This being the end of the year it is time for an uplifting story, so here is my best attempt.
Little did I know when leaving work on the 24th, that I was about to receive the most amazing Christmas present.
Upon entering the subway station, a gentleman comes up to me, introducing himself as Sean,
” Maik, you don’t know me but your videos saved my life. You see, I was battling cancer for the last two years and just applying what I learned from your clips helped me get through. So thank you for all you do.”
As you might have figured by now, my EQ leaves much to be desired but I was certainly moved and still am.
What is truly amazing is how many things have to go right for this Christmas miracle to happen.
The following as list of, by no means complete but the best my limited abilities allow me to come up with
1. The equipment
The year is 1989 and dad and I are watching Terminator. “Dad, I want to be a bodybuilder!” After much eye rolling, he bought me a set of dumbbells and an EZ bar.
Funny side story: While “lifting” in my room, I got pinned under a barbell and had to call my mother to rescue me. So much for being a big, tough bodybuilder….
2. The support network
So now you got started but you do need constant support from family, friends , coaches etc to stick with the sport and get somewhat good at it.
I am reasonably certain that none of this would have happened, had I stayed in Germany, so getting a scholarship to the US was instrumental ( thanks Johannes for being my agent)
Being a trainer was not my first career, as I switched from working in finance to fitness. Again,I needed people believing in me at stage in my life, it was my family and my first clients who helped laying the foundation in the early years of the business.
3. Tech breakthroughs
The development of social media sharing platforms where you do not need to be a TV executive anymore to share your content . I guess we do owe something to Mark Zuckerberg after all.
The camera : I remember my father doing short clips with a huuuuuge video camera in the 90s, you had to edit picture by picture, sound changes were not possible, color correcting was about 10000$ per film. All this can be done now quicker, better faster and for free with any basic video editor on your phone.
4. My part
All this doesn’t help if you do not reach enough people, meaning you must get the faceless algorithm to like you. How does one do that? By putting out videos daily for years, even if nobody is watching. Consistency is key, as always
All of the above created this one moment in time, but it was decades in the making.
I find this almost movie worthy!
This is it from us, we certainly appreciate all of you and wish you the best for 2022!
Your team from Maik Wiedenbach Coaching!