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The view so far — my general business advice

We’re still very much a work in process and we haven’t figured everything out by a long shot. But I’ll tell you what, we’ve learned a lot since we’ve been open and one of the most potent lessons has been that it just ain’t always like the books say. I’ve read 50 or so business books at this point and there’s a TON of stuff that no one is saying anywhere. Here’s a beginning look at what I think is important for new business owners.

My best general business advice:

1. start with a lemonade stand and go from there. I see all kinds of people that want to start huge and when they fail, it’s bankruptcy. Start teaching in the park or wherever you can pay as little rent as possible. Build up the clientele from there and only then expand only so much as you can see the business supporting. “Build it and they will come” is a huge risk that i never take. That’s why I’m still open.

2. do what you have to do until you no longer have to do it. You might have to take questionable business at the beginning when you’re getting started. That’s just the price of going on your own. You need the money and you need to take a chance that folks might turn out to be good clients or that situations might pan out. Later as the business builds, you can be selective about what business to pursue and what not to pursue.

3. Be very careful who you get your advice from. I used to get approached almost everyday by people telling me “you should do this” and “you should do that.” If I did half of what they suggested I’d never get anything done. My efforts would be all over the place. Those folks never knew a thing about my business, my market, or my challenges. Heck, they didn’t usually even run businesses themselves, let alone successful ones. So I’ve narrowed my funnel on who I listen to and try to get only quality info. It will be hard to tell who really knows something at first, but you’ll notice that you keep going to certain places for info and that’s a good sign of quality.

Most of all, good luck. Being your own boss is extremely liberating and also a ton of responsibility. Enjoy the ride!

Build a courage corner

Courage corner — where you go to challenge yourself mentally and physically, usually a home gym

Kettlebell lifting in Russia got adopted by the military because they figured out they didn’t need a gym full of machines to get fit and they didn’t have funds for that anyway. Most military outposts had a corner of the room with kettlebells and a small platform where soldiers went to train their fitness. These corners got called “courage corners” because of the hard training that occurred there.

In the US, courage corners became popular because folks interested in serious fitness got tired of the chain gyms making serious fitness impossible. In most chain gyms you don’t even have space to stretch, let alone do a kettlebell swing. Packing as much equipment into  a space isn’t the key to fitness. If you want to get serious then doing it at home may be your only option. Taiwan is the same. Chain gyms here are more interested in selling you memberships than in getting you fit. Many of you here may have to build your own courage corner if you want to get serious.

For men, get a 16kg and a 24kg to start and put them in a place where you can concentrate on fitness. That’s why the military guys usually chose a corner — it was easier to concentrate there. But the living room might be your spot. Get your jump rope, foam roller, and whatever else you use and keep that stuff together. Make it a spot that’s dedicated to fitness. When you enter this space, you know it’s time to get serious. A couple of mats to stand and stretch on might come in handy. Put a poster on the wall if it helps.

What’s possible in a courage corner shouldn’t be underestimated. This Russian gentlemen is killing it with the 32kg. Check out his other videos. He does it all at home.

So build your courage corner and get started. Send us a pic if you can. We’d love to see it!

 

Q&A: how do I stay motivated?

Question from a reader: I would like to start going to the gym but i just dont have any motivation and its the same with starting a diet. What shall i do to start/keep being motivated?

My answer: Motivation is your responsibility. You have to own it by taking responsibility for it and then maintaining it. One key factor is to surround yourself with people and products that promote being in shape. Instead of joining a gym where you work out on your own, join a small group fitness class where everyone knows everyone else and will expect them to come to class. Crossfit, kettlebell classes, etc. do an excellent job of this. That expectation and the fact that you’ll let your teammates down if you don’t show will help get you through the times when motivation is tough.

Second, I subscribe to fitness magazines so my house has lots of reinforcement to stay in shape hanging around. I, my wife and my kids get constant reinforcement on the coffee table, the dining table, the bookcase, the mail, etc. that other people are staying in shape and we should, too. In between doing other things, we look at these magazines and have a positive body image reinforced and that helps fight the laziness.

Third, you would really benefit from working out first thing in the morning. This will be hard to do at first, but you need to think of it as a routine you get into, NOT something you do when you feel like it. 5-6 days a week you will get up and exercise. Period. Exercising in the morning benefits you because then your exercise routine isn’t subject to the difficulties and stresses that occur during the day. Too many people wait until later in the day or at night to exercise and by then the day has worn them out. Working out in the morning gives you a energy and confidence boost because you start the day with a success rather than setting you up for failure when you don’t work out in the evening.

Owning your lack of motivation is both very scary and very empowering. So many people in today’s society want to blame external factors for their lack of motivation. They blame lack of time, energy, the job, the kids, the weather (seriously, I’ve heard this many times), etc. to such an extent that they have no control over their lives. In fact, they’ll put that blame anywhere but where it should be — on themselves. We do this because personal responsibility is frowned upon today. Being a victim is in vogue and will completely sabotage your fitness efforts. Own it and you gain an immediate sense of control over your life. It’s incredibly empowering.

Hope that helps.

3 Russian World Champions want to come here

Would you like to train with them?

Valentin Egorov, Igor Morozov, and Anton Asasenko have asked me if we’d like to host them for a 3 day certification. This is what they would be teaching us over three days. It’s quite a bit.

Here’s a look at the three champions:

First is Valentin, he’s the skinny guy on the far left.

What amazes me about him is that he’s able to do all this with a much thinner build than other guys. His technique is amazing.

This is a look at a seminar he taught. Notice the conditioning exercises done at the end. Not the usual training. He teaches more than just kettlebells. Barbells, body weight, are all brought into the training plan.

Here is Igor Morozov.

He is an impressive lifter in kettlebells and his barbell lifts are good, too. Because of his approach, he has quite a bit more muscle than the usual kettlebell guy. So he must be muscle-bound, right? Not quite…

So flexible it’s gross. Now THAT is flexibility. What to learn this? Me, too! Let’s get them here!

Anton Anasenko was once described to me as a super hero. Now you see why. He can put up crazy numbers.

This is my favorite clip of him. Lots of thigh muscle, huh? His jerk is probably my favorite.

I’m very excited by this opportunity and I hope we can host them. The three day cert will cost around NT35,000 each person. This has never been done before in Taiwan and I’d love to make this happen. Want to come to the cert? Please let me know in the comments or send me an email at formosafitness “at” pixnet.net

Thanks!

The ultimate kettlebell workout?

I got a small injury on Tuesday and took most of the week off to deal with it. I’ve been feeling really sluggish since then. So today, I felt better and really wanted to work my conditioning with the kettlebell so I picked the hardest workout as a challenge. Boy did I get it. Here it is:

Kettlebell 600 challenge

50L/R of the following exercises:
one arm swing
rack squat
clean and press
snatch
rack lunge
push press

Done for time.

It was exhausting and long as heck. My time was 48:40 and my heart rate never went below 160. I actually came home and took a nap afterward.

So try it out but be warned, this isn’t for the faint hearted! work your way up to it.