Moving Forward
There are moments when a flash occurs, and a whole constellation of physical senses surface. An awakening of ancient knowing, from a place where nothing is lost or forgotten. These are memories, and one of the most vivid ones for me is “Eagan.”
Thirty-two years ago, I had a vision for a new kind of health club; a vision that was vibrant and touchable, yet the reality? Difficult if not impossible. The road was long, the pursuit for capital relentless. For over six years, day in and day out, the struggle was constant.
By Fall of 1993, a well-respected developer had committed to build and lease the club to me. In January, pre-sale started, easily selling over 100 memberships a week. We’d planned for a September opening, yet, winter turned to spring and even by March, he hadn’t obtained the financing, no construction was in sight.
As it became evident he would not be able to deliver on this commitment, I was forced to convince him to give up, sell the land and let me find a way to build it myself.
Yet, I found myself with only enough money to start, not enough to finish. And, that scheduled opening in September was fast approaching. There was no choice. I put it all on the line and would figure it out along the way. A plan which today, would be unthinkable.
If you thought of building a 75,000-foot club and mentioned you were starting construction in March, conventional wisdom would tell you there would be no feasible way it could open the same year. Even today, with all of our oomph and years of experience, twelve months is the absolute minimum.
There’s a time and a place for conventional wisdom, and apparently, for me, this was not it. Looking back, I smile; even I might admit it was a little crazy.
Days flew by, and suddenly, it was September. Around 2 am on the morning the club was to open, I headed to a friend’s, in need of a few hours of sleep.
Driving away, I stopped and looked back. With darkness the backdrop, it was as if the club was a stage, lit up and brilliant. A display of tv screens, miniature through great cathedral windows, had images that danced and moved together. The Life Time logo glowed. In an instant, the reality pulsed through me.
It’s a mystery these moments and how they permeate our souls, our cells, to become the memories etched in our heart. Some are profound; the first time I held my child on my chest, the sound of cheers and euphoric buoyancy of the finish line at Leadville. Others so simple, watching an osprey dive on its morning hunt, the smell of home as I walk through the door…and sitting alone in a moonlit parking lot on that expectant Autumn morning.
In the same way the days rushed by as we built Eagan, the years have passed too. Life Time continues to grow, confident, healthy and strong, from that one club in Minnesota to more than 150 across North America.
Recently, our team visited the site of Life Time Coral Gables. A new concept that combines how we move, work and live into one, comprehensive idea we simply call Healthy Way of Life. It’s full speed ahead with this vast and spacious, 1.2-million-square foot athletic, coworking and residential destination.
We arrived in the wake of Hurricane Sally, after 5 straight days of rain. While heavy, oppressive humidity and pervasive, gray mud did its best to suck us in, it was the beautiful buzzing chaos of construction that had my full attention. A crew of more than 400 tradesmen; masons and plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and painters called and chattered. Bulldozers chugged, beeping horns of overhead cranes echoed.
In fluorescent vests and hardhats, we began the long and sweaty ascent up fourteen flights of stairs to the finished two-bedroom model; what will soon be someone’s new home.
I headed to the patio and caught my breath, only to very quickly have it taken away. Looking right to left, mangroves and tree canopies followed the horizon to the skyline of Miami. Looking up, white billowy clouds floated expectantly by on sapphire skies.
Again, the inexplicable.
The split second of recognition where the challenges and seemingly unthinkable path of the past collides with a galaxy of possibility for the future. A conscious awareness of faith meeting fortitude, and with it, the complete confidence of tomorrow.
This is the power of Life Time. Millions of tiny star-like moments pulse an energy through us, creating memory as well as generating new strength through our collective heart.
Constantly inspired with this proof of where we’ve been and who we are, we move forward.
