Three Lessons From Fitness About Building A Business
December 26, 2025
In the mornings, you’ll find me on my bike, swimming laps in the pool, sprinting at my local high school track or stretching at a yoga studio. Almost every morning for the past 30 years, when I get out of bed, that’s what I do. It doesn’t matter if it’s too hot, too cold or raining. There’s no easy way out, but it’s gotten me through many Ironman races.
After decades in finance and real estate, I’ve realized that the same principles that make you successful in fitness make you successful in business. Whether you’re training for an Ironman or managing a firm, it’s about discipline, measurement and mindset.
Here are three lessons fitness has taught me that have shaped the way I lead my business.
1. You have to show up on your worst days.
Fitness begins with the simple act of showing up. You can’t train once a week and expect results. Success comes from the days you do the work even when you don’t feel like it.
In business, it’s no different. The best companies are the ones whose leaders show up for their clients and for each other, even when it’s hard.
That means being prepared, doing the research and making the calls even when the outcomes aren’t guaranteed. Deals don’t happen by accident; they happen because teams show up again and again to refine the details, test assumptions and push toward the finish line.
In fitness, consistency creates compound gains. The small improvements you make every week eventually add up to measurable performance. In business, it’s the same. When people know they can count on you, those strategic relationships and that growth will happen in time.
But showing up isn’t just physical presence. It’s mental presence, too, bringing focus and energy to what you’re doing. In the gym, that might mean concentrating on your form.
In business, it’s catching a small detail that others might miss, or listening closely to an employee or a client instead of thinking of your next meeting or your inbox that’s growing fuller by the minute. Contrary to what people may think, the most successful executives don’t spend most of their time talking; they spend most of it listening (nearly two-thirds). Leaders who strongly prefer listening are rated as significantly more effective across many leadership competencies.
The most successful professionals I know treat every meeting, every project, like another training session. They’re not waiting for motivation to strike; they’re building the muscle of consistency.
2. What gets measured is what gets improved.
I track my fitness progress with a smartwatch. I test myself periodically to see where I stand because you can’t manage what you don’t measure. That same principle drives performance in business and finance.
In my business, commercial real estate, it’s the same. We find opportunities, we vet them and then we test them. We analyze how our team performed in three areas—quality of the due diligence, speed and efficiency of execution and collaboration and accountability. We have tools and systems in place to measure those results and give us real feedback.
The key is not just collecting data, but using it to adjust. In fitness, your smartwatch tells you when it’s time to push harder and when it’s time to recover. In business, analytics tell you where to allocate capital, when to pivot strategy and where inefficiencies hide.
KPMG, for example, found that applying measurement and feedback consistently can optimize processes, improve efficiency and build reliability in service delivery, all of which deepen competitive advantage.
Measurement creates accountability. It’s what turns good intentions into real improvement. And when teams learn to treat data as a feedback mechanism rather than a scoreboard, they get smarter and more efficient, just like athletes do when they train with purpose.
3. Build the foundation before you chase the finish line.
When you start a fitness journey, it’s tempting to set a big, inspiring goal. But no one runs a marathon on one day of training. You need to build the foundation: strength, endurance and form.
Business works the same way. Every successful company starts with fundamentals—strong systems, clear communication, disciplined financial management. Without those in place, scaling too fast can break the business. I’ve seen firms chase rapid growth without first establishing the structure to sustain it. It’s like trying to sprint before you can walk.
When you commit to long-term endurance, in fitness or in business, you learn to respect the process. You stop looking for shortcuts. You learn that progress is built on patience and consistency.
And sometimes, fitness is the best problem-solver itself. When I’m wrestling with a tough business decision, I’ll often go for a long run or workout. It clears my mind and shifts my perspective. Movement can create mental clarity. More often than not, the solution I was struggling to find behind my desk reveals itself somewhere between mile three and four.
Here are some final words on winning.
Yes, it’s always great to win. In a race, the allure of winning can keep me going when I’m exhausted. But winning almost always comes from being able to compete against yourself. My goal in a race isn’t to beat someone else’s time, it’s to beat my own.
In business, the companies that endure don’t spend all their energy watching competitors; they focus on executing their own plan and refining their own systems. If you’re constantly reacting to what others are doing, you lose your focus.
You don’t have to be a triathlete to apply these lessons. In fitness, progress happens slowly, and then all at once. In business, it’s the same. You put in the hours, and eventually, you look back and realize how far you’ve come.
The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation.
Read this article on Forbes.com.
About Jack Mullen of Summer Street Advisors:
As Founder & Managing Director of Summer Street Advisors, Jack Mullen leverages decades of experience in valuation, underwriting, and risk management to lead multi-million and multi-billion dollar CRE transactions.
Previously with GE Capital and large institutional banks, he has shaped investment strategies for some of the industry’s largest deals. A recognized leader, his insights are featured in GlobeSt.com and CREFC Finance World, and he is a sought-after speaker at industry conferences and top universities.
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