Adam – Page 9 – Guru Gilbert

Update on MyBodyTutor and some lessons in business for ya

MyBodyTutor, my company that I designed to help people stop making excuses will be re-launching in the next month or so.

For the last 6 months, after some minor bumps in the road, my team of developers and designers has been working really hard on making MBT something really special and we’re almost ready!

See, I’m sort of a hypocrite.

On one hand, I’m a very strong advocate of design and beauty and elegance. Perception is reality. Right now, my website looks like an amateur made it. Because I made it. I’m certainly not a professional when it comes to web design.

I know exactly what I like and exactly what I want and am extremely particular (you can ask Adam and Mike over at PureAdapt who helped design this blog). As someone who used to run a small web development business – dealing with people who know what they want is a gift compared to people who have no idea.

On the other hand, I am very much an advocate of starting small. Very small. (Note – this concept later turned into a magazine column which you can read here.) I don’t like to invest a lot of money upfront without a proven concept. If you can make your business work when your website is a piece of crap like this and people are willing to pay you, then and only then, do you have something you should invest in.

How heavily you invest in your business is only a matter of belief. How much do you believe in what you offer? Money talks.

Like I did here and am doing for MBT. (Although, I didn’t spend nearly as much money on the Ultimate Discount Card website as I am on MyBodyTutor.)

And that’s what I’m doing. I’m spending a fortune on my new website. And I don’t say that word [fortune] lightly. I say it because I believe in what I’m doing 1000%. There is not a doubt in my mind that I can help people reach their health and fitness goals.

So what the hell are we doing?

Well, as Warren Buffet says, we’re building a ‘moat’ around our business and creating a ‘durable competitive advantage’ so when I go up, inevitably, which won’t be for years, against the big guys, I’ll be able to do so.

This custom application that we’re building from the ground up, is going to allow me to scale this business. Meaning it will allow me to take my single health food store and replicate it over and over if you will so we can help more people.

But the key is to not lose what has made MBT so successful. And that’s what we’re working really hard to ensure. That is mission critical.

Don’t get me wrong, MBT is still a tiny, tiny company. But we’re getting there. Slowly but surely. Day in and day out. But consistently. Even if we just accomplish one small thing every day – we’re headed in the right direction and that’s all that counts. (Kind of like my philosophy with MBT!)

And as little patience as I have – I have a lot of patience when it comes to this. MBT is my baby.

To say I’m extremely excited is an extreme understatement.

Stay tuned.

Are people born with ambition?

I find the topic of ambition really interesting. Whenever I meet other entrepreneurs, I always try to get their take.

Is ambition something you are born with? Or it something you develop over time?

Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert had a great blog post about ambition the other day. He calls it the ‘Ambition Defect’ and I can relate to it a lot.

He writes:

“I once worked with a guy who referred to his older brother as the “white sheep of the family.” The older brother was a CEO of a Fortune 500 company while his siblings had no ambitions that extended beyond lunch. That sort of thing makes me wonder about the whole nature versus nurture question. I assume all the kids in this fellow’s family had a similar upbringing, but only one had ambition.

I think ambition is a genetic defect. You can’t have ambition unless you think there is something wrong with the way you are. Ambition is a state of feeling perpetually flawed.

By most objective standards, my career has gone well. By my internal standards, I am in a continuous state of not doing enough.”

For me, it’s about being the best that I can be. It’s about being better today than I was yesterday.

It’s almost as if there is an internal drum beating inside me that keeps me going.

I don’t feel flawed though. However, I do always feel like I’m not doing enough and there are plenty of times where I’ve even wished that the drum would stop because it causes me to put an enormous amount of pressure on myself.

It won’t.

Sometimes that drum gets muted out by external factors. But at the end of the day, that drum is still beating very loud and I just don’t feel right unless I’m moving forward. (Or at least what I think is moving forward.)

I believe people are born with ambition. Either you have it or you don’t. It’s just the way you are wired as a human being.

I also think being ambitious is very different from being motivated.

Do you think people are born with ambition?

Or do you think it’s something that can be nurtured?

Meeting with the CEO of The Pump Energy Food

Right now Adam Eskin – the CEO of Pump Energy Food – is the CEO of a restaurant with 6 locations and a colt following.

I am a colt member.

The Pump Energy Food has a simple philosophy. They only cook and serve clean and healthy food. They don’t even serve soda.

Enough said.

The authenticity reeks. I met with Adam last week after emailing back and forth with him.

I wasn’t surprised that we hit it off. After all, we have a lot in common. I was telling him how I started working out when I was in 5th grade and how health and fitness has always been a huge part of my life.

He was laughing and said that he too always loved working out and eating healthy. He said his friends used to kid around with him after learning about his involvement with The Pump and would say things like, “Wow, you really love protein that much huh? Of course you would do this!”

I know what he means.

Adam, a laser focused guy and a graduate from Brown University was an associate at a private equity shop. He said he used to eat the Pump at least once a day and his PE firm was looking to invest in interesting restaurant concepts so they contacted them.

Long story short he is now the CEO with big ambitions.

His goal is to have 200-300 locations throughout the country and I think they can do it.

As we both finished up our grilled chicken and brown rice and our meeting that lasted over an hour – he was telling me that he recently met with Howard Schultz (Starbucks founder). Howard told him that he’s not even in the first meter of a marathon with regards to how much work he has left.

He knows it. And so do I.

I always enjoy seeing waiters or cooks eating the food they serve. Even more so, I enjoy meeting people who practice (and ideally, live) what they preach.

Well, Adam now eats his own food 6 times a day.

The golden nuggets that you might be interested in are nothing new:

Systematize, systematize, systematize.

And as Howard believes (and knows): work, work, work!

Enough said.

I guarantee this video will make you laugh plus who you hang around…

Speaking of uncontrollable laughter a reader sent me this amazing video. (Warning: This video will make you laugh uncontrollably, too!)

The video is of two newscasters who can’t stop laughing because a model fell on the runway not once, but twice. Their smokers laugh mixed in with what sounds like asthma and wheezing makes for an incredibly hilarious laugh.

It’s hard not to laugh watching this video because their laugh is so contagious.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

Who you hang out with will directly influence your thoughts and beliefs. In fact, it is said that we are the cumulative sum of the 5 people we spend most of our time with along with our past experiences.

Books and TV and movies and magazines and even blogs will (or can) impact your thinking and open you up to entirely new worlds.

But a lot of people get stuck in their circle and they can’t break out of their little world.

I’m not suggesting you drop your friends. No. Not even close.

But there’s nothing wrong with having different friends with different interests.

If you’re trying to break into a particular field befriend someone in that field.

Before you continue to question why you can’t break out of your same old habits and thinking take a look at who you spend most of your time with.

What you do most of the time or who you spend most of your time with will generate most of your results and will generate most of your thinking and habits!

It’s not a coincidence that unhappy people love hanging out with other unhappy people. After all, misery does love company.

It’s not a coincidence that sports fanatics hang out with other sports fanatics.

It doesn’t take scientists and researchers to figure out that having overweight friends can make you overweight too.

Actually, evidently it does.

Note: The inspiration for this post came from Nancy, a loyal reader, who wants to start a business from home after being a stay-at-home mom for several years. She emailed me asking for advice because she’s really intimidated.

I found out that all of her friends are stay-at-home moms that don’t have jobs or businesses.

My first piece of advice was for her to become friends with other stay-at-home moms that have started businesses.

She will quickly learn that it’s not as intimidating as the thinks and she’ll be laughing like the newscasters in no time!

Uncontrollable laughter

I was sitting in the diner the other night for a quick bite finishing my grilled chicken wrap (whole wheat, of course) with lettuce and onion when a guy dressed to the nine walks in and sits two stools away from me.

This guy looked like Gordon Gekko. His suit and shirt was so perfectly pressed his nipples must have hurt from all of the starch.

He ordered a cheeseburger deluxe and a soda.

I was reading the paper and so was he. We were actually both reading the Wall Street Journal.

Next thing you know, I hear a plastic cup drop and him screaming, “OH FUCK! God damn it. Shit. I need some napkins. Shit. Fuck me!” His coke had spilled all over him.

Not sure whether it was his reaction which was pretty normal or just the fact that 30 seconds earlier he looked like he could have played a role in the movie Wall Street but it was absolutely hilarious.

Fucking hilarious, if I may.

I began this uncontrollable laughter. Like one of those laughs when you’re in school and you need to stop laughing or else your teacher is going to kill you but you can’t control it laughters.

I am bad. I tried to contain it but I couldn’t. He saw me laughing and I felt terrible. I said, “I’m sorry and that I was just reading an article that really got to me,” as I was laughing almost uncontrollably.

He bought it for about .1 seconds and told me it was alright. That he would be laughing too.

I really couldn’t control myself. Even now just thinking about I start laughing. It’s the initial, “Oh shittt!!!” that I can’t get out of my head with the sound of the plastic cup dropping.

Long story short, we began talking. I told him about my company and he told me that he makes excuses all of the time.

Case in point: The guy was eating a cheeseburger deluxe.

Well, the guy is now a client.

Welcome to the revolution Larry. This might be one of the best stories I have of signing up a client. Thanks!

“If it looks as good as it does on paper, we’re in the kill zone, pal. Lock and load!”

Why our parents are getting divorced and why you might too

Back in the day, it was normal to get married at 22 years old. My parents did. And most likely so did yours.

You found someone you loved and you created a life together.

Fairly recently, it seems as though no one wants to be Mrs. or Mr. anyone anymore. Everyone wants to be their own person. I am absolutely all for that.

In fact, I think that is what is causing all of these divorces. Or the lack of that, I should say.

People whether young or old, are realizing they have no identity. They don’t know who they are. Look at Linda Hogan (ex-wife of Hulk Hogan), for example. She lived the quintessential American dream life.

Yet, she appeared miserable on so many episodes of the reality show ‘Hogan Knows Best’. Why? I think deep down she was tired of being Mrs. Hulk Hogan. She wanted to be her own person.

Life is all about expressing ourselves. The things we do are expressions of who we are and what we love and the impact we wish to make.

But when you don’t know who you are (how can you at 22 years old?), how can you become your own person?

I think the best relationships are comprised of two solid independent happy people. I say happy even though it’s a very over used word these days because the people who say, “I just wish I had a boyfriend/girlfriend” are not happy people. At least, not by themselves.

If they were truly happy they wouldn’t be complaining that they needed a boyfriend or a girlfriend.

The feeling of ‘love’ is an easy cover up to not figure out who you are and what you love doing whether you get paid for it or not.

Although, it’s beautiful to dream about being a mother and father and living in a big house and being the best wife or husband you can be…there’s more to life. That can’t be your entire life. Or else, your entire life relies on other people making you happy.

And I’m still getting lip about my marriage post. Let me make myself clear. I’m not against marriage. I dream of all the great things I believe marriage has to offer. I dream of it all. Trust me.

But I am against marriage at a young age. I am against going from relationship to relationship.

Until you know who you are and how to be truly happy by yourself; I don’t believe you can truly be happy with anyone else.

But as they say, to each his own.

[Join the conversation over at BrazenCareerist.com here]

The pursuit of happiness is flawed

Why people become alcoholics

What is your definition of success?

You could look like J-Lo too!

Have you ever seen the gorgeous people on magazine covers, and thought “I know they’re air-brushed, but damn they still look good”?

Or, you may have thought, “If I had an army of people working for me, I could look like that too!”

Well, I recently read an article on Jennifer Lopez which included the following:

Her last album cover alone cost $60,000 in hair and makeup, lighting, photographers, re-touching, etc.

And that’s just what it costs to get the album out the door. Lopez performed on “Good Morning America” earlier this year, and all the costs were absorbed by the label.

Epic had to eat the cost for that entire performance. From her makeup — which typically costs in the neighborhood of $8,000 per day — to the backup singers, to the rigging, lighting and sound.

Makeup at typically $8,000 a day?!

Evidently, the woman requires everything short of flying dogs to get on a stage.

I think it’s safe to say musicians aren’t only selling music.

The only business where it’s acceptable (actually, encouraged) to brag about how much money you make

Will you be missed?

If your favorite pizza shop disappeared tomorrow, would you miss them? Could you find a replacement pizza shop?

What about your personal marketing, though?

If you disappeared tomorrow, would your customers/clients miss you?

The problem with fitting in and being a cog in a machine is that cogs are intentionally designed to be easily replaceable. When one breaks, you just get another. No one particularly misses the old one.

So, here’s the question: When you’re gone, will they miss what you and your company do?

If I stopped writing my blog tomorrow would my posts be missed? Thankfully, I think so.

Adam McFarland writes me this:

I wanted to write and let you know that your blog is by far my favorite. It’s the only one in my feed reader that I jump to right away when I see a there’s a new post (I subscribe to close to 100 blogs). You do an amazing job of showing the balance between the passion it takes to run a business and the qualities it takes to have a happy and fulfilling life. It truly is a pleasure to read every post and to see you, your thoughts, and MBT evolve. Keep up the great work!

Joseph M writes me this:

Adam – where have you been? I don’t think I received a blog post from you last week (I get your blog posts via email)…I suspect you were doing something fun. I wanted to know if you could resend me the last one…if there was one.

If MyBodyTutor went out of business tomorrow would I be missed? Thankfully, I think so and that’s what it’s about.

Simi D writes me this:

I am soooooooooo happy to be back. Dude, I missed you over the weekend! I did really well. I went to the gym 5 times! My face looks a million times better (that is the first place I always see a difference).

And this and this and this and countless other emails that I will spare you of for both MyBodyTutor and this blog.

If you stopped teaching tomorrow would you be missed? Ask my amazing Auntie Anne and fellow New Yorker who needs storage for all of her retirement gifts, awards, etc., from her former students and colleagues. My mom too.

If you stopped being a student will your professors miss you?

If you stopped being a doctor tomorrow will your patients miss you?

If you stopped being an accountant will your clients miss you?

If you quit your job tomorrow will you be missed?

If your company was forced to go out of business will your customers miss you?

That is the question.

Will you be missed?

It’s not too late to change the answer.

You ruined it for me forever! Is it that hard to wear gloves?!?!

I don’t even prepare my own food without washing my hands. I wash my hands before eating too.

I’m a little OCD. What can I say?

Late last night, I went to my corner deli. I go there all the time because it’s literally across the street from my apartment.

Because I go there all the time, I’ve become friendly with the guy that works there.

So, I asked the guy for a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with lettuce and tomato. This is right after he just took money from several customers.

He proceeded to take 2 pieces of whole wheat bread with his bare hands and was about to begin slicing the turkey. I was really hoping he was going to put on some gloves before he began slicing the turkey. But he didn’t.

He began to slice and before he touched each and every piece of turkey with his bare hands I said something. I had to. And even though we’ve become friends through my frequent visits this was just grossing me out way too much.

“Uh, excuse me, would you just mind putting on gloves…it’s just that you touched money.”

He proceeded to put on gloves and finished making my sandwich without saying a word to me. Usually, we’d talk about sports and what not.

Not a peep.

The guy was obviously insulted.

Dude, I don’t even make my own food without washing my own hands. And I know where my hands have been.

Also, when you do wear gloves (occasionally) change them! The gloves aren’t for you.
They aren’t to protect your hands from money and food.

They are for me; to protect me and my little sandwich.

Finally, when you don’t wear gloves which shows (whether you realize it or not) you could care less about cleanliness for the customer it makes me think thoughts I don’t want to think.

How clean is that slicer? How fresh are the tomatoes and lettuce? How old is that bread?

You’re not going to throw away ‘expired’ food in the name of freshness and cleanliness.

Are you?

I used to tell myself you do and would.

You ruined it for me.

God Dammit!

Life is one giant placebo

We’re all in show business and here’s why

You are what you wear and do!

You need to believe. I need to believe. We all need to believe!

My first engagement party and more on marriage

Is this the start of Bar Mitzvah season all over again for us Gen Y-ers? Except the grown up version?

This past Saturday I went to my first engagement party. And again a warm congrats!

I don’t say that facetiously either. Clearly, they are both very happy or else they wouldn’t be going through with this. And the ultimate defense to anything is happiness. If someone says they are happy there’s nothing more you can (or should) say. (Not that I’m trying to stop him.)

I believe happiness is what life is all about. But it’s also relative. I also believe some people are willing to fight way more for their own happiness than others.

Let’s compare girls versus guys for a second. I was having a conversation the other day with a girl who I think is super smart and I respect tremendously. Here is what she said:

“Very often when dating and meeting guys, girls have this mindset that, “Oh I can work with this…” Whereas guys are more likely to think “The grass is greener on the other side” — there’s something better out there. Girls are more likely or willing to work things through, and take what they’ve got and ‘work with it’ as opposed to guys who just think ‘this isn’t good enough – there’s got to be something better’ and don’t try to make what they have work.”

I have my own theory of this that rings to that tone. I hardly ever see a physically attractive guy with a not-so physically attractive girl. Yet, I always see not-so physically attractive dudes with attractive women. What’s the deal?

Well, per my super smart friend, girls are willing to settle if most of the things on their ‘mental check list’ are checked off. They can forgo this and that.

Yet, guys, she says, “Will forgo their entire mental check list – if they even have one- if they meet an attractive girl.”

I disagree. As we all wise and mature, poodles become almost unbearable. At least for me. As they say ‘Beauty fades, dumb is forever!’

I asked her if she’ll ever be 100% sure she knows the person she’s with is for her. She said, “I don’t think so, how can you ever be 100% sure?”

Really? Then how the heck can you commit to being with someone for the rest of your life? (No wonder my marriage post has over 100 comments and counting…)

Going back to the original point. I find it amazing that people settle in the first place.

Why are girls more willing to settle than guys? Isn’t settling an act of desperation?

And could you possibly be a good boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife if you’re thinking “there’s something better out there”?

Clearly, something is missing if you’re thinking that, no?