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Tag: Staying Focused

  • How Focus Sparked the Growth of this Fitness Racing Brand | Entrepreneur

    How Focus Sparked the Growth of this Fitness Racing Brand | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In business, everyone has an opinion. It can be easy for founders to get swayed by the latest trends, customer chatter, or investor pressure. However, for Christian Toetzke, founder and CEO of the global fitness racing craze HYROX, staying true to his original vision has been key to the company’s explosive growth.

    “You have to be very convinced about your product and the DNA of a product. And you have to stick to the game plan,” he says.

    Toetzke appears this week on an episode of One Day with Jon Bier to talk about the power of persistence, the importance of retaining company equity, and other lessons he’s learned since launching his brand in 2017.

    Staying the course

    By any metrics, HYROX is a success. Competitors run 1 km during the races, followed by one functional workout station, repeated eight times. In 2024, 260,000 people are expected to participate in 60 global events in 65 countries. Sponsors include Red Bull, Puma and Centr.

    Still, Toetzke says he’s frequently asked to tinker with the formula.

    “In the last five years, I don’t know how many people told me what we have to do.”

    The number one request he gets is to change the workouts, which are always the same and include the farmer’s carry, rowing, SkiErg, wall balls, burpee broad jumps, sandbag lunges, and sled push and pull. But Toetzke says he’s studied the most successful sports in the world—marathons, triathlons, golf, tennis, Olympic sports—and notes they never change the fundamental rules of the competition.

    Sports are “built around principles and rules and history and heritage,” he says.

    Moreover, constantly changing the competition makes it impossible to compare the results of past competitors.

    “In traditional sports, you have world records, and that’s one of the strongest marking tools in the world of sports,” he says. “If someone breaks a world record in a hundred-meter run, he’s immediately a global superstar.”

    Related: How One Company Transformed a Medical Device into a Mass Market Phenomenon

    Being reliable

    By maintaining consistency, Toetzke has built a strong brand identity for HYROX. He wants to make it the “marathon of fitness” — a gold standard event that remains consistent across locations.

    He admits they still have work to do on this front. As HYROX expands globally, he personally attends events worldwide to ensure they meet brand standards. “I see one million things they did differently in Melbourne and Mexico City. And that’s what we have to change.”

    He wants HYROX to be a consistent, reliable experience for participants worldwide.

    “To control the brand that is exploding globally, everyone has to follow the same game plan. Everyone has to follow the brand DNA. That’s a difficult task and not easy to do because with more and more people involved, everyone has own ideas how to do it.”

    Related: 40 Entrepreneurs Share Their Secrets to Staying Focused

    Innovating with constraints

    This is not to say that HYROX isn’t in favor of innovation. Toetzke says that HYROX continually tries to evolve and improve without changing the fundamentals of the sport.

    He uses the iPhone as an example. Since its inception, there have been 42 different models with different features, but the basic look has remained the same.

    In that regard, Hyrox has made significant innovations in its technology, as well as practical innovations with its equipment. Recently, they introduced sensors so that counting during the wall ball competition is done digitally, taking the onus off the judges. Through their partnership with Centr, the Official Equipment Partner of HYROX, the competition kettlebells are now designed with a unique ‘octo’ shape to allow for better weight distribution and handling during the farmer’s carry.

    Taking financial risk

    In an era where many startups rush to secure venture capital, often at the cost of significant ownership dilution, Toetzke calls for a more measured approach.

    “My biggest advice is if you really believe in your product, try to keep as many shares as possible as long as you can,” he says. “Don’t take the quick money; take the risk.”

    He warns against being the “guy who drives the whole business, who’s running all the operations, while the investors are making all the money but do nothing for the business.”

    Related: How to Fund Your Business With Venture Capital

    Fostering community

    Another factor in HYROX’s success has been its ability to build a strong, engaged community around the brand. Toetzke says that 60 to 80 percent of the HYROX community view fitness as integral to their social life.

    “You’re not just going to a gym. It’s your group of people. It’s your community, and that is now happening in every gym around the world.”

    Toetzke envisions gyms becoming modern-day clubhouses, similar to golf clubs, where members form strong social bonds.

    You go together to a HYROX event where you compete together, and you represent your gym,” he says. “Suddenly it’s emotional, suddenly it’s become a community.”

    Jon Bier

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  • Entrepreneur | How to Keep Calm, Focused and Present During Hard Times

    Entrepreneur | How to Keep Calm, Focused and Present During Hard Times

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    There is no lack of stressors in today’s world. Take your pick: bleak economic forecasts, climate change, conspiracy theories; these days, even stray Chinese weather balloons can cause nationwide panic. However, most negative nonsense in the news is often just noise. In particular, the gloomy part is often the attention-grabbing spin predicting the worst possible outcomes, causing unnecessary worry about the future. So how do we combat this noise, stay calm, focused and present for others? Our mindset, self-care and intentional relaxation can get us through just about anything.

    Related: 9 Ways High-Performing Entrepreneurs Handle Stress

    Mindset

    If we set up our mind to focus on the present, including being present for others, we take the focus off the past and the future. Our actions mold the future we can control in the present. If we worry about potential futures, ironically, we are spending precious energy on what we can’t control instead of what we can gain through action. Keeping focused on the present means mindfully preparing for each day and paying attention to the tasks and people we’re interacting with without getting distracted by past outcomes and possible future ones.

    A can-do mindset realized through constant planning, and consistent execution is critical. Building a daily plan encapsulating your key goals is more straightforward than you imagine. Such an approach will help you ignore the harmful noise and focus on the things that move you forward. You’ll need a perspective that anything that doesn’t go according to your plan is good too, and will serve as a learning experience and input for an altered or improved approach. Being grateful for everything that happens as a learning and growth experience is a way to avoid disappointment and becoming discouraged.

    Focusing on gratitude daily is fundamental to a feeling of well-being. Looking at adverse events that directly affect you as pathways to learning and growth – you will revise your plan — instead of life’s way of hurting you means you see everything as positive. Couldn’t avoid it? A lesson for the future. Having this perspective puts the focus back on the journey you’ve defined already; you control the goals and action plans and have simplified and componentized them into a daily checklist. This methodology will keep you on track despite unexpected circumstances that will naturally arise.

    Related: 20 Wise Insights on Gratitude to Spark a Positive Mindset

    Health

    A holistic approach to well-being includes regular exercise as a priority, eating and drinking the right things and getting enough sleep. We may tire of hearing about these fundamental things. However, people often underestimate their importance across all other areas of personal performance and health, including spiritual, mental and emotional health. For example, a good walk or workout in the morning will help your mind get clear and help you get ready for your daily routine. In addition, exercise sends positive chemicals to your brain, making you healthier and happier. However, regular exercise is not enough. You also need to watch what you eat.

    Without getting into specifics – because each person’s dietary needs are different — the healthier you can eat, the better you will think, function, sleep, work and interact with others because how you feel affects those things. General suggestions that apply to us all are avoiding sugar and alcohol, having too much salt, consuming processed foods, fast foods and anything that has a long list of ingredients. Also, going organic when possible and minimizing unnecessary pharmaceuticals will clear your mind and body of toxins. Lastly, getting detailed bloodwork and talking to a doctor or other professional can help you tweak your diet for optimized health.

    Without enough sleep, you won’t be able to focus, your body won’t recover, your mood and emotions can be affected, and your productivity to reach your goals and run your plans will be compromised. So, in addition to regular exercise and diet, getting enough sleep is the third major component of good health. They are all interconnected; exercising and eating clean will make sleeping easier, as your digestion will be easier and better, and being naturally tired will help you get deeper sleep to recharge for the next day.

    Related: 12 Ways to Smoothly Start Waking Up Earlier

    Relax

    Busy people tend not to have the time to get sucked into a lot of the negativity that goes on constantly in the world. Instead, they are focused on what they can control. However, it would be best if you took regular breaks for mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Schedule your breaks and also take them ad-hoc when needed. The pandemic has freed many of us from the 9-5 fixed schedule, and thus knowing when and how to take a break and taking it is critical to keep performing at your best.

    Many people have also found it very healing to connect with nature, whether in the morning, at noon, during breaks or at night. Simply going outside, leaving your tech behind, breathing in the fresh air, and feeling the sunshine are often more than worth the time; you will naturally feel better and more connected with life. There is a lot of evidence that this sort of thing does make a difference, so if you are inside all day and all night, consider it a red flag and something you can change for your benefit.

    Lastly, don’t forget to have fun and laugh alone or with your family, friends and colleagues. Laughter and human connection with those we love, regularly and often, will improve our sense of well-being, help us focus better and be happier. Just a little time with someone you love can be priceless. So don’t forget to prioritize that as part of your day; with health and mindset, you can do it! Never give up trying; revise your plans and keep moving forward.

    Armand Peri

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  • Entrepreneur | 6 Reasons You Can’t Get Anything Done at Work

    Entrepreneur | 6 Reasons You Can’t Get Anything Done at Work

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    To keep up with the demands of running a successful business, entrepreneurs often spend countless hours interacting with customers, fulfilling orders, managing their teams and juggling a wide variety of administrative and business tasks. We all have the same number of hours in the day. Although entrepreneurs might appear superhuman on the surface, accomplishing all of this while maintaining a reasonable work-life balance requires intense levels of focus to pull off.

    Unfortunately, there are a lot of distractions and environmental factors that can shake your ability to focus during the day. If you find yourself putting in tons of hours but accomplishing very little, the following six reasons could be why.

    1. Fear is disrupting your focus

    Being an entrepreneur can be overwhelming and straight-up intimidating. As an entrepreneur, you might be facing an angry client, a supplier issue or an impending economic disaster. Ultimately, this can have devastating impacts on your ability to focus. People are naturally inclined to avoid tasks and experiences that are inherently dangerous or unpleasant. This leads our brains to sidetrack our focus to less scary activities such as checking email, reading the news or scrolling through social media.

    On the surface, this is counterintuitive. The obvious course of action is to remedy or avoid these challenges (which should in turn reduce our anxiety and fear). The reality is that’s not how we are hardwired, making it easy for our minds to wander and shift our focus to other tasks.

    As an entrepreneur, you might even find yourself working on tasks that appear productive but provide less value to the business. For example, you might spend your day connecting with existing customers who you feel comfortable with. On the surface, this seems like a great use of your focus and time. But you might have subconsciously chosen this safe activity instead of the riskier and more uncomfortable task of cold-calling potential new clients.

    Start by making a list of your worst fears and concerns within the business. Once you have your list, start crossing out the ones that are beyond your control. For the ones that are within your control, create a list of action items to help prepare you and the business to address these challenges. This should make your fears more manageable.

    Related: Taking These Actions Will Stop Distraction

    2. Your business lacks strategy

    We chose to be entrepreneurs because it gives us the freedom and flexibility to build our business and brand the way we want. It’s easy for entrepreneurs to fall down the rabbit hole of endless possibilities for product designs, marketing campaigns, and target markets. The “what if” mindset is what makes entrepreneurs great. However, it’s easy to lose focus on your business without a clear strategy and goals in place.

    If you’re finding it hard to remain focused on your business day after day, you may need to revisit your strategy. If your new ideas don’t align with your strategy, you may want to carefully consider whether you should pursue them or not.

    Related: Death By a Million Cuts: The Small Stuff is More Disruptive Than You Think

    3. You’re not getting enough rest

    Entrepreneurs are notorious for working long, grueling hours. In addition to these physical work times, entrepreneurs spend countless hours outside of work stressing and thinking about the business. This can have significant impacts on the amount and quality of sleep you get.

    Lack of sleep can disrupt focus, attention and concentration. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that the average adult get a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night. Adjusting your sleep pattern could give you the boost you need to remain focused during the day.

    Other healthy habits in addition to sleep can also improve focus such as eating a balanced diet, drinking plenty of water and exercising.

    4. You’re working in the wrong environment

    Trouble focusing can also be a result of your work environment. Do you stop and read news articles when they pop up in your browser? Does your attention get averted by the people around you when working in a busy cafe? Do you find yourself visiting the pantry for a snack multiple times a day when working from home?

    Eliminating external distractions and adjusting your work environment might be what you need to improve your focus. Try keeping a journal during the week of your activities and what triggered you to engage in those activities. Simple adjustments like turning off digital notifications or moving to a quieter workspace may support a more focused and productive workday.

    Related: Is Your Work Environment Allowing You to Thrive?

    5. Wearing too many hats

    Entrepreneurs often have a million responsibilities and wear multiple hats. In many cases, they spend their day putting out fires and handling administrative tasks. These low-value tasks can break your focus on what’s truly important for the business.

    If you find yourself working on a lot of tasks, but never actually accomplishing anything, you could be suffering from doing too much. One study found that less than 2.5% of people can successfully multitask. Instead, delegating low-value tasks to others and focusing on just one high-value business activity at a time can increase your effectiveness as an entrepreneur. You can even look to technology to automate some of your work activities to free up time.

    6. You hate what you are working on

    In the beginning, starting a new business and being an entrepreneur is exciting and challenging. At some point, your excitement and drive may dwindle as you get into a groove. Your focus might suffer from simply not enjoying your day-to-day responsibilities. In the workforce, people can simply find a new job when they no longer enjoy what they are doing. For entrepreneurs, this isn’t always an option. You can’t simply walk away from the business that you have spent so much blood, sweat and tears to build.

    Instead, think about what activities you enjoy and don’t enjoy. Perhaps, there are some unpleasant tasks that you can avoid or outsource. For example, if you hate the bookkeeping part of the business, you might consider hiring a professional bookkeeper to take this off your plate. That may free up your time to work on more enjoyable projects.

    It’s important for entrepreneurs to always function at their very best. By reclaiming your ability to be laser-focused on your business, you will have the ability to accomplish things that you never thought possible.

    Related: This Is How Employers Can Encourage Workplace Productivity

    Nicholas Leighton

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  • The Value of Hyper-Focus: Why You Must Stop Stretching Your Attention Across Too Many Priorities

    The Value of Hyper-Focus: Why You Must Stop Stretching Your Attention Across Too Many Priorities

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Every company, founder and leader has a hierarchy of basic values that are typically universal, usually predictable, but always required. You don’t need to hear another rendition on why a focus on culture is so critical or why a brand mission statement that is integrated into all layers of a company is key to success. We get it, and we know — these are all good things.


    Jessica Peterson | Getty Images

    But I want to take this a step further. I want to explain why hyper-focusing is so game-changing that without it, mere focusing has little to no value. When I hyper-focus, I feel so mission-oriented to accomplish, unlock or optimize whatever I’m zeroed in on. But without hyper-focus, I’ve come to realize that simply focusing on something is too broad, too macro and too blanketing that I leave unimpressed. A sense of direction comes through focusing, but results only come from hyper-focusing.

    There are many areas of a P&L, strategy, mission, etc. that demand a state of hyper-focus. Below are a few examples:

    Related: 18 Proven Ways to Stay Focused That Increase Productivity

    Stop focusing on channel, competitor and retail consumption data for anything beyond trends. Start hyper-focusing on store-level data to create trends.

    Most consumer brands have access to consumption data packages to drive key decision-making and insights. There is no competitive advantage to this data as it is too macro and accessible to drive any meaningful insights that inform tactical decision-making. Instead of focusing on channel and retailer consumption, take your data approach a level deeper to store-level consumption. Create hyper-focused markets using store-level numbers to test, learn and create a playbook for success that can be lifted and shifted to other markets. This is how you create trends vs. report on trends.

    Have tunnel vision that is hyper-focused on your company, only

    In consumer industries, there is a high risk of getting distracted by what is happening in the industry broadly. This is due to the large number of sales trade shows, supply trade shows, industry events, industry PR, industry Slacks, etc. When you focus on weekly valuation headlines or daily LinkedIn brand highlight reels, you inevitably feel the urge to catch up and grab your share of buzz at the expense of more meaningful uses of time. Have tunnel vision on your company, only. A well-thought-out strategy does not get impacted by what others in the industry are doing. Remain hyper-focused on your company at all costs.

    Hyper-focus on your core products before you add more

    Too often I see consumer brands proliferating their assortment of offerings before the brand has even cracked meaningful household penetration on its core product line. $100MM in net revenue coming from five SKUs is infinitely more meaningful than $100MM in net revenue coming from 20 SKUs. When it comes to value creation, it is often more valuable to not do than to do. History is against you. Out of the tens of thousands of brands that have launched over the past decades, there are arguably less than five brands that have innovated in multiple categories and created a brand equity that is equally tied to each. Shoppers are humans, and humans are predictable. You will never go wrong with hyper-focusing on the core. But the odds are against you when you lose your hyper-focus to go beyond the core.

    Related: 7 Ways to Refocus on What’s Truly Important

    These are just several of the areas where I believe entrepreneurs must hyper-focus in order to maximize productivity and impact. Even outside of consumer products, founders are generally limited by their two scarcest resources: their own time and attention. The more diffuse your focus is across various tasks, the less you will thrive and succeed in your priority areas.

    Mark Olivieri

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