10 reasons to practice Stand Up Paddling (SUP) for an Entrepreneur
By: Martin Duval
Tags: Sup, Management, Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneur, Paddling

I had written a similar article on the benefits of Yoga in the context of entrepreneurship. Far from me the idea of ​​only promoting the activities that I love, but here I would like to convince you of the dimensions particularly suited to the entrepreneurial adventure that I perceive in the practice of Stand Up Paddle, my passion for several years.

Set yourself a course, a destination.

Each SUP outing is an opportunity to set a goal: a direction to take, a stage to reach, a place to cross. An obvious parallel with the management of a company or a project: at the mesh of the year, quarter, month, week, or even the day, the ability to set targets to overcome or to achieve goals for yourself and your teams remains one of the first qualities expected of the entrepreneur. Without forgetting, however, that the path is always more important than the destination ... Combine solitude and serenity.

It is almost a shame for an entrepreneur like me, who has built his business activity on the concept of collective intelligence and collaborative innovation, to highlight this aspect. Even if we have associates, partners, managers, colleagues, clients that we adore and are very close to us, the path to entrepreneurship is paved with solitary moments of taking a step back and making decisions that it is a question of welcoming and crossing with serenity. Lifting your board to fix it on the roof of your car, driving to your favorite spot, getting in the water, taking a break to rehydrate, sailing, then coming back for a rewarding shower, are all opportunities to tame and appreciate these moments that are both solitary and pleasant. Keep the balance

Even more than for an employee, the balance between private and professional life is particularly unclear and often problematic for an entrepreneur. But several other daily dimensions are a question of balance: between performance and well-being for oneself and our teams, between investment, innovation and profitability, between loyalty and employability of talents, between activities internalization or subcontracting, between short-term management and long term strategy, etc. Maintaining and challenging your balance on a simple board, at a standstill or at full speed, in flat water or rough seas, in a straight line or during a turn, makes Stand Up Paddle a great school of balance. Accessibility

Whatever the activity of your company, the accessibility by most to its product, its service, its technology should be one of the obsessions of the entrepreneur: to make it accessible to everyone (whatever his age, his gender, nationality, state of shape, height, weight, level, etc.) in its design, way to use, price, context. This is the case of SUP which offers access to such wide use to everyone, at sea or on a lake, alone or with others, for a simple ride, surfing a wave, intense training up to to a race in an international competition. The taste for performance

After some practice, as often in sport, we find ourselves hooked by the desire for performance in SUP. We are interested in the technical characteristics of our equipment (the board, the paddle, the fin) and the next equipment we dream of. We get caught up in the game of longer and longer rides, increasingly difficult conditions or even extremes, a feeling of speed, a search for the efficiency of our paddling strokes, the speed and mastery of our turns, etc. The entrepreneur is a competitor at heart and the field of SUP offers him a whole universe to express his thirst for improvement, progress and evolution. Go the distance

As mentioned, the choice of distance is one of the key components of a good SUP session. We adapt it to its current condition, to its current desire for performance, to the time we have to devote to it that day. Once planned, the time has come to stick to it. The entrepreneur is also exposed to this challenge of good distance management. How to set a trajectory that is both ambitious and realistic, distribute your effort as well as possible from start to finish, use your energy frugally and efficiently, avoid getting too enthusiastic at certain times while keeping the goal in mind in the end, sometimes resist the temptation to give up, often feel that it seems longer than expected… so many sensations to experience that are conducive to strengthening the qualities of the entrepreneur. Resilience

We talk a lot about the importance of this quality these days, and especially since the health crises of 2020. This ability to recover from a traumatic event and to start again in a positive dynamic is fundamental in the entrepreneurial journey. The diversity of situations provided by the practice of SUP, with sometimes difficult weather conditions (cold or heat, wind, rough seas), unforeseen fatigue, unexpected cramps or stiffness, disappointing falls, techniques still not mastered , etc. are all opportunities to prove your individual resilience. But even more than our only personal resilience, it is that of our teams and the Company entity that we will need to strengthen over time. Thank you in advance for the memories of these moments offered by our sessions on the water that we can draw on to better withstand those endured by our dear enterprise. The strategy of small steps

“Just one more stroke!”. Just one more stroke! Sometimes, the moment is no longer for intellectualization, for analysis, for taking a step back, for strategy, for discussion ... it is time for action, in its purest and simplest form. A paddle stroke beautifully embodies this basic yet powerful act. Just one more stroke, straighten the paddle forward, get the paddle in the water and exert the effort to kick-start your board, then exit it with the right timing to prepare for the next stroke. I like this focus on this small step that will help us so often to get through difficult times. A small step which seems so insufficient in theory and which nevertheless remains the very essence of the entrepreneur's approach. Frugality and humility.

Our era is one of complexity, of the multitude of problems, of a form of arrogance of new technologies and of those who claim the obvious solutions and the truth. SUP is just: a board, a paddle, water (for sailing and drinking). What could be more frugal ... And in its practice, the possible but recurring moments of arrogance for wanting to go too fast, too far, too hard usually end in falls, cramps or observations of one's own limits. A wonderful learning of frugality (how to do more with less) and humility (recognized quality of a new form of Leadership and Management). Respect for the environment and nature

Finally, the SUP remains above all and first of all an exceptional opportunity to commune with nature, with water. As with other water sports (surfing, sailing, swimming, diving, etc.), it is also an opportunity to confront the faults and ills of our society and in particular pollution, litter, and even certain storms we can easily link to climatic disturbances. The practice of Stand Up Paddle is thus the opportunity for this systematic and beneficial wake up call which pushes each entrepreneur to return to one of the fundamentals of the “raison d'être” of his project: to help improve the environmental situation and the sustainability of our beloved blue planet.

In short, from the Paddler to the Entrepreneur, and vice versa, there is only one board length and one paddle stroke!

Martin Duval