Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Issue 3

THE WARRIOR WAY
The Persistence Factor PT. 1
by Grandmaster Bill Clark
Reaching your goals, raising children, learning martial arts, running a business, running
your life… is not really easy. It comes with long hours, road blocks, unplanned events, and
a seemingly never-ending roller coaster ride of emotional and financial highs and lows.
Just about every rider has hit the dirt, more than once. Broken
or bruised their bodies, bones and egos but kept going and
found a better way. Just about every parent struggles with raising
their child and making decisions that didn’t turn out well.
Almost every business struggles for survival at some point in
its life. In fact, the average self-made millionaire has been broke,
bankrupt, or financially destitute 3.7 times before becoming a
financial success.
Most people give up easily when things don’t work
right away, or they get frustrated, mad and upset.
So, in my Martial Arts program we have a
couple of sayings to help you think beyond the
emotional problem. It goes like this:
1. Passive persistence in the proper
position.
2. Stay with it! I’ve never seen it take longer
than two days.
Most people lose patience in
a matter of seconds. When
something doesn’t work,
they get more forceful,
irritated, mad… or they
give up. You often see
that with students
and their lessons!
In fact, that used to
be me too.
Persistence
is probably one
of the weakest
human traits, so
it needs constant
nurturing. You have to persist at persistence! One of my teachers,
Robert Kiyosaki, during a life-changing course I took with him in
the mid 1980s, said: The only failure is the failure to participate.
That’s a really powerful statement because it means you have to
keep showing up in order for something to work.
The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying.
Most success stories are filled with examples of how people
persisted no matter what obstacles were thrown in front of them.
They found a way to get over, through or around it. They got
stronger instead of weaker.
It is truly amazing how many turning points come down to
the same decision: Should we try again, or should we throw in
the towel and settle down to a more normal, “safe” and predictable
life?
There is no better long-term solution to personal or business
success than single-minded determination.
You will need to make changes to deal with fluctuating circumstances
but, even if you have to change strategy, the long-term
goals remain the same.
GRANDMASTER BILL CLARK is a 9th degree black belt and a former PKA Fighter of
the Year. He is widely considered one of the top experts in martial arts business with over 50 years
of leadership and innovation, having been inducted into almost every Hall of Fame in the industry. He
is one of the largest multi-school owners in the world.
100 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 3
Photograph by phototechno