Posted by Mike Massie on April 20, 2010
“The way to succeed is to double your error rate.”
Thomas J. Watson
Definitely worth a read...
Recently, I’ve been reading “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” 
by Stanford psychology professor and researcher Dr. Carol Dweck.
I’d recommend it for anyone – it’s a clear and well-supported explanation of why your mindset has so much to do with success.
And since I started reading it, it has stirred some serious introspection regarding my own personal outlook on the challenges and failures in my life.
Take, for instance, my early experiences in starting and running a martial art school.
I thought it would be easy to open a school and get students – all I had to do was find a place to teach, run an ad in the paper, and I’d be sitting pretty with a classroom full of students.
I was wrong.
In fact, I failed three times before I finally started my first successful school… a story I detail in the first chapters of my martial arts business manual, Small Dojo Big Profits.
Surprised I’d be so open and public about my early failures?
Well, I am going to go out on a limb here and say I believe that’s one of the big problems in our industry…
That no one wants to admit:
- Their failures -
- When they’ve been wrong -
- When they’ve made mistakes -
- The times when they gave up and called it quits -
Well, I think I’ve mentioned before that I have not had an easy life. Oh, I have been blessed in many ways, but for the most part my life has consisted of a lot of struggles interspersed with some bright spots along the way.
I think it’s because of this that I’ve spent so much time studying people who have overcome adversity.
And, in the course of my observations I’ve noticed there’s a common thread in all stories about people who succeed in the face of great difficulty and disappointment…
The truth is, most people who achieve success fail much more often than they succeed. Or, as someone once put it, they “fail their way to success.”
But in our industry, there is a pervasive negative attitude regarding failure, and I believe it stems from a more deep-seated attitude toward weakness.
Martial artists aren’t supposed to show weakness. They’re not supposed to be “weak”.
Right?
I mean, we eat our own. Just let someone show weakness or be perceived as being weak, and I guarantee you that the jackals will be circling for the kill in no time flat.
So, martial artists get very good at hiding what they perceive to be their “weaknesses”.
And that leads me back to how “known” martial arts figures don’t want anyone to know that they’ve failed or made mistakes.
Maybe it goes back to the old image of the “master” or sensei being an all-knowing figure who is always right.
But, even though we want to believe in that image, we all know it’s just an illusion.
One that gets in the way of learning and growth.
The reason it’s such an issue, is because it leaves no room for error… and therefore, none for experimentation and growth as an industry.
Admit it – it’s darned hard to go out on a limb, when you know what public failure could mean. Ridicule, back-stabbing, and being shunned by the martial arts community.
It happens, you know it and I know it. We’ve all seen it.
But, the important thing to remember is that everyone fails… especially those who are willing to take risks.
And risks are part and parcel of being in business for yourself. It’s actually quite elemental to being an entrepreneur.
Look up “entrepreneur” in the dictionary, and here’s what you’ll find:
en?tre?pre?neur – a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, esp. a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.
So, what’s the takeaway from this?
First, that there are two ways to look at failure.
- One way is that failure is something to avoid at all costs.
- The other is that every failure is one step closer to success.
The second takeaway is that failure is only a sign of weakness when it can’t be admitted or discussed.
But when it’s out the in open, analyzed, examined, and learned from, it becomes the cornerstone that success is built upon.
Posted by Mike Massie on December 31, 2009
Expect bigger and better things for your school in 2010...
Let’s be honest… 2009 was a difficult year for many martial art school owners and instructors.
For many school owners, it was a year when you saw less interest in your programs than in any previous year in the last decade.
And, for many part-time instructors, it was a year when many of you began looking at teaching as a possible means of income to fall back on should you lose your job.
I certainly hope none of you reading this had to go through that, but the from the emails I’ve been getting I know many of you have. And, quite frankly, I believe that many of you were ill prepared to face an economy that is as bleak as ours has been over the last year… and I want to ensure that never happens to you again.
So, I’m working hard to make the new MASAI website vastly better than anything I’ve provided for you previously. I’m working to get you more content each month, and also to provide you with more articles and lessons that are relevant to your situation.
Of course, with more content and improved services, our prices will be going up for our new members in January 2010.
But as a reader of my blog, I’d like to allow you the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of MASAI membership at our current 2009 prices. Click here to visit the site and take our $1.00 test drive to lock in your membership at our extremely low 2009 rates.
Working hard so you can expect better thing in 2010 -
Mike Massie, still your Martial Arts Business anti-Guru
Posted by Mike Massie on June 30, 2009
In those days, there were warriors...
It’s not often that I mix in religious messages with my business messages (although, in the martial arts world religious messages are as ubiquitous as wet in water – you just don’t realize it because it’s culturally based).
However, I think this blog post by Faith-Based Millionaire author Jay Peroni is a great message for anyone who is facing challenges as they pursue their business with passion and fervor.
http://www.jayperoni.com/2009/06/what-lion-is-god-calling-you-t.php
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did… the quote in the beginning (describing the deeds of Benaiah, one of King David’s three mighty men) reads like an action sequence from Gladiator.
Posted by Mike Massie on June 11, 2009
Remember how it felt the first time you gloved up? That's how it's going to feel the first time you face real adversity in your business - only much, much worse.
clutch:
n. A tense, critical situation.
Remember how it felt the first time you gloved up?
That’s the way it’s going to feel the first time you face adversity in your business.
But only magnified by a power of 10.
You have butterflies all the time, you fret instead of focusing, you can’t eat, can’t sleep, and you generally want to fall apart.
“Courage is grace under pressure.”
- Ernest Hemingway
But, you can’t. It’s simply not allowed. Because, all truly successful people know that Hemingway had it nailed… and that, my friends, is the key to finding success in the midst of adversity.
So, how will you act in the clutch?
Will you choke, or dig deep and pull out the best performance of your life?
Now, you might be an accomplished competitor and fighter, someone who is accustomed to calling on hidden resources and toughing it through during a hard match.
But, have you practiced putting that same intestinal fortitude to work in the games of business and life?
The truth is, many of our most accomplished athletes have choked in the ring and arena.
(And yours truly – in the ring and in business. Believe me, it happens to everyone if they stay in the martial arts or in the business arena long enough…)
But many more fall under the pressures of their daily lives. Yet, “in the clutch” is where real business success happens, when you gut it out under the most intimidating of circumstances and obstacles.
So, let me ask you again…
How will you act in the clutch?
Will you gut it out, or choke?
Ultimately, it’s your call.
—
Mike Massie is the author of Small Dojo Big Profits and runs a martial arts business coaching website for new instructors and small school owners, StartingAMartialArtSchool.com.
Click here to purchase Mike’s business manuals and materials.
Posted by Mike Massie on April 1, 2009
“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
- Ayn Rand
I’m not really into Ayn Rand (although I agree with many of her views, and I sure enjoyed the heck out of playing BioShock), but I think that quote sums up the attitude that all successful entrepreneurs have.
Wrestler Dustin Carter doesn't let fear stand in his way. George Tiedemann/SI
Business owners who are successful over the long term see risk as part and parcel of the game; there’s no such thing as “risk avoidance”, and only “risk reduction” exists in their vocabulary.
And yet I often hear from people who are starting businesses, and their mindset is so focused on fear of failure that I know they’re not cut out for owning a business.
Think about it… if you were training a fighter, and all they talked about and thought about was avoiding getting their tail kicked, would you start booking fights for them?
Of course not, because you know that fighters have to be focused on their ideal outcome, which is tearing the person across the ring apart.
I can remember fights where I got the snot knocked out of me by guys that my coach told me I should be able to beat. But, the problem wasn’t my skill level; it was my mindset. In each case, I had psyched myself out before the match had even begun.
A fighter has to be confident that they’re the one who is going to be doing all the damage; if they’re focused on “not getting hurt”, then they’ll become paralyzed by fear… and that’s a dangerous place to be in when you’re sharing the canvas with someone who is serious about hurting you.
“In battle, if you you make your opponent flinch, you have already won.”
- Miyamoto Musashi
Being in business requires a similar frame of mind. You have to set out accepting that it is not going to be easy. You have to appreciate the fact that the business environment is tough, and that you will experience setbacks.
“Fright often occurs, caused by the unexpected.”
- Miyamoto Musashi
Yet, when you also accept that those setbacks will only be temporary, and that each one brings you one step closer to your goal, you’ll be prepared emotionally and mentally when things go south…
And, you’ll bounce back from those situations much quicker than the person who starts pulling their hair and asking, “why me?” every time they experience a setback in their business.
“Why you?” A better question to ask would be, “why not you?” because it expresses the pragmatic sort of thinking that allows every successful entrepreneur to rise, time and again, to any given challenge.
