(This is a repost of a blog I did 9 months ago … I will do a follow up to this blog later today)

A few weeks ago, I read in one of the financial newspapers about the large number of gyms in America and the UK which have closed over the year because of “massive” drops in membership.

Today, I heard that my gym, an international brand of gym in Dubai has lost 40% of its membership over the past year.

To be clear, the gym I go to in Dubai has no joining fee and costs only 90 dollars a month – yet, 40% of their clients canceled or did not renew their membership in 2010.

Apparently, people are cutting the gym because of the economy…

Priorities.

Personally, I used the global financial crisis as a way to cleanse myself of the excess in my life.

The easiness of life before the crisis had made me complacent.

Sometime in 2009 …

I woke up one morning and realized I had stopped climbing higher on my proverbial mountain.

Basically, my world had become soft and cushy … without realizing, I had stopped climbing, set up camp and just enjoyed the cushiness.

Like a teacher slapping the back of a day dreaming students head, the crisis knocked me from my comfortable perch…

For many years, the plague of “comfortable” and “easiness” ravaged the world — this plague, or shall we call it “cushiness” made the world soft.

It made me soft.

That morning, I revaluated my life — where I was, as opposed to where I want to go; who I am as opposed to who I want to become.

I decided to do everything in my power to get rid of the “excess” and “fat” which clogged the path on my mountain.

My first step — I joined the gym.

How has the global financial crisis affected your personal priorities?

Instead of cutting out the gym membership – cut out the wine or alcohol, restaurants, and/or other superfulous expenses.

Cherish the opportunity of having less.

No matter where you’re from or how old you are — join the gym, exercise, get back in shape and start climbing again.

This morning, I came across this quote again and felt like using it in a short blog.

There is not much really to say because the quote says it all:

“If the gentleman is not serious, he will not be respected, and his learning will not be on a firm foundation. He considers loyalty and faithfulness to be fundamental, has no friends who are not like him, and when he has made mistakes, he is not afraid of correcting them.” Confucius

“has no friends who are not like him.”

Friendship.

….. how many people are brought down by one bad/negative friend?

I am sure every reader can reflect back to a time in their life when a bad influence brought them down.

Or a great influence lifted them up.

a negative, moaning, complaining super bitch…
breeds negativity and becomes like a cancer eating away at the positive.

this is the challenge…. ensuring that we surround ourselves with great people who help lift us up when we are down….
AND support and challenge us to become better.

If you have a negative friend who is bringing you down….
tell them to get out of your way.

because a gentleman has no friends who are not like him….

I intentionally keep naseba separate from this blog, however, as we are recruiting for Beirut and Mumbai, as well as for our current offices in Dubai and KL , I will use this entry to focus on naseba and to explain a bit of what we are looking for in potential recruits.

Several people have left comments about working at naseba, but I am not involved with recruitment.
Please send your cv and emails to the address listed on the advertisement.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“naseba is not for everyone” is big and bold on our recruitment collateral.

If you are looking for an easy, cushy job with minimal return… naseba is not for you.

If you are a super bitch, who prefers to sit around and moan and complain about things, or someone who focuses on the negatives in life…naseba is not for you.

If you are sloppy, and have allowed yourself to become grossly out of shape…naseba is not for you.

If you are looking to be challenged to use your talent to the fullest; become the best, sharpest and successful person you can become – naseba is for you.

Download the recruitment criteria

“Pressure is a privilege.”  Billie Jean King

This is what Billie Jean King reportedly, replied when someone asked her how it felt to be playing in her first U.S. Open.

I like this quote.

I have hammered a similar theme over and over ….too many people waste their time searching for easier, cushier ways to go through life.

…we tend to forget that all great men and women who achieve extraordinary things … they didn’t t just “stumble” to the top of their proverbial summit; they didn’t just achieve without making it happen.

Think about the great people in your life.

What makes them great?
Are they constantly looking for cushier, easier ways to do things?  Probably not.

I think most people understand (but we often forget) that the greatest things in life are the hardest to achieve.

As Billie Jean King said, pressure is a privilege … if it was easy, everyone would go to the US Open.
If it was easy, everyone would be successful.

I recently, saw the movie “Social Network” supposedly, the story about facebook and how it began.
I enjoyed the movie very much.

However, for me …. the real “great story” in the movie and book is Sean Parker’s story.

Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning changed the world as we once knew it — they created the first online music swapping site – Napster.

Napster was instantly popular, but lawsuits from the music industry killed the site, and both Fanning and Sean Parker got sued to oblivion.

Incredible to think:  Sean Parker (comparatively speaking), didn’t make any money from developing something which changed the music and movie industry.

Over the years, I have thought of Sean… and always wondered what it would be like to change the world, yet —receive nothing for it,and get sued to the point of ruin.

How many people could come back from this kind of disappointment???
Imagine you and your friend launching the idea for what became itunes… and have to watch others make billions from your idea….

….most people in the same situation would become crippled by negativity, and probably just sit around and moan and complain for the rest of their lives…

For many years after Napster, (from all the interviews I have read) – Sean was nearly broke and had to sleep on his friends couches…but he kept fighting to succeed.

His genius and persistency paid off …

Sean Parker played a crucial role in launching facebook to what it is today.

Once again, he changed the world.

It’s a great story – not because Sean Parker is finally a (well deserved) multi-hundred millionare…

But because he never quit climbing and chasing his summit.

No matter how many times he fell…

He got back up and kept climbing.

We have all made mistakes; we’ve all made poor choices which negatively impacted us.

To be frank:  everyone has fucked up once or twice in their lives …

What’s important is learning from our mistakes, and climbing higher.

A couple of years ago, Michael Vick, a black NFL football star was convicted and sentence to federal prison for his involvement with dog fighting.

I won’t give my opinion on whether I think he would have gone to jail if he was a “white” star athlete …
Nor will I give my opinion on whether I think serving 21 months in a maximum federal prison was necessary, considering he didn’t fight Lassie against Hooch.

I definitely wont adventure into discussing why Madoff who stole billions, ruined countless people’s lives sits in a medium security, camp-like prison, but black Vick went to a maximum security … for dog fighting.

None of that has to do with today’s theme…so I will keep my opinions on those issues to myself.

At the end of the day, what Mike Vick was allegedly involved with was illegal, and a jury of his peers found him guilty, convicted him … and he served 21 months in prison.

Michael Vick made some poor choices, and suffered the consequences for his poor choices – however, his mistakes did not hurt the lives of others; he did not kill anyone; didnt steal billions; he didnt rape….
(just to be clear:  in my opinion, theft, murder, rape, etc …. are not mistakes or poor choices, they are heinous crimes)

After he served nearly 2 years in a maximum federal penitentiary, he was released … and spent another 2 months in home confinement before being released.

During this time, he went bankrupt – losing something like 100+ million dollars…

After he got out of prison –  the Philadelphia Eagles (one of the only NFL teams who would) decided to give Vick another chance.

To make a long ramble short – Michael Vick (his first full season back in the NFL) is having an incredible year, and has guided the Eagles to the top of their division in American football.

What a great story – the guy fuck’s up … accepts the consequences for his actions, doesn’t moan or complain about the severity ….and serves his time.

Many people would have been further sucked down by negativity; or feel sorry for themselves for the rest of their lives — the guy lost everything, and had  to start over….

I really hope to see him win the super bowl.