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#Five Things An Entrepreneur Can Learn From Cycling Changing trends indicate that Cycling is the new prima sport of recreation and networking for Corporate India

By Rohit Kuttappa

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Golf has been the recreational sport for the elite class of India for a very long time. From entrepreneurs to young professionals, people took played golf to relax and enjoy. According to a Reuters report, the popularity of golf has been slowly dwindling over the last few years, owing to the gradual albeit substantial shift in the choice of recreational sport to cycling. In the year 2013, a Sports Marketing Survey indicated that 20% of golfers took up a new sport of cycling.

The dynamics of the corporate world has also changed since young working professionals prefer to see their efforts convert to results giving a sense of exhilaration and accomplishment (seeing the distance covered) which drives people to achieve higher goals in their career.

This endurance sport provides an ideal platform for networking in addition to increasing ones' personal fitness level, thereby leading to an organic rise in cycling among the corporate milieu.

1. Discipline

Cycling as a sport or as a medium for fitness requires a lot of discipline to ensure that you are always performing at your best. Cycling demands a certain level of discipline for nutrition, sleep, training and ride planning. Entrepreneurs need a very similar kind of routine to see their ventures grow over a period of time.

2. Pushing your limits outside your comfort zone

When one is cycling, you are constantly made to push your body and mind past your limits. This happens due to the various challenges that the route, conditions and the whole ride throws at you. The need to push outside your comfort zone is what helps a cyclist overcome these obstacles.

Every entrepreneur faces challenges on a daily basis, and they must find their inner strength to push outside their so-called comfort zones, to come up with solutions for every problem.

3. Perfect balance and combination of Man and Machine

Cycling is one of the few sports where man and machine combine to bring out some of the most unbelievable results. This combination and balance require a keen understanding of the bicycle you are riding, and how your body is trained to optimised the machine's potential.

With technology being the enabler and core of a lot of startups, entrepreneurs need to know that there must exist a balance that brings about the best of man and machine to create something remarkable.

4. Consistency

Being a cyclist, one needs to be consistent in training, preparation and performance. This consistency comes out of very clear planning, discipline and pursuit for perfection.

This would be most relevant for today's young entrepreneurs who arrive on the big stage in style but do not focus on building a sustainable business which is an outcome of consistently doing the small things right.

5. Perseverance

Never give up - this line should be every cyclist's motto whatever their endeavors may be. The never say die attitude is what pushes a cyclist to get on that saddle and do the unthinkable. The same applies to entrepreneurs, where they need to have the will to push boundaries and not settle for a defeat.

They must be ready to get up from every fall and come back stronger and stronger until they have achieved their goals.

Rohit Kuttappa

CEO at ChooseMyBicycle.com

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