Enhanced Business Performance
By Paul Lepa
The Kushi story for me starts not with my health but about growing my business. I own an ecommerce company in China and I have been looking to grow it grow it big. In that quest, I have looked to find a mentor to guide me in this endeavor. Ten months ago, I met an amazing Italian gentleman by the name of Pecce a man that has done what I am looking to do.
Now in his 70s, Pecce was the chairman and CEO of Wall Street English China a company that provided English language training to Chinese students. At age of 68, his company sold for $125 million dollars. He grew the business from 0 to 125 million in less than a decade.
Pecce agreed to be my mentor and that is how my Kushi story begins. During our first session, I asked Pecce a simple question. He gave me an answer I didnt think I was looking for. My question was, What is the next step I need to take? Pecces’ answer was go to the Kushi Institute. As you can imagine, going to the Kushi Institute, which deals with food, health and eating wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. I was looking for strategy, hiring guidelines, funding options, etc. But food?
I was scheduled to go for a trek to the Everest Basecamp the next month and Pecce gently said Cancel it. Kushi instead. So, perhaps it wasn’t so gentle, but the message was clear The first step to success is Kushi. I checked out the information about Kushi, and challenged Pecce on it Pecce, this place is so cheap, are you sure its good? Pecce said Yes. Go.
In fact, he actually didn’t want to talk to me about business until after Kushi until then he said, my mind and thoughts wouldn’t be clear enough to make good decisions.
Hmm, I thought I was doing pretty good. But one of the rules of mentorship is that if a mentor tells you to do something, you better do it. And what was the harm?
So, I canceled my Everest trip and instead rebooked myself for a month long trip to Kushi.
The results: It’s now been four months since I have come back from the Kushi Insitute. I have now thanked Pecce probably over a dozen times for insisting I go there. Why?
When you are in an executive position be it a CEO or a CMO (Chief Mom Office) the utmost importance is clear mind, strong energy and good health.
I didn’t realize how much of those things I didn’t have. The years of building my business to what it was today have taken a great toll. I didn’t quite see it, but Pecce did.
I gained weight and was sluggish.
I was fatigued most of the time.
I was stressed about even the smallest things.
Now, how does food and eating help with this? Well, it turns out, that its everything.
After 4 months, I dropped a lot of weight over 30lbs. Weight loss was NOT any of my goals, but it was a very nice benefit of eating the Kushi way.
My energy levels have increased 10x or maybe 20! Whereas I would get up in the morning before and start my day at 11AM with a few cups of coffee to help me get started, I start my days now at around 7AM. Coffee is gone and green tea is there instead.
My stress levels have reduced and the small things now are just that small things. Even as I write this, I’m facing challenges that in the past would have seen my stress levels go through the roof but I now process them in a calm and relaxed way.
My restless leg syndrome that was affecting my sleep for the last 15 years has improved by a great deal. I sleep better now than I have in the past.
My allergy to gluten has much improved. If I had gluten in the food I ate before Kushi, even a bit, I would be out the next day. Now, if somehow gluten gets into my diet I can feel it but I’m still good to go.
My mom had tried to teach me about food for years but I didn’t listen. It wasn’t till Kushi that I truly EXPERIENCED the difference food makes.
Even now, if I go out to dinner and eat something that is not Macrobiotic, I pretty much know that tomorrow I will not be in my optimal condition. I expect that I will be a bit slower, a bit more sluggish and probably a little less sharp. And, being an engineer, I have proven this. If I eat the macrobiotic way, I am in top shape, and if I divert, I can FEEL the difference.
With this bit of knowledge, I still go out sometimes, but when I do, I know that what I put in my body today will have impact on my performance tomorrow. My story and my results so far have been added by some things I did to re-organize my life around macrobiotic (Kushi) way.
When I left Kushi, I had one of the counselors prepare a very detailed, 2 week menu and recipes for me. This is one of the best things I did. Although, Kushi teaches you how to plan your own menu, I found that having it done for you is tremendously helpful and makes the macrobiotic diet that much more accessible.
I am lucky to have a cook in Beijing that cooks all my meals for me. I had those recipes translated into Chinese, all the ingredients sourced, and a schedule established.
I work close to my home, so my lunch (and if I work late, dinner) gets brought over to my office from home.
BUT, my story is not about, whether someone can pull it off. I know that for me personally, without a cook, and what I have in my daily life, eating the macrobiotic way would have been rather difficult. But, I also know that in North America, most people are accustomed to cooking for themselves. And, for those times when I cook for myself, making a macrobiotic meal is actually easier and faster that a western type meal.
The point, however, is that in my experience, the macrobiotic way works and works well.The results are incredible and the performance gains I got from the new way is something I could never imagine.
Pecce and I are now going to start talking about business balance sheets, P&L, strategy, etc. But, when we do, I will keep macrobiotic eating in the forefront because I understand now that I cant run if I dont learn how to eat!