On the first day with my new trainer, he asked me to define a calorie.  Everyone knows what a calorie is, but I could not give him a technical definition. So he gave me a homework assignment: bring the definition of calorie at our next training session.  The technical definition of a calorie is not the point he made in the end.

At our next training session, he used an analogy related to taking in and burning calories that stuck with me. He started by stating, you are not a good manager. I had managed people most of my adult life.

What was he talking about? If you expend/burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight. Conversely, if you take in more calories than you burn, then you gain weight. The reason you don’t lose weight is simple; you don’t manage your calories. We all know if you take in more calories than you burn, you gain weight, but the business analogy he made stuck with me when he said I was in the calorie management business. You own the business, and you are the Chief Executive Officer, with no other employees.

Whether your business succeeds or fails is entirely up to me. Slap! Slap!  He told me he would not tell me what to eat or not eat. You are empowered to manage the business any way you choose. He emphasized that the business success was entirely up to me. Something clicked inside, and my calorie management business succeeded. I immediately started losing weight, but whenever I managed poorly, I gained back weight.

Successful businesses operate consistently. They don’t open a couple of days and then arbitrarily close a couple of days. No business succeeds that operates randomly. A manager plans, directs, and uses power. I prefer good food, i.e., fruits, vegetables, good protein, over less nutritious food. Then why wasn’t I eating that way? Poor planning and implementation; poor management. I adopted the trainer’s habit of planning his meals for the entire week on the weekend.

I had said I didn’t have time to plan meals, but I wasted more time when I failed to plan meals.

Your issue may not relate to calories. We know management principles extend to any area. Perhaps you want to write a book, get a degree, or learn a skill. Whatever your goal, you are the owner and CEO. Your business failure or success depends on you. What will you do?

Think about it.