There is a lady I see at the gym every morning riding a stationary bike. I mean EVERY day since I began going to this gym in 2000. She is there when I arrive and still pedaling when I leave. You would think she would be in great shape, but she isn’t even close to achieving the fitness level she could attain. I mean no disrespect, at I am trying not to judge, but if you saw her you might question if she exercised at all and you might even think someone should recommend a fitness regimen to her. I know what you are thinking - how can this be? It’s because while she may be on the bike every day, she isn’t focused on her results. She pedals as slowly as possible, at the lowest level, never breaking a sweat. She reads to occupy her time. When she gets off the bike, her heart rate is probably only a few beats higher than her resting rate. She is a nice enough woman and we occasionally small talk. I asked her recently about how her training was going and she told me she works out every day, but can’t seem to increase her level of fitness, due to inheriting her father’s “slow metabolism.”
Then there is this guy I see at the gym at the same time, however his story is quite different. He is in amazing shape and if you saw him workout, you would understand why. He is completely focused and he trains with incredible intensity. Recently he broke his leg in a car accident. You would think that would have slowed him down. Instead, he just worked around it. He told me he was going to use that time to work on some of his weaker areas he’s been meaning to strengthen anyway. It is amazing what attitude, focus and a little hard work can do
Although these two people share the same gym every morning, they operate light years apart from one another. I call the comparison between these two the Yin/Yang Syndrome.
I see this Syndrome in the Martial Arts business as well. For example, I just returned from the MAIA convention in Las Vegas, as I do every year. Many of the school owners I talked to told me that they were having a terrible year. I understand that it can be a hard business and it is rarely easy for anyone. But what I found interesting was that some of those who were having difficulties were able to list many reasons for the problems they were having and they passionately defended their reasons… as if they believed the success of their school was completely out of their control.
The other hand, I spoke with a lot of school owners who are having a great year. Most would admit to having challenges, but they didn’t dwell on them. Instead, they were mindfully spending their time on solutions. They understood at a core level that they might not be able to control the wind, but they CAN adjust the sails. They inherently knew that they alone held the key to their success.
I’d like to say that I’m personally above complaining and that I’m always focused and working hard, but sometimes I am not. I am tempted at times to run my business like the lady at the gym rides her bike. Fortunately, I have an amazing team that helps me and we have seen what happens when we pedal hard. What about you?
