International Squash Magazine – April 2020

ENTREPRENEURS BUSINESS & SQUASH
ENTREPRENEURS
BUSINESS&SQUASH
By Filip Madaric
Manager and Lead Coach,
Torquay Squash and
Leisure Club
Filip Madaric explains why the sport of
squash is connected to successful businessmen
and regarded as the ideal activity for
entrepreneurs and teams all over the world?
Let’s first see if you recognise any of
these points in business.
TIME ALLOCATION
DEEP FOCUS
SIMPLICITY
HIGH INTENSITY
If you are a business owner, manager,
entrepreneur or have any connections
to working in a team environment, you
will have recognised one of these four
points during your career.
Working in a high-achieving
environment usually entails deep
thought on time allocation.
Every area we work on has a time limit
and a goal. We don’t allow time to go
to waste with minor nuances, such
as small talk, social media exploring
or jumping from task to task before
finishing either. Knowing where we
want to put our focus and how long we
want to spend discussing or thinking
about it is crucial for our success.
Squash, surprisingly enough for many,
has the same trait.
Thirty minutes would be an average
time of one match, jam-packed with
high speed decision making, deep focus
on individual tasks and simplicity to
reach our targets. Is it any wonder we,
the fortunate ones, love it so much and
belong to the successful bunch?
Due to such a short time frame,
we usually dig deep into our mind
to find good focus in achieving set
goals during meetings. A day-to-day
occurrence of good leaders and
businessmen/women. Understanding
what we need to do to achieve our
goals and then focusing on that task as
if nothing else matters.
Having the ability to focus deeply on
certain individual tasks requires a clear
and relaxed mind, exactly what squash
does to us while playing. There is no
way of escaping the brutal conditions
of gladiatorial sport like squash.
To be able to achieve deep focus, we
need to know what to focus on, so
having simple goals that we can reach
is key to reaching our targets, and
to state the obvious, key to hitting a
good shot. This is our tactical brain
speaking. Knowing where we’re going
and what we’re doing with that darned
tiny ball is where a simple image of our
direction plays a crucial role.
To lead a meeting, we need to know
our direction, to make a decision, we
need to know where we want to be,
the end goal. As clear as day. If we can
have an end goal in sight, we can move
towards it.
High intensity is just what happens
when all these components fall in
place. It seems as if we are going in
slow motion, seeing all the little wheels
turning exactly how we want them to.
Squash is a picture-perfect example of
high intensity. Each step of the way is
as fast as a bullet if we know where it
takes us. A classic tale of a successful
businessman leading a company to its
successful destination.
Multiple direction short sprints will
keep you flying around the court like
superman, and that little black ball will
bury you in deep focus so hard you
won’t realise you’re having a workout
until you’re back in your changing
room wondering what just happened.
So next time you’re thinking of
getting better results in business,
growing your company, improving
your team’s performance, start with
that first step, think of squash and
join your local club.
Having the ability to focus deeply on certain individual
tasks requires a clear and relaxed mind, exactly what squash
does to us while playing. There is no way of escaping the
brutal conditions of gladiatorial sport like squash
INTERNATIONALSQUASHMAGAZINE April 2020 | 27
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