Welcome back to The Powerful Mind Podcast! This week I have a chat with Takahashi Takenaka, founder of the Japanese Marketplace collection of stores in Columbus, Ohio. He started out with a small Japanese restaurant in Columbus about 30 years ago.
I really appreciated the opportunity to speak with someone who immigrated to America and really lived out the American dream of coming here and finding success in building a life for themselves. Interestingly, Mr. Takenaka got started in business with the purpose of making the world a better place to live and gets deep about his experience early in Japan that gave rise to this goal.
He believed that through building businesses, he would be able to get closer to that goal. Seeing the impact that his companies have had even in the local community of Columbus, and through his generous philanthropic activity, I can definitely see how he's stayed true to that goal and is making it happen. His life is a testament to the importance of goal setting and how persistence can lead you to where you want to be.
There was a vacuum running in the background throughout the entire episode.... I tried to isolate our voices but sometimes the audio isn't very clear, sorry about that. Still working on perfecting this recording thing.
How many of us can say that we've stayed true to our vision? Having a true, clear vision is absolutely KEY to finding any kind of success in life. Whether you want to start a business, get your dream job, or just live a happy life- you need to have a clear goal.
Takenaka was the first person I've interviewed who said that he never questioned his decision to be a business owner. He continually emphasized the importance on having clear goals, a clear mission statement for both business and for LIFE. We need to have a clear vision for what we want to accomplish in life. If we have no direction, no goals, then it's hard to set priorities on what to do. When we can't do that, it's easy to feel lost and unsure of what to do. Set clear goals. If we have no goals, we can't accomplish anything. Determine what it is that you want, and go for it!
There is no such thing as failure, until you stop trying. Read biographies, follow people who are living the type of life that you want and emulate what they do. There's no reason to reinvent the wheel. If someone else has done it, then you can too!
If you're in the Columbus, Ohio area and want to get a taste of Japan then you need to stop by the Japanese Marketplace. There's a grocery store, gift shop, bakery, and restaurant just in that area, and their products are top-notch. Do stop by. Take a road trip. Give me a shout out, we'll get lunch haha. You can visit their website at www.JapanMarketplace.com
Remember to go out and live a life what you enjoy living! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends! Sharing, ratings, and reviews are the best way to help the show, and it's always greatly appreciated~ As always give me a shout-out on Instagram @alexyounglive or say hello on the Facebook Page.
