A New Type of Health Club
In the beginning…
When I began my career, health clubs were relatively small and bare boned. To start one of these gyms, you rented a storefront, divided it into a exercise room, locker room and lobby, installed some cheap carpet, bought a row of machines, added a row of metal lockers, turned on the fluorescent lights and boom. You were open for business.
That’s the model we used to open the new clubs for Nautilus, but it started to evolve as we transitioned to U.S. Swim and Fitness.
We did well with it, helping people achieve their fitness goals, but it was stale.
These places weren’t pleasant or fun to visit. They all smelled of sweat or chlorine. The lighting was bad, and the spaces were cramped. They were utilitarian boxes where you’d go to lift weights or run on a treadmill and leave as soon as you were done.
Even worse, in my opinion, was the built-in cynicism to that business model. The whole industry ran on the practice of selling customers long-term memberships, while hoping they would never use them. Health club owners knew that most members got discouraged or distracted, and stopped coming after two or three months, only to sign up and try again. The system felt soulless to me. It took advantage of people’s natural desire to look and feel better without really giving them the support they needed to do that. Their drive to be fit and healthy was stronger than the neglect we showed them. There was demand for something better.
I had a vision for new kind of health club.
Before the first site was dug, the first team member hired, I saw a place that would serve the health needs of all; from diet and nutrition to medical services, spas and sports.
This was a place that would encompass all aspects of a healthy way of life.
It would be a destination our members enjoyed rather than felt obligated to spend some time once or twice a week. It would invite people in and encourage them to stay.
To do this, we had to create clubs where everything was aligned and contributing directly to an inimitable member experience. Our intention was to ensure that every single interaction was indicative of our dedication to their well-being, that we saw things from their point of view, and therefore, from the very start, we were obsessed with details. From the aroma that would greet new members walking through the front doors, tile color, and the way the light came in, to the ingredients chosen with care for the café, it all aligned to create an enjoyable, supportive, social environment.
Along the way, I realized this new club would have to be massive to accommodate everything it needed. Large supermarkets average about 50,000 square feet, this would need at least 70,000, which was non-existent in the market at that time.
I announced my plans, seriously hocked almost everything I had (said goodbye to the Porsche) and began to build the first Life Time. People in the industry thought I’d lost my mind and predicted bankruptcy in six months.
Yet I had assessed the risk and was willing to take it.
There was no hesitation as I committed to my vision and was relentless in its pursuit.
Today, this vision is shared by over 35,000 Life Time employees and close to two million members. Together, we’ve turned this dream into a reality. We continue to have a maniacal focus on the member point of view. We rarely advertise, relying mostly on word of mouth to attract new members, and believe it’s our meticulous attention to detail combined with the daily delivery of a nurturing, enjoyable, productive experience that grows the love, and keeps people happy at Life Time.
Average, Good or Great?
Finding balance is another crucial piece in your vision for your business or your life; it helps narrow your focus to that one thing at which you are excellent. Try to be great at everything and you will quickly find your life out of whack, leaving you great at nothing.
According to author Malcolm Gladwell, to be a master at anything requires ten thousand hours of practice and it is why people who are great at something practice it and study it with laser-like attention to the point of obsession.
Ask yourself, what is the one thing at which you can be great and dedicate yourself to achieving greatness in that area.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try your best at whatever you’re doing. Tennis is a sport I love to play, but I didn’t take it up until I was in my 50s. I do my best and work my butt off every time I practice. Of course, I’m pretty intense about it because I’m pretty competitive. But I have no expectation of being the best tennis player in my area or even the best in my league. Tennis for me is a recreation that is part of my overall plan for remaining fit as I age, doing it for exercise and for fun.
If you play soccer with your friends, you’re going to play hard and try to win. But you don’t have expectations of playing in the World Cup. Unless soccer is your passion and you think you can be good enough to play professionally, you don’t make that a priority. You settle for playing in your local pickup game.
Personally, running Life Time is the thing I want to be excellent at and nothing short of excellence will do. If you want to make a difference in the world, you have to approach your area of greatness with the same intensity.
When you’re new at something, it’s difficult to gauge how much work a project is going to take or the difficulties you’ll encounter. Things get complicated and more effort is usually required. As you become more experienced, you develop the ability to estimate how much time and energy things require. But even then, you can’t foresee things that are beyond your control.
It’s a safe bet that no matter how much you plan, you’re going to have to work harder than you anticipated. If you don’t have a realistic expectation of the work involved, you could get discouraged and possibly give up. But if you’ve correctly estimated how hard your task will be, you’ll be prepared to power through any obstacles that may arise.
Great companies have a vision of what they are and what they want to offer the public. A marketing person might call this their brand, but I think it’s a lot more than marketing. The ingenuity of these companies leads them to make compelling products that have the possibility of redefining their place in society. In the same way, your vision for your life should be grand and ambitious enough to require all-out effort.
What kind of person do you want to be? This should be our primary focus.
When we answer this question, we must never settle for average or good. Your goals for your career or achievements must have this question at its core. Character is greater than achievement. You might be the best tennis player in the world, but it will be meaningless if you aren’t also a person of character. There is a saying, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul.”
In these turbulent days, it’s appropriate to ask, what is a person of character? We may have slightly different answers but there are some things we will all agree on.
For me, a person of character cares about the well-being of others, gives back in as many ways as possible, and maintains integrity in their personal and business relationships.
A person who does this cannot stop success. He attracts it. It will pursue him and overcome him. This is why becoming great at who you are is the ultimate goal.
