The 5 Ps in an Unusual Life Project

We are all aware that all businesses projects offer some degree of risk. I learned to mitigate risks by running a thorough planning process. Recently I engaged myself in a highly risky personal project and I would like to show you how I applied 5 Ps to one of my most unusual life projects. Applying the 5 Ps may convey the idea that this is an essentially rational task, but forget it. Effective planning has, in my view, a good deal of emotion that begins with defining one's purpose.

I hope this article can inspire you to follow up on any initiative you have. Now, let's go to the application:

Purpose, Preparation, Process, Participation and Progress

In late 2018, a group of former Brazil’s top athletes and gymnasts from the 80’ s - all today over 50 years old- launched a challenging project, almost insane and named after #ElesVoltaram (They are back). The idea was to return to the gym and train gymnastics competitively with the objective of participating in the Brazilian National Championship in August 2019, alongside the current best Gymnasts.

But why do this? And for what purpose?

Returning after 50 years of age, after 25 to 35 years lapse, would clearly be a great achievement. Add to that the information already released by several experts: “gymnastics is one of the most demanding sports for the human body”, and the competitiveness factor that we have until today and, the result is: challenge accepted!

Sport was one of the most intense parts of our lives. We learned early on the value of discipline through tireless daily training for long years; We have learned to deal with victories and defeats, injuries, frustrations, joys and sorrows, and we develop resilience. To this day, we carry these and many other values into our professional and personal roles and for that, we are immensely grateful.

In addition to rescuing this important part of our lives, the inherent challenge and gratitude, we thought we could inspire young people, who often lack some of these values, as well as older people, by promoting the importance of health and overcoming obstacles. 

Preparation

I immediately embraced this project but being aware of a serious injury I had at the age of 20 when I severed the crossed ligaments and meniscus (cartilage), I decided to make myself more useful to the group by being just the marketing guy.

The first step could not be different: it was a lot of physical preparation to handle decades away from a gym! Through our internal message group (What’s up), Marcelo Azeredo, businessman and former gymnast, who was the leader and booster of this initiative, carefully began the postings for our preparation, with many messages of encouragement to the rest of us. Our coaches (and doctor), although physically distanced, followed and evaluated the videos, which were increasingly disseminated by the athletes. Over time, we started posting videos with bolder movements.

Process

The process we established was to begin by clearly defining the roles in the group. We started with 6 athletes, an initiative leader, a coach, an assistant coach, a doctor, a manager and me, the marketing guy. All, without exception, ex-gymnasts and friends to this day, Brazil team members in world championships, South American, Pan American and even Olympic participants (1988 and 1992). We set a continuous and recurring monitoring of the training of the athletes, the work of our social media, contact with external media and presentations to potential supporters and sponsors.

 Participation

Social media was wisely used to keep the project alive, as participants were in different locations, including the United States, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Florianopolis Curitiba, and Sao Paulo.

From Left to right: Alan Liberman, Marcelo Azeredo, Guilherme Saggessi, Pedro Ruhs. Marco Monteiro and Carlo Sabino

It wasn't long before we got some media attention. Rede Globo (the largest Brazilian network) became interested in the agenda and, at the end of April 2019, we promoted our first and only collective training in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where two days of shooting were held for a future report broadcasted on the Globo Esporte program. Once the content is released, I will share the link with you.

It was there, at that moment, when I stopped being just the marketing man to transition to the role of gymnast. During the shoot, I could not resist and went training with my teammates. There was no better way for me to incorporate the purpose of the group.

 Progress

I thought my physical limitations due to the knee problem would be the biggest hurdle, but I was surprised. In addition to the shorter time to be ready for the competition, I returned without the best physical preparation and suffered a muscle break in the thigh, as well as a ligament in my shoulder!

In our personal and professional lives, not everything goes as planned. One of the ingredients of your product has not been approved by FDA? Your claim of superiority cannot be defended? Your product concept was not understood by the consumer? Has your development budget been cut?

Despite unexpected obstacles, it is important to have an alternative fast-track plan and indicators that show that we are on the right track. My plan was to keep going to the gym, finding an apparatus in which I could perform movements without much pain, have physical therapy sessions and wait for the wisdom of the body to heal itself.

 ... finally: the result of good planning!

On August 16, 2019, the group #ElesVoltaram met its initial goal and six of us, athletes over 50 years old, competed in the Brazilian Adult Championship, held at Praia Grande, in S?o Paulo. Alongside top athletes in today's gymnastics, including World Champions, Pan American and Olympic, we are well aware that we deviated from the average age of the tournament and certainly from its technical level, but we arrived whole, we did all the apparatus and left unharmed - our biggest goal. 

On this track, we have achieved many things: in addition to our own overcoming, I believe we helped inspire different generations to value planning, discipline, and resilience. Mission and satisfaction accomplished!

If you want to follow the project #ElesVoltaram, from its starting point and how it is evolving, please follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

About me:

Senior Marketing Professional with strong global, regional and local experience. I have expertise in the area of management, development, research and brand monitoring and in all communication development processes. I formed and supported teams from CPG, durable goods, technology, telecommunications, retail, automotive and professional services companies. The extensive experience I have gained in large business clients and as information service provider have enabled me to connect a good business vision with strong guidance and data support for assertive decision making. I have a degree in Economics, specializing in Digital Marketing and Analytics from Columbia University and have taught Marketing classes for executive MBA classes at the University of S?o Paulo.