Although it may not be as obvious to some but based on my observations at the gym, it seems like squash is also a business game. For one thing, squash may be a slightly cheaper business game to play because you only have to get a squash bag, racquet, ball and a pair of squash shoes. I have noticed a lot of men (and a few women) walk into the gym with their business suits and giant squash bags. There are several armchairs in front of the courts in which players and non-players alike can chat and watch the game in action, therefore giving ample opportunity to network and make that connection. It’s one of those games where single players can find other players looking for a game. Sometimes I see three guys playing in the same court, taking turns hitting the ball throughout the game. This however brings to bare the business of the sport that has led to many winning investor confidence in their prospective business partners with the way they go about handling their opponents like on the field of business being smart and always ready to outwit your competitor.
Scoring a point in the game of squash, a player has to in such an energy usurping game, one can also draw a huge knowledge of business marketing especially with not just putting any content out there because you have for the sake of it, rather need for a reason with everything you do.
The game of squash has several rules which like in business when adhered to can lead to great success.
They are to Increase Difficulty
Increase the shot limit per rally for your opponent if you are the attacker. One can clearly link this to business. Should a business want to stay aloft its competitors it has to strategize in keeping them at a rather “On their toes’’ to CATCH UP.
To Decrease Difficulty
Do not allow the team to hit boast. In business you have to test sometimes the bores of your competitors by giving them the chance to showcase their prowess that increases knowledge-base-capacity to stiffen the challenge being served but it must be handled professionally till you are the market leader.
Success Check
Stay well up the court. Make sure your serves hit the side wall. Avoid hard- hit crosscourt shots. These strategies is applicable in business. It keeps you in check and to know how well you can survive in the market and even bring new products or services that can thrive on the success of the former.
Is there any difference between a business meeting and a Squash game?
Image: The game of Squash
If you are in a meeting and a good Squash player is sitting on the other side of the table, you should be careful.
During my small Squash experience after watching these business moguls go in and out of the court which is indoors, however, I never expected any lucky punch. The greatest challenges (despite smashing the ball) is to read your Squash partner, so that you can play your game as you like it.
Squash is a hardcore business meeting with only one winner
During the game you are always focused on the black “round rubber stuff ” and every single movement of your competitor to predict the “future” of the game. Do you remember these games where you knew in advance, the position of the ball? Certain times you had the experience predicting the game in its totality? Well, these attitudes Squash player apply also out of the “box”, the court is only the exercise for real life applications. Somehow, the court is the “sparring partner” being prepared for real life situations like business meetings.
I am pretty sure, there is a correlation between the high average income of Squash player in North America and the addiction to play Squash, because in the court you train real life situation on two levels: physical and mental.
Sometimes I like to say, that we take a lot of care keeping “bad” mental patterns in our mind & thoughts, which leads somehow to a permanent failure of our system – on the court and in “real life”.
Therefore you will find some food for thought how to improve you Squash as well as your daily game in the office or at home.
1.Be self responsible in every part of your life
Do not waste your time with being self-pity. Better focus on thoughts which will lead to a solution based thinking. Change your thinking patterns. They have been once created. And over time you can change them. Are you afraid being alone with your thoughts? Challenge this challenges and observe them. There are plenty opportunities learning this. This will help you to enjoy the time with yourself.
2.You have the full control
You have the power to decide what to do. If you lose the game, don’t blame your racket or your shoes. You have the full control and the power to buy new ones. So in business; prepare better for the meeting, change the job etc. Stop blaming others about your self-created misery. You have the choice on how to react and be aware that you can change the game with your action.
3.No action is also an action
Everything is in change, as Buddha once Being greedy towards the permanent will create misery. Change your perspective and welcome the change, which will bring new experience into your life.
4.Accept the reality as it is
This is the big challenge to handle with care for your whole life. You lost the annual Squash competition in your club? The competitor made a better offer? The weather is bad, the train strikes? Or you lost a beloved person? Do not waste your energy with situations and things you are not able to change. Focus on things you can handle with care (which doesn’t mean to suppress your feelings and emotions; better observe them).
5.Love yourself
You see it is getting harder! Do you think Squash pros do waste one moment to know if someone likes them? If they are playing hard, at least the competitor doesn’t like them. To be clear: we all want be loved. Taking this as your un-reflected basic “pattern”, won’t help you being successful. Sometimes you have to use clear words, do certain action which won’t suit everyone. Start loving you. When you get up in the morning start as follows: look in the mirror and your eyes and say to yourself (loudly): “I love you”.
6.Know the risks
Once a good friend told me: a risk is only a risk if you don’t know the possible solutions solving them. Calculate the risks, take your time before you make your decision.
7.No past => NOW <=No Future
If you observe your breath (close your eyes and observe your breath coming through the nostrils). You will realize that there is only one reality, exactly in this moment. The mind is somehow attached to the past and the future. Where do you live? Do you live in the past, thinking of “what would happen if…”? Or do you live in the future, thinking of, “what you will do, if…” Focus on the NOW.
8.Do a mistake once
We all do mistakes due to the fact that we do not know anything at all, as Socrates said. A good friend of mine once said: A mistake is a mistake when you do
it twice. When you do a mistake, analyze, find a solution for the next time (forgive yourself) and that’s it. And be humble if you do it twice.
9.Be happy when other people are successful
You lost the game? You heard that a competitor (on the court or in the business) has done a great deal? Be happy, don’t feel any jealousy. Understand, that everyone wants to win and being successful. Observe your emotions and the sensations you have on the body level. Things change; they are impermanent. Finally: to be happy, you do not need external “stimuli”…
10.Keep on going
A good friend of mine was the best boxer of all German Universities (tough guy with a PHD). He told me: “Every punch I received, made me better. Never give up; start again and again and bring it to the end. Sometimes it takes ten years to be successful, so keep on going”.
Since it’s a game played indoors and can be played year round, perhaps a lot of golfers are squash players as well? And maybe vice versa.
Do you play squash or golf? If so, have you been able to make any connections from it? …food for thought!