Business Lessons I Learned From My Favorite Manga 'One Piece' Here are some lessons from the Japanese mange series, "One Piece," that I learned and amplified in my own business and life that can also benefit other entrepreneurs.
By Yakup Özkardes-Cheung Edited by Chelsea Brown
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Since my childhood, I watched and read mangas, which are Japanese comics. Everything started with Dragonball and grew from there. For more than 10 years, I have read and watched the Japanese manga series, One Piece, from Eiichiro Oda — which is currently my favorite manga. Here are some lessons that I learned and amplified in my own business and life that can also be very helpful for other entrepreneurs:
Have ambitious goals
Monkey D. Luffy is the protagonist of One Piece. He is a rubber man who has eaten a devil fruit, and as a result, can stretch his body like rubber. He has an innocent personality, and he fights for his friends and family. Luffy's name comes from the Japanese word "luffy," which means "to become strong."
One Piece is a pirate story, and Luffy wants to become the king of all pirates. Setting this goal alone is a huge ambition and means a lot of work. Luffy has no idea how to do it, but he is ready to do the work and improve his own skills to achieve his goal. His "why" is more important than the "how." The reason he wants to become pirate king is because, in his opinion, he who becomes pirate king has the most freedom of all.
Set ambitious goals for yourself, too! Your goals may even frighten other people and be seen as polarizing, but accept that some people will think you're crazy. When I started my own business, I wanted clients around the world, not only Germany. Now I have clients in the USA, Germany, South Africa and Belgium — and this is really just the starting point! I also specialize in AI-produced content. Like Luffy, who wants to become pirate king, I want to become content AI king! I want to be the go-to person if you want to establish content AI tools and workflows in your company.
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Learn only from the best around the world
Luffy has received a lot of training, and some of his training was done with the famous Silvers Rayleigh, who is also known as the dark king. Rayleigh was on the crew of the old pirate King Gold Roger, who passed away. This crew already sailed around the world and achieved what Luffy is trying to achieve. Through different circumstances, Luffy had the chance to train with the dark king for one year, which he immediately did. This training improved his own fighting skills and also made his team stronger.
In the business world, I always try to work with people who are smarter than me and already achieved what I want to achieve. When I first started, I wanted to implement digital business models, so I worked with Norman Müller, and we started Genius Alliance University. We built this community of international entrepreneurs who support and grow together. Later on, I wanted to position myself on the content AI niche and started The AI Nerd Journal with Thomas Helfrich. Always try to find people who have already achieved what you want to achieve and partner with them or learn from them!
Related: How to 10X Your Learning From Others' Experiences
Build a world-class team of high achievers
Over time, Luffy found valuable team members who decided to join his crew. There is Roronoa Zoro, who wants to become the world's best sword fighter. There is Nami, who wants to draw the perfect world map as navigator and more characters with highly ambitious goals. They all support each other and also learn from each other.
This synergy is something that always happens when high achievers from different areas come together and work together. They support each other in their blind spots. This is also what we do in our Genius Alliance University — we try to build our community and give tools to grow and support each other.
High achievers are usually the ones who have a high success rate. They have the ability to work on their own and are more than happy to take on challenges that come their way. They also have a high level of commitment, which is important for any team. High achievers are not just about getting things done, but also about setting an example for others to follow. They are not afraid to speak up and share their views with the rest of the team, which helps in creating a culture of openness and trust.
Always remember: The biggest freedom and the biggest power belongs to whomever positions themselves as the king of their niche. You can become the Apple or Amazon in your niche, too — set it as your goal, surround yourself with high achievers, and build a world-class team. Then you may be on your way to becoming the king of your niche.
Related: 6 Steps for Hiring the Right People to Build Effective Teams
