Overcoming obstacles

I recently returned from a trip to Australia, where I was invited to attend a rally and give a presentation to a large group of Domino’s Pizza franchisees and team members at their annual Australia/New Zealand convention. The CEO of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, Don Meij, whom I admire greatly and who is masterfully leading Domino’s in 12 countries worldwide, moderated the keynote session. Several questions Don asked me focused on the early years of Domino’s and how I faced various obstacles I encountered when founding and building the company. His questions got me thinking about this topic of overcoming obstacles. 

I often share that I have always been a dreamer. When I was a boy, I used to get into trouble for daydreaming. Yet, I attribute a lot of my business success to this instinct to dream. I like to visualize things and get into a lot of detail about my goals. Another aspect of goal-setting or visualization is the concept of knowing the “why” behind what you are doing. 

Going back to that first store, my initial motivation (or my “why”) for buying a pizza shop in Ypsilanti, MI, was simple: I wanted to have a job that would allow me to fulfill my aspiration of becoming an architect, and I needed a way to pay for tuition. I thought I could be a student by day and make pizzas at night. For a variety of reasons, that did not work out, and I needed to drop out of school and devote my full attention to the pizza business. My “why” shifted from merely making money for tuition to making this single store survive. As I got into the business and found the niche of pizza delivery, I saw the incredible untapped potential, and my goals (and my “why”) got bigger and bigger. 

My experience in business was that when I was able to focus on exciting and compelling goals, and to get those around me focused on the same goals, we were able to overcome whatever obstacles we encountered — be they internal or external — because our focus was on the end result, not on the obstacles that stood in our way. 

I think the same can be said of the spiritual life, which is infinitely more important than mere success in business. Some may be familiar with the famous book, Man’s Search for Meaning by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, who said, “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how.’” I think the saints, especially the martyrs, model this truth for us. They endured horrific suffering (obstacles would be an understatement) because they were really clear about their goal. They were utterly convinced of the truth of Christ’s resurrection. As a result, they were able to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to share in what He promised — and be ambassadors to those around them.