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3 years, 2 birthdays and one stupid idea!
As I am sitting in our beautifully equipped gym on this very hot July afternoon, I can’t help but think back to how things were three years ago. We were running a small business phone via training people in the park with exercise bands, the citybike being our means of transportation.
I was talking to Greg, one of my most trusted trainers and as I was looking over our numbers said to him: “you know , we just might avoid going under.” The reason I remember the date so well is because our daughters share the same birthday, July 13th.
That was the first time when I felt we could actually stay in business. And we did!
Fast forward three years in a completely new and bigger gym, more accolades won , Jay on a billboard in Times Square, Hilly got abs and now we are a brand with a system which we are trying to take global.
What have I learned during those years?
1. All in due time. Dreams of going global are probably out of place when you are fighting for survival. Win the day still reigns supreme as a motto!
2. The kaizen principle holds true when it comes constructing something extraordinary , since there are no overnight successes.
The Japanese word kaizen means ‘change for better’ with the inherent meaning of either ‘continuous’ or ‘steady’.
The only way to build something great is to make constant and I mean constant improvements, which also means you have to inconvenience yourself. Being complacent is the fastest way to become the next Kodak or Nokia.
3. Have your goals scare you, but not limit you.
When we decided that we are going global, starting with Dubai , most of my crew thought I had gone mental. Now there is excitement around the idea because we might actually pull it off.
4. You will fail to some extent and that’s ok. Failure is the single best way to perfect your craft if you apply the lesson properly.
5. Turn out the news. When doing some browsing at the bookstore, I realized that the entire current affair section was doom and gloom ” the coming civil war” ” China Take over’ How India will dominate the world’ The coming war about Taiwan” As a historian, I would like to point out that the world has a decent track record of not ending.
Everyone stay cool and wish us luck in Dubai!
Maik