Four Characteristics Professional Athletes Share with Entrepreneurs

Growing up, I had just one goal: to be a professional baseball player. I worked hard my entire life to accomplish that goal. Throughout travel ball and high school ball, I gave everything I had. I worked hard at practice, gave 100 percent effort on the field, and put in extra time in the gym. I put all of my efforts into my baseball career. I didn’t have another option; there was no backup plan.

My hard work paid off, as I was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 2014 MLB Draft. My professional baseball career spanned five years, eventually being released by the Minnesota Twins organization. One thing that my experience in professional baseball taught me was that anything was possible as long as you worked hard and gave it your full attention and focus. After baseball I leaped into entrepreneurship, co-founding three companies.

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There are many similarities between professional athletes and entrepreneurs, with four specific characteristics that stand out in my mind. These are the characteristics I credit to helping me reach my goals in both professional baseball and as an entrepreneur.

1. Hustle

I was always known for my hustle as a ballplayer. I made sure to always give it my all — no matter what I was doing and no matter what the situation. We could be losing by several runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth or we could be up by a dozen runs — it didn’t matter. When I was on the field I gave it my all. That hustle mentality is what helped me achieve my dreams of playing pro ball. I had confidence in my ability so I worked as hard as I possibly could to make it to the top level of the sport. There was no doubt in my mind that I would make it, and that kind of self-confidence combined with a nonstop hustle attitude is unstoppable.

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When I decided to transition to the business world I told myself that I was going to approach my new ventures with the same hustle mentality that helped me find success in baseball. From day one I worked hard and refused to allow myself to slack or accept mediocrity.

2. Vision

“Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them — a desire, a dream, a vision.” — Muhammad Ali

I love that quote. It’s that dream, desire, and most importantly, the vision, that leads to success. When I was playing baseball as a kid all I could think about was being a professional player. I had that vision at such an early age that I was able to remain laser-focused and hold myself accountable every day. I knew what I had to do if I wanted to accomplish my goal. I knew that I was going to have to make sacrifices and I missed out on some things that most kids experience during their high school years.

But to me, my vision was so strong that I knew if I stuck to my plan I would accomplish my goal and that’s exactly what happened. I have lofty goals for my companies as well, and the vision to steer each one towards those goals is there — just like it was when it involved baseball.

3. Focus

It’s very easy to become distracted these days, but without laser focus, you will not achieve the desired outcome. Have you ever heard someone say, “That person is lucky,” when they were referring to someone that had a good job, specific material possession, or was in shape? I hear it often. That is what people say that are too lazy to focus on a goal themselves. They would rather claim someone was lucky than put in the time and effort themselves. This happens in sports and it happens in business.

I didn’t make it to professional baseball because I was lucky. I made it because I was focused on everything I needed to do to make that dream a reality. When you combine preparation and focus you become unstoppable. Seeing first-hand how my focus helped me achieve my goal of playing pro ball has made it easy to remain focused during even the most difficult times I’ve faced in my young entrepreneurial career.

4. Passion

If you take two athletes with identical raw talent the one with the most passion is going to always come out on top. Passion is what moves the needle — it’s what helps push people that extra inch. I built my companies around passions of mine. APE was created to help professional athletes navigate their journey successfully, 20FT Bear Media was created to help creators and artists thrive and my nonprofit, Do It For Kids Foundation, was started to help improve the quality of life for kids.

Those are all passions of mine. I know other entrepreneurs have more experience than me or might have more education, but I know that my passion is going to help me achieve all of my business goals.

In baseball, I faced players that were stronger, faster, and more experienced than me, but it was that passion I had for the game that helped me accomplish my goals as a player. It’s also what keeps me pushing forward in this new chapter of my life. Just like I experienced in baseball, there will be challenges and obstacles I am faced with. And just like my passion helped me overcome them in baseball, it will help me overcome them as an entrepreneur.

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