By: Alan Trzuskoski

      Although my work experience has been extensive since my graduation last spring, it has not been full time in nature.  I offer this essay to describe experiences, which, in the past year, have literally changed my life.  I would be very surprised if they aren’t as valuable and relevant to a business education and career as any work experience. 

      I evolved a new philosophy as a result of reading three books during the past year: Influence by Robert Cialdini, Body for Life by Bill Phillips, and The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.

      The first book, Influence, was a psychology book about the science of influencing people.  One compelling phenomena discussed was something called a “halo effect”.  “A halo effect occurs when one positive characteristic of a person dominates the way that person is viewed by others.”  Cialdini makes that reference in relation to physically attractive people.  Based on several scientific studies, he stated that physically attractive people are more likely to get a job, receive a raise, find help, become acquitted in criminal court, win a civil court case and even become elected to political office.  After reading that chapter I made the decision that, to truly succeed in business, I could no longer go on living life as an obese person.

      I am six feet tall, and when I made my decision to change my physical appearance, I weighed over 335 pounds.  A little over a year later I am less than 210 pounds.  This is one of my biggest accomplishments.   Along the way I developed a dedication to several personal skills that will make me a valuable candidate for any MBA program.  The most important of these skills are self confidence, self discipline, self motivation, and very effective goal setting.

      Body for Life was not a diet or exercise book.  It taught me how to modify my lifestyle for success.  Bill Philips was such a positive example that I felt obligated to listen.  One quote that will always help me is, “If your mind can conceive it, you can achieve it.”  Body for Life also taught me what a powerful motivational tool a positive example can be.

      To achieve such remarkable progress I spent many hours in the gym.  My gym, Gold Medal Fitness, has been open for 25 years and is independently owned and operated by one man.  Since reading that eighty percent of independent businesses fail in the first five years, I knew that Gold Medal Fitness’ owner, Gary, was doing something right.  I asked Gary if I could spend a month as an intern observing his business model and day-to-day operations.  After agreeing to my request, Gary recommended that, in addition to my internship, I read The E-Myth Revisited.

      It was an excellent book about why most small businesses fail and what they can do to succeed.  Michael Gerber suggests that within every successful small business owner, there are three distinct personalities; the Technician, the Manager, and the Entrepreneur.  According to Gerber, “What makes people work is an idea worth working for, along with a clear understanding of what needs to be done.”  Against that framework, I could see that my entire professional career and educational training had centered on skills and knowledge, which developed my technician’s personality.  I am now anxious to develop my skills as a manager and an entrepreneur.  To reach that goal, I need to round out my academic training by learning the fundamentals of business.  I believe that an MBA is the quickest and most effective method to reach this goal.

      According to Don Juan from Tales of Power, “The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary man takes everything as either a blessing or a curse.”  I view myself as a person of action.  I have clear goals and I am up to any challenge. 

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