Starbucks is not my office

When I left Yahoo! a few years ago, I prided myself on Starbucks being my office. Meet folks there, have a drink, and use the free wifi. It was in Silicon Valley, where tech folks meet for lots of coffee, though the elites may wish to mention Bucks, Il Fornaio, or other high-end VC hangouts.

But for me, it represented the energy of meeting other entrepreneurs, well before superhappydevhouse, co-working or incubators became en vogue. Meet others and feed off their energy in a 24×7 environment.

Turn the clock back 20 years ago and the forests were my office. When you’re running 100 miles a week for cross country, it feels like you’re doing nothing but running. If you’re eating, then you’re merely refueling after a run or getting ready to run again. If you’re walking, you’re walking to meet others for the 6 am morning run or walking to the gym to do weight training after your afternoon run. Run, run, run.

I ate whatever I wanted since anorexia was a real problem for us. It was hard to eat enough calories. I ran the half marathon in 70 minutes, did my first ultramarathon of 70 miles in 12 hours, and weighed 128 pounds.

Today, I’m 195 pounds and definitely obese.

Instead of my default place being the forest, it’s been the airport and conference rooms for meetings. I’m still on the run but in a different way.

So I’ve chosen 24 Hour Fitness to be my new office. It’s not because of The Biggest Loser, a News Years’ resolution, or even to lose weight.

I had the best times of my life when I was an athlete.

Did you know that the shoe company ASICS stands for Animo Sane in Corpore Sano? That’s latin for “a sound mind in a sound body”.

I’ve rediscovered the joys of pickup basketball, swimming, volleyball, and even some dancing– yes, I’ll admit to some Zumba and Jazzercise-like classes.

It’s about the context you set, which determines your home base. I’ve found that when I’m fit, my energy levels are higher, allowing me to be 3-4 times as productive when tired, perhaps more. How about for you?

Check back on me in 90 days and see where I’m at!

Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu is co-author of the #1 best selling book on Amazon in social media, The Definitive Guide to TikTok Ads. He has spent a billion dollars on Facebook ads across his agencies and agencies he advises. Mr. Yu is the "million jobs" guy-- on a mission to create one million jobs via hands-on social media training, partnering with universities and professional organizations. You can find him quoted in major publications and on television such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, and LA Times. Clients have included Nike, Red Bull, the Golden State Warriors, Ashley Furniture, Quiznos-- down to local service businesses like real estate agents and dentists. He's spoken at over 750 conferences in 20 countries, having flown over 6 million miles in the last 30 years to train up young adults and business owners. He speaks for free as long as the organization believes in the job-creation mission and covers business class travel. You can find him hiking tall mountains, eating chicken wings, and taking Kaqun oxygen baths-- likely in a city near you.

Dennis Yu