Three observations about business have impressed me as I have watched the Vancouver Olympics the past two weeks.

1) Athletes need to be more than just good at their sport to win.  It’s not just a matter of getting on skis, riding a bobsled down the course at 90 mph or putting on a pair of skates and hitting the ice.  Athletes truly have to excel, be talented and be one with their sport.

2) Even if the athletes are the best at what they do, they still have to train long and hard to get on the medals podium – especially to achieve Gold.

3) Not only do athletes have to be physically fit, they also have to be mentally tough to stand up under all the stress, demands and pressure put upon them when in the spotlight.

It’s the same with business.

If you really want to excel, you can’t just own the business. You have to BE the business.

You can’t just show up every day.  You have to continually know what is going on in your industry – read about industry news in print and on the internet, read the Wall Street Journal and continually educate yourself in sales, marketing, motivation, technology, human resources, for example.

It’s does you absolutely no good to make a small fortune if you haven’t taken care of yourself and you’re sick and can’t spend the money that you’ve made.

Finally, you must be mentally tough.  There will be days you will wish you were anywhere except your business.  There is always the next mountain to climb and always a problem that seems overwhelming.  But if you are mentally tough you work through whatever it takes to resolve whatever issues you are faced with.

So prepare yourself to be the best and win the gold medal of business – in other words, win the game of business.  Get those profits you deserve for all your hard work.