Life: A Journey of Ups And Downs

It was not until my girlfriend got me a copy of Ironman, a fitness magazine, in 2005 that I decided to pursue the benefits of light cardio - vascular exercises. Feeling unusually energetic at the gym one day , I did some quick stretches, proceeded to the bench press, put 185 pounds on it and un-racked the bar. It dropped like a rock literally stapling my body to the ironwork!

This incident broke me out of my aerobics rut and changed my training forever- all I yearned for was the Arnold Schwarzenegger physique. Hadn’t some of my friends broken successfully into the bodybuilding scene and without drugs?

The next six months were the hardest in my life - I thought I would die. Night after night, I lay on my bed deeply sore from brutal workouts. However, with each heavy squat, deadlift and curl in my daily routine, I was able to generate more intensity for hard training. My coach’s advice was of great help yet I hardly was prepared for what he told me one afternoon after a warm - up.

“Remember the weight you dropped way back? Get the same plates and give me 10 repetitions.”

My heart sank. How on earth..?

Right then, the pictures in the Ironman issue leaped into my mind and immediately, my destiny was confirmed. With renewed determination, I slammed the giant metal discs onto the metal bar and muttered a little prayer.

1, 2, push!!… I was exhausted by the 7th repetition and panting heavily. Between gasps of breath, my resolve multiplied threefold as I churned out two additional repetitions.

What followed was a feeling of euphoria mixed with pride, bewilderment and achievement – eureka!

Presently, I am one of the strongest guys in the gym and have learnt that no problem is too great to withstand the onslaught of sustained determination, patience and hard work. My transformation from a slim to massive, sculpted, hard body attests to that.
 

Successes in life though rarely escape getting scarred by failures here and there. One of such occurred in my university days. During one campus break, I decided to embark on a business venture - the idea was to raise tree seedlings which I would later sell for beautification and landscaping purposes. I made a tidy profit initially and was planning to expand the enterprise.

The holiday wasn’t long though- in no time, the university senate recalled the students. A semester is a long period to be away from a project so I had to find a gardener to take care of things. His name was Abu whom I put in charge and left.

Six weeks later, I was back to check on progress. I could not believe my eyes - most of the seedlings lay dead on the ground while the much older ones had wilted and fallen into a state of poor health. I did not hide my anger at the loss and in this particular case, let it cloud my reasoning.

“Abu, what is this? I have lost a whole contract! I will not pay you 90% of your dues.”
He quit the following day.

I find my decision irrational in retrospect. I should have first let Abu present his case. In fact as I later found out, the place that I had sourced the seedlings was infected with pests. Putting the blame squarely on him was wrong - I should have instead taken an objective approach to the matter and established the facts of the case before making a decision.

My failure to make follow up through frequent communication with him is also partly to blame – I let six weeks go by without making even a single phone call. Again I shouldn’t have acted in anger as that harms business. In sum, this is an example of failed management.

A couple of months later, I met Ali and gave back the money that I had withheld together with a full month’s pay on top. He appreciated the gesture and has recently showed me cheaper and healthier sources of seedlings.