Entrepreneurship

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Entrepreneurship is ripe ground for myth making.-disccuss??? For example, to be successful, you have to be "born" an entrepreneur. That is unless, of course, you get lucky enough to be one of those "overnight" successes. Or, just possibly, you may strike gold by discovering the secret to "getting rich quick." These kinds of fictions are convenient ways to explain the rising and falling fortunes of the world of business, and they're harmless -- except if you buy into them. Then they can become excuses for throwing in the towel on your business ambitions or, worse, not even trying in the first place. For the same reason, you need to dispel any erroneous ideas you may have about diet and exercise, and the barriers you think you'll face. In nutrition and fitness -- as in business -- good information is key, but misinformation and myths abound. So know the facts, and don't let these ten myths keep you from getting in shape. Myth 1: I'm Not Athletic, So Even If I Wanted To Become More Active, I Can't Do It Reality Check: There are many ways to incorporate more physical activity into your day Being active can take many forms and your body will burn calories with whatever type of movement you do. Increasing activity throughout your day can include things you may not have thought of. Parking your car a few extra blocks from the office, taking the stairs in your building, standing up and pacing while on the phone, visiting your employee down the hall instead of sending an e-mail -- these things take energy, and that means they eat up calories. Even when you fidget, you burn calories! In fact, in a 2005 study published in the journal Science, Mayo Clinic researchers looked at ten lean and ten obese individuals, and found that the obese subjects averaged two hours more of sitting per day than their slim counterparts. That resulted in 350 fewer calories burned. "Calories that people burn in their everyday activities . . . are far, far more important in obesity than we previously imagined,Esaid one of the scientists in a press release. Household chores are another source of calorie burning -- sweeping requires almost 300 calories an hour, while shoveling snow can melt nearly 500. You'll even keep burning calories after you complete an activity -- generally, for every 100 calories expended while active, you'll burn about 15 calories afterward. For a comprehensive list of activities and the number of calories they burn, check out Appendix B. The bottom line is, you don't have to have a great jump shot, run a seven-minute mile, or even be coordinated to get active. You just have to get your body moving. Myth 2: It's Too Late For Me To Exercise Reality Check: Research shows that even those in their 90s can build new muscle and improve their speed Maybe you haven't exercised since high school gym class or you've been away from activity since you've launched your business. You've spent too many late nights and eaten too many bacon ultimate cheeseburgers. Even if you had the time, it's too late to do anything about it now, right? Wrong. In the January 2005 issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers Christian K. Roberts and R. James Barnard tackle this issue head on. "The evidence is overwhelming," they write, "that physical activity and diet can reduce the risk of developing numerous chronic diseases, including [coronary artery disease], hypertension, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and several forms of cancer, and in many cases in fact reverse existing disease." And in a 1990 study conducted at the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Massachusetts, researchers looked at the effects of strength training on frail senior adults with an average age of 90. After eight weeks of high-intensity training, the participants averaged strength gains of 174 percent, increased their midthigh muscle by 9 percent, and improved their walking speed by 48 percent. The message: It's never too late to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Myth 3: Exercise Isn't Enjoyable Reality Check: It's important to find an activity that you like to do -- you'll be much more likely to stick with it Jogging is one of the best ways to burn calories and condition your cardiovascular system, so it's worth trying to see if you like it. But it's not your only option. As we saw under Myth I, the body burns calories with any kind of movement.