Ильдар Хусаинов – The power of freedom (страница 5)

My old friends, who knew me when I was 15 or even 22, would probably be surprised to see me now. A lot of things have happened in my life. I remember when I was 19, my friends and I were driving to Yarkovo to celebrate New Year when we were stopped by the police. My friend, who was tipsy, was driving, while I, a completely sober person, was sitting in the back seat with a girl. We quickly swapped places and the police didn’t notice this. But for some reason they thought we were both drunk. I tried to explain that I don’t drink at all, but at the same time my friend started resisting and refused to get out of the car. In the end, we were arrested and taken to a detention center. They released me quickly, and I stood up for my friend. I told the officer, “Listen, my friend will sober up and apologize. Please consider that we are young, only 19, and this is our first time driving a car. Haven’t you ever been young?” He took pity on us and let us go. I bought him a big bottle of beer to show how grateful I am. This is just one of many stories that now seem unbelievable.

Why am I sharing these? I want my book to be as honest as possible. Some may think that I've always done everything right, but it's important for me to show how things really were. The problem with many books is that events are presented from one perspective, while many important details are left out. I want to avoid that mistake. I also want to share how difficult my personal transformation was and the changes I went through.

1. I started reading a lot. My mum has always told me that I don’t read enough.

I read very few books from the school program since I preferred studying Maths, Geography and History. I wasn’t into fictional books, although I really enjoyed reading detective stories. I read everything Rex Stout and Arthur Konan Doyl had even written. The only book on the syllabus that I still remember was ‘Fathers and Sons’ by Ivan Turgenev. My mum asked me, ‘Ildar, why don’t you read more?’ I answered, ‘Mum, I know enough’. In the early years of my career from 2000 to 2005–2006, I dragged this idea into my adult life, and I sometimes missed the events; I thought I knew everything. I rarely asked other people for their opinions. I was just like most young ambitious and too quick to judge, and that led to the certain outcomes. I didn't attend conferences for a long time and didn't recognize my potential, not realizing that some push was needed for its development. Potential doesn’t activate on its own. Now, looking back, I can definitely say that many people do not realize that their potential is truly limitless, that they are actually rough diamonds. They just haven't learned how to polish themselves. And this doesn't happen quickly – it's a long process. I started reading a lot and attending conferences. From 2005 to 2009, I attended numerous events related to real estate and HR, began to read professional books and articles on these topics. By 2011, I had a feeling that I needed to go further, to open up to the world, and get to know other people. Books and conferences helped me quickly realize that there was even greater potential ahead of me, which fueled my desire to go to the US – a country with over 100 years of market economy, where major globally competitive companies emerged. I felt that I’ll get new knowledge and experience there and have some fresh ideas on what to do and how to develop. Although I had no idea what exactly could I get there, there was an internal desire to pursue it. All these changes were part of my journey.

2. I started changing my habits. In 2006–2007 I got several, underwent some surgeries, so I had to stay away from sport for some time. From 2004 to 2007 having happy family life led me to putting on some weight and I ended up weighing 90 kg. However, in 2007 I got my act together and got fit again, returning to my usual weight of 75 kg.

I have always been an athlete and considered myself a talented football player. I had great potential: I could run 100 meters in 10.9 seconds and a kilometer in 2.29 minutes. That’s very fast, and as far as I know, even in the Russian national football team, not many players achieve such results. But I had to admit that a sports career was not promising for me. Knowing how to manage and direct your desires effectively is a valuable skill. Many books have been written about this, including "Good to Great" by Jim Collins and "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. The main thing is to do what needs to be done, not just what you want to do.

There are three main statements that I consider a priority:

A. Life is the greatest value.

B. You want it? Forget it!

C. The program needs to be «finalized».

I’ll write about the first saying later. The second and third ones relate to overcoming temptations. I’ll explain this idea using the example of people who have some extra weight. In some cases, it is due to genetics, but most studies show that the main causes of obesity are a certain lifestyle, poor diet, lack of physical activity, and sleep disorders.

Sometimes a person feels like they are very hungry, but in reality, it may just be a form of stress eating. A good question to ask yourself is: "Am I really hungry, or do I just want to snack on something?" Very often, people eat not because they are actually hungry, but because it has become sort of a habit and something you would normally do. What they want isn’t just to eat, but to get a certain pleasure from food. For example, why do people eat fast food? They enjoy the combination of flavors from fat, salt, and sugar. In reality, they could be satisfied with a lean patty with buckwheat or sauerkraut, but they go for some French fries and chicken drumsticks instead.

The situation when you have to do what you should rather than what you like, I call “You want it? Forget it!" I always work on myself and try to choose healthy food. This doesn’t mean that I never let myself have something tasty, but I believe it’s important to be able to control your desires.

At the age of 29–30, the real Ildar Khusainov began to take shape. Now I am a role model for many people, but back then I wouldn't have believed it was possible. If someone had told me in 2009 that in 15 years I would become the head of a large company, an author of books, fluent in English and Chinese, inspiring others, an active user of social media, and a recognizable person not only in the regions but throughout Russia, no way I would have believed it.

Although it all was completely unintentional. My life has been very diverse. I grew up under a complex combination of circumstances: poverty, the need to take responsibility for my loved ones, surrounded by strange friends, and in generally difficult times, but with a strong inner core and a desire to do everything right. All of this shaped me. It took time for me to develop the qualities that I now consider the main. My approach to business was not always innovative and flexible, and I was not always forward-thinking.

I remember in 2003 my friend suggested creating a website. I replied, "Man, what are you talking about? What website? I don't even know what that is!" He said, "Well, there's Yandex." And I was like, "What? 'Yandex'? What on earth is that?" At that time, little did I know about Yandex, mail.ru, LiveJournal, or Firefox. "What's Firefox?" I would ask. But my friend was really into all of this. He even subscribed to special magazines and read them, spending days on end in gaming cafes. I kept resisting for a long time: "No, no, no websites, there's no need to spend money on that!" But three months later, he came back to me with new arguments: "Imagine, everyone will see us. Let's make something simple and inexpensive, we’ll just add a header and a big phone number." In the end, I gave in: "Alright, let's do it." It took us two months to create the website. Back then, such work took a while, but the people who worked on it were true professionals. And the first website I ever visited was our own.

From 2000 to 2008, I hadn’t read a single book. But in 2008, a remarkably talented girl named Veronika Nikitina joined our company, and she was the one who made me understand how important literature and modern technologies are. She presented me the book, which I strongly recommend everyone to read, "Customers for Life" by C. Sewell. Later, she convinced me to create an account on social media. Initially, I resisted this idea, thinking of it as something I didn’t need. But Veronika persuaded me that it would be beneficial. In the end, her persistence had a significant impact on my perception of new business tools and my understanding of the importance of using them. I have no doubts saying that during those years, Veronika Nikitina, Nina Karavaeva, Vitaly Kurbatov, Sergey Shchepelin, and my mom did a lot for the company, pushed it forward, and had a great influence on me, contributing to my development as a person.

I read the book that Veronica had recommended to me. I don't remember exactly if it was a bet or if I just promised, but I always keep my word – that's my life principle. Entrepreneurs are known to keep their word and only make promises they can fulfill. After I read the book, Veronica suggested that I undergo training as she saw potential for development in me. Now I realize what a powerful driving force she was in the company. Starting as a part-time marketer, she quickly became a full-fledged marketing director. It was hard to imagine the company's rapid growth during that time without her. She inspired me to grow and instilled the thirst for knowledge in me. I was even afraid that if she found out I wasn't reading books or attending conferences, she might leave the company. At that moment, she was a unique person for me, a promising employee with whom I wanted to grow and develop. In 2015, Veronica decided to move to another city due to personal matters. No matter how much I wanted her to stay, I didn't want to go against the principle I had developed by that time: if someone wants to leave, they should be let go. I still stick to this principle and believe it’s the right thing to do. We can talk about it, but if someone has decided to quit, I won't try to hold them back. By 2011, I had fully formed as a person, and from then on, the question of self-development followed its own course.