The Bumpy Road To Success No One Wants To Travel

A kid named Cutter and the road he traveled…

Today I was honored to promote one of my 10 year old students to the rank of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) Yellow Belt. His name is Zachary but I’ve always called him “Cutter”.

I was proud of Cutter and all he’s done in Grappling/MMA. I’m proud because I know just how tough it’s been for him over the 3+ years of hard training, competing, dealing with injuries and so on with us here at IL.

What I really like about this kid is that no matter how bumpy the road got, he never gave up, he never stopped moving forward, he never lost sight of his goals.

One goal that was near the top of his list year in and year out was to get promoted to BJJ yellow belt.

Today was his big day, and we promoted him. He traveled a long bumpy road that so few are willing to take and when it was all said and done, he was successful.

Cutter knew what was needed in order for him to be successful accomplish his goals.

So this whole thing with Cutter got me thinking. I started thinking back to the many great people I’ve worked with over the years, people that really could’ve done some big things in mix martial arts and the real world.

They didn’t do anything big. Nothing worth taking about that’s for sure. These people fell short of success that could’ve been theirs.

The bumpy road that leads to the promise land was just to hard for them to travel.

What does it take to be successful?

My take on success and being successful is this: If it was easy everyone would be doing it. Success comes at a price, most simply aren’t willing to pay the price.

However, those with the guts to pay the price and take that bumpy road are more often then not the ones who end up well off and living the life they’ve always wanted.

Is it easy to be a success? No. Not at all. Will there be tough times and bumps in the road along the way? You bet, lots actually.

The key is not letting bad days, weeks, months or even years get you down. Stay focused on the mission.

Enjoy the good days and use the bad ones as a tool to help you get better. You need to learn from the bad things that happen and do your darn-dist to not let it happen again.

How I made good with my life and how you can do the same

I’m a good example of someone who followed his dreams and ended up living that dream.

I knew I wanted to do martial arts for life and one day open my own academy. Whenever I told people this I always heard the same thing.

“That’s stupid” “Why don’t you cut out that martial arts crap and get a real job!” or “You’re not good enough to do any of that stuff”.

I never let anything anyone said or did to me affect my focus going forward. I believed in myself and what I was trying to do. I wouldn’t be taken off track.

I followed my dream and did what was needed and after 15 years of blood, sweat and tears, got my BJJ Black Belt and opened Ivey League Mix Martial Arts.

The road was bumpy with lots of set backs, failure and mistakes made along the way. People ask me all the time “was it worth it”?

Yes, yes it was. And I’ll tell you this too, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. It was all worth it.

So, take a lesson from my little buddy Cutter and never ever give up on your dreams and what you want to do with your life.

The only person standing in the way of your dreams and living the lifestyle you want is you. Well you and the bumpy road called life.

Embrace this road, embrace the grind, bite down on your mouthpiece and go out into the world with only one goal in mind – Success.

Go get it.