Create Like An Athlete™
Create Like An Athlete™
The rhythm, discipline – and recovery – your creativity has been craving.
Entrepreneurship is often painted as a sprint to the top or a constant climb – always striving, always building, always pushing forward. But anyone who’s walked the long road of vision-led leadership knows that story doesn’t hold up.
Because this isn’t just business – it’s legacy. And that requires endurance. The original meaning of the word endurance? Made to last. And surely that’s something we would all want in our entrepreneurial journey, to create something that lasts.
Building a business (and brand) that is enduring means finding ways to keep showing up when the results are quiet, when the motivation fades, and when it feels like no one is clapping.
Over a year ago, I got hooked on a Netflix show called Sprint. It followed elite 100m and 200m sprinters — from the intensity of qualifying trials all the way to the Olympics. And there’s just something about watching athletes at that level. Their discipline. Their devotion. Their refusal to give up.
They don’t wait for motivation. They train – consistently, relentlessly – until excellence becomes second nature. And it inspires you to dream bigger, go harder and commit to your own race even more boldly.
Watching the series, I thought…this is it. This is what so many of us in business need. To apply an athlete’s approach to our creative execution.
Because athletes don’t guess what season they’re in — they train for it. They don’t perform all year round, burning themselves into the ground and relying on caffeine to fuel their output. They cycle through intentional rhythms of rest, refinement, and performance. They aren’t constantly seeking dopamine – they’re committed to what makes them endure.
After that initial lightbulb moment, drawing the parallels between entrepreneurship and athleticism, I started to explore how we could approach our business and our creativity like an athlete.
I’ve spent the past few months developing a rhythm-based framework called the Creative Athlete Cycle™, and it’s been one of the most game-changing tools I’ve shared.
It helps entrepreneurs, creators, and leaders move with more clarity, sustainability, and purpose — by intentionally syncing their creativity with the cycle they’re actually in, not the one they’re pressuring themselves to be in.
Working in seasons and cycles isn’t something that’s new to me, but giving it this definition has given a whole new depth and perspective to that. As one of my clients shared with me:
“The way you’ve drawn the parallels with training as an athlete has helped me see working in cycles in a whole new way. And actually being able to plan for it rather than having to follow something external. It’s been so helpful! I have a whole new view of discipline and how to apply it to my life and work in a way that won’t burn me out and make me feel like I’m on a never ending conveyor-belt that I have no control over.”
Ready to create like an athlete™? Let’s break it down.
🔄 The Creative Athlete Cycle™
There are four core creative seasons. Each one asks something different of you. Each one supports the next. The goal isn’t to rush your way to the peak — but to move through each phase with presence, preparation and power.
1. Pre-Season
What this season is:
Your training ground. This is the season of preparation, structure and strength-building. It’s where your ideas are forming, your message is sharpening, and your next chapter begins to take shape behind the scenes. There’s an energy of movement here — but it’s quiet. Intentional. Committed. You’re getting ready to Sprint.
How to spot you’re in it:
You’re starting to feel the spark again. Your clarity is returning. You’re sketching out offers, voice-noting ideas, exploring concepts, refining your message, rebuilding systems. You’re not performing yet — but you’re preparing to. There’s a sense that something’s coming, even if you don’t quite know what it is yet.
What to focus on:
This is where your rhythm is built. Create structure without rigidity. Set timelines without pressure. Protect your mornings, your mindset, your margin. Strengthen the muscles that will support you in your peak season: clarity, consistency, boundaries, creative momentum. This is where your future self gets resourced. This is also a time of visioneering. Creating systems. Developing creative assets. Strengthening your skills and building out offers.
2. In-Season (Peak Performance)
What this season is:
Your moment of activation. The lights are on. The mic is in your hand. You’re not preparing — you’re delivering. Launching. Sharing. Selling. Leading. You’re in full expression of everything you’ve built in the seasons before — and you’re being seen, heard, and received.
How to spot you’re in it:
You’re actively creating and sharing your work. You’re showing up in the world with clarity and confidence. You might be launching, running a program, recording a podcast, pitching something new. You feel stretched — but not overwhelmed. There’s pressure, but it’s purposeful.
What to focus on:
This is your performance window — but even here, you must protect your recovery in real time. Build in time to rest between reps. Say no to anything that splits your focus. Trust the preparation you’ve done. You’re not hustling — you’re expressing. Let it be rooted. Let it be real. Let it be earned.
3. Off-Season (Recovery)
What this season is:
Athletes have intentional off-seasons — and this is your restoration window. This is the season that most people resist, but ironically, it’s the one that protects your longevity. You’ve either pushed hard or stretched yourself deeply — and now, your system is asking for pause.
How to spot you’re in it:
You might have landed in this season by design or by default. If by design, you’ve stretched yourself, you’ve completed a big output season and now you’re ready to slow down, reflect and reset. You’re ready for a break, and you’ve got space to build it in. If by default, you might be tired — creatively, emotionally, physically. Even the smallest tasks might feel like effort. Your output has slowed, but instead of feeling grounded, you’re judging yourself for it. You feel behind or unproductive. Your body is whispering (or shouting), "please rest."
What to focus on:
This isn’t the time to push yourself to “get back on track.” It’s the time to rebuild the track entirely. Reconnect to the things that sustain you — movement, silence, prayer, journaling, nature, nourishment. Pull back from output and work on replenishing yourself. The work here is not visible, but it is deeply foundational. This is the season that restores your inner fire so when you return, you do so with clarity and strength — not burnout.
4. Transition Season
What this season is:
The space between the stretch and the next beginning. You might be in between launches or projects, and this is the season where you intentionally slow down a beat before you move into another push. Think of this as when the athletes play in the finals, and get to go to the championships. They have a few weeks before the final game to reset, reflect, make any tweaks — and go full send again.
How to spot you’re in it:
You’re not depleted, but you’re not buzzing with creative energy either. You know it’s not completely time to take your foot off the gas, but you know you need to take a beat before it’s game time again. You’re in a space of mentally reflecting the project you’ve just wrapped up: What worked? What didn’t? You’re gently preparing your system for what’s next - without rushing the timeline.
What to focus on:
Allow yourself space to process. This is a time to make meaning from what you’ve just experienced. Journal. Reflect. Let your identity catch up to your growth. What did you learn? What did you love? What needs to be left behind? This is a season of insight, not output. When you honour it, you re-enter your next build phase more anchored and alive.
Build a Champion Routine.
Think of it like a training plan for your business.
Step 1: Map Your Next 3 Months with the Creative Athlete Cycle™. Based on your capacity, current season, and what you’re creating — map out which Creative Season you’ll intentionally embody each month (or a mix of each).
Step 2: Define the Rhythm of Each Season. For each season, intentionally make plans for what will be required of you.
Step 3: Elimination Audit – The Non-Negotiable No. Discipline begins with a clear and courageous no. What gets to go in order to allow you to focus on what’s required?
Step 4: Choose Your Belief. What words will you choose to speak over yourself in this season to make sure you succeed?
Step 5: Responding to Resistance. When the curveballs come (because they will)…how will you choose to respond?
Learning to move with the rhythm of your season means you no longer need to rely on adrenaline or urgency to feel "on." You don't have to question yourself when it gets quiet, or panic when things slow down. You begin to lead yourself through it – not around it. And that changes the very foundation you build from.
Inside SPRINT, we explored this rhythm deeply. We created a full map and training plan for the next quarter. We trained belief, built routines, and created structures that reflect the woman you’re becoming — not the one you’re trying to keep up with.
If you’re ready to build with intention, the replays to Sprint are available. It’s $47 AUD to access all four sessions, including guided embodiment, strategic reflection, and real-time creative planning using the Creative Athlete Cycle™.
There’s nothing wrong with your rhythm. It’s time to trust it again – with the purpose, power and precision of an elite athlete. Because your vision? It was meant to last. So let’s make it (and you!) enduring.