However, the nature of the skill is never really specified. What this means is that you get better at virtually anything that you do, provided that you invest time in it, which is something that most people know intuitively and by experience. Still, it makes one wonder: wouldn’t it be great if you could do a thing that you love and use it to get better at skills that are necessary for your career to go forward? Even more importantly, this raises a question of whether there are some hobbies out there that can effectively improve your entrepreneurial skills. Let’s find out!

1. Competitive gaming

Playing video games as a hobby is often considered as a massive time-waster, while there are some who may assume that no entrepreneur really has the time for gaming. However, heading a team in a competitive video game is not that different from running a team on a massive project. First of all, you learn that no matter how gifted one individual is unless every single person on the team is carrying their own weight, you won’t succeed.

The second thing that you can learn from this is the way in which people respond to praise and criticism. Look at things from this perspective, if a member of your team is underperforming you can A) bash them verbally or B) be as supportive as you possibly can. In the first scenario, you risk further infuriating a team member and causing them to start deliberately trying to fail you. Those who believe that this doesn’t happen in an actual office have obviously never worked on a group project. As for the latter suggestion, you need to understand that no amount of support will help your teammate surpass their maximum potential. Still, having them try their best is a decent alternative, don’t you agree?

2. Motocross

On the surface, it may seem as if there isn’t much resemblance between going on a motocross track and running a company. However, similarities tend to be astounding. First of all, the bulk of your success in motocross depends on your equipment and your overall preparedness. The same thing goes in business. While planning, innovating and improving, you’re building your success from ground-up, by the time your product hits the shelf, you should already ensure a triumph. With motocross, you work on your vehicle, practice and look for suitable motocross accessories online long before the track even starts. Some of this patience and forward planning can be translated into the business world, as well.

3. Playing an instrument

The main reason why skills revolving around playing an instrument translate so great into entrepreneurship is due to the fact that it’s so similar in essence. Think about it, you start by learning the basics, then, as you gain more and more strength, knowledge and experience, you start setting your own pace, you start making your own rules and reinventing the game. Apart from this, playing an instrument also takes an incredible amount of patience, dedication and even multitasking.

With most instruments, you’re required to do different things with your hands and feet, sometimes even mouth, at the same time. In this way, it teaches you multitasking. Lastly, playing an instrument is a relaxing activity, so, to you as an entrepreneur, it might be the way of letting off some steam and relieving stress.

4.  Learn a combat sport or a martial art

Now, before we resume with immediate accusations and dismissals, it’s important that you understand that here, it’s not all about violence. As an entrepreneur, you’ll be forced to resolve things with conflict, which is why you can’t afford to be afraid of a direct, face-to-face confrontation. Keep in mind that learning how to protect yourself physically (even though it isn’t likely that you’ll ever need it in a conference room), might make you feel more secure and self-confident.

Most importantly, it teaches you, as an entrepreneur, that a confrontation doesn’t necessarily have to go bad for you and your brand (from a competitive standpoint). Lastly, it also teaches you that even in victory, there are some bruises that will have to be drained.

5. Adrenaline sports

Before we carry on, sure, it’s true that you can get this part even from combat sports, however, not all people react well to the idea of doing something so violent. What you get from adrenaline sports is the ability to think in moments where your life is in grave peril. It goes without saying that adrenaline sports help you develop this ability. People who already have entrepreneurial experience can testify on just how relevant this may be.

Conclusion

As you can see from the above-listed, sometimes it’s a direct mechanical skill that you benefit from, at other times it’s a boost in self-confidence, while there are some scenarios that simply teach you important life lessons. No matter what you do, success can only be reached through an immense effort. However, effort in some fields and an advancement in some directions benefits your entrepreneurial career in a much more direct manner. These several suggestions listed above are just some of the examples of how this works.

Dan Radak is a marketing professional with eleven years of experience. He is a coauthor on several websites and regular contributor to BizzMark Blog. Currently, he is working with a number of companies in the field of digital marketing, closely collaborating with a couple of e-commerce companies.