Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Special Edition

THE WARRIOR WAY
The Persistence Factor, Part 3
by Grandmaster Bill Clark
I love business stories because they are microcosms of life. A lot can unfold in a very
short time and we can really benefit from successful examples in our own life, careers,
businesses and experiences.
There is a famous tale of an IBM employee who blew a $10-million
deal and offered company president Tom Watson his resignation.
Watson, who had hired the man, looked at him and said, “I can’t
possibly let you go. I’ve just spent $10 million dollars training you!”
Watson understood the principle of experience and tried to
teach it to others. “Would you like me to give you a formula for
success”, he asked? “Then double your rate of failure! You’re thinking
of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. Go ahead
and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember, that’s
where you’ll find success—on the far side of failure.”
Don’t Take It Personally
One reason so many people fail to persist is
because they take every rejection, setback, or
failure personally. They somehow equate their
idea, product, or service with their personal selfesteem
and worth.
In this type of negative thinking,
each business setback means you
feel like a failure and a loser in
life, and so you’ll never get
ahead. Think back to past
setbacks. Are they really
a reflection of you as a
person?
Give Yourself a
Break!
You have to get
out of the habit of
beating yourself
up mentally when
things go wrong. There are plenty of other people out there who
are only too willing to do that for you! I’ve had this conversation a
lot with my students. Some of them are so mean to themselves it’s
incredible! So I say to them: Would you be friends with someone
who spoke to you like that? And if that’s not empowering, why are
you listening to you?!
By blaming yourself you are breaking down your own persistence
like a wrecking ball. By all means, analyze what went wrong,
be accountable if it was your fault, but don’t take the rap personally.
How does that old song go…? “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off
and start all over again.” You have to fix what went wrong, focus on
a new angle and use your mental energy and sense of persistence
to come up with a new solution.
Failure leads to Success
There is no success in anything without some failure along the
way. The key is to fail fast, admit bad decisions quickly, and kill
them fast. As W.C. Fields once said, “If at first you don’t succeed,
quit. There is no use being a damn fool about it!” What he needed
to add was, “Learn from your experience and quickly move on with
more productive strategies!”
Along with the courage to take action under pressure, all great
leaders have the character trait of PERSISTENCE. They have the
determination needed to see a project through to the end. PER-
SISTENCE also requires COURAGE. They know “Murphy’s Law”
(Anything that can go wrong will go wrong!) will rear its ugly head
when least expected.
There will always be setbacks, curve balls, and sometimes
total failure along the road to success. Successful people understand
and accept these facts, so they are better-equipped
mentally and physically to handle adversity. They recover quickly
from setbacks.
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.
98 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | SPECIAL EDITION