| p>When you finally open your own martial arts | | | | owners have learned to manage the control |
| school, the control factor continues to be an | | | | factor and have overcome their conflicting goals. |
| influence. It is important to make follow-up calls to | | | | They realize and embrace the idea of short-term |
| people who have inquired about your school but | | | | pain for long-term gain. The long-term gain of |
| never joined. In order to make these important | | | | growing their school is a stronger goal that |
| calls, you need to get motivated. | | | | overcomes the short-term pain of making the |
| Three o'clock rolls around, and you stare at that | | | | phone calls. The reverse is to take the short-term |
| telephone, knowing it's time to start. What do you | | | | gain of not making the calls and suffer the |
| do? You decide to drive to the printer's to pick up | | | | long-term pain of a struggling school. |
| your martial arts flyers and then shop for | | | | The conflict that arises out of the control factor |
| business supplies. By the end of the week, you | | | | paralyzes most school owners. In a sense, they |
| realize you have not made a single call. You figure, | | | | are now controlled by the control factor, which in |
| "Hmmm. Maybe I need a time management | | | | truth puts him or her out of control (again). I call it |
| course or to join National Association Of | | | | protecting your puddle. I say puddle because |
| Professional Martial Artists Squared." So you take | | | | that's as big as your school will get as long as it |
| your 10th time management course, although | | | | stays in the comfort zone of control. The owner |
| time management has nothing to do with it and | | | | has done a good job of using the martial arts to |
| stacking more boxes on your desk or shelves will | | | | grow as a person but is now in a new arena and, |
| certainly not change the outcome. The problem is | | | | instead of breaking through the conflicting goals to |
| the control factor. | | | | continue to grow, he or she hides inside a new |
| Think about where you came from and where | | | | box. |
| you are now. You have your martial arts business. | | | | Many owners will avoid making those calls by |
| People respect you. People bow to you and refer | | | | checking their email 20 times or "networking" with |
| to you with a respectful title like Master. If you | | | | another owner who is also avoiding making |
| make the telephone calls about joining your | | | | follow-up calls. The truth is that success only |
| school, the distinct prospect is that someone will | | | | comes from action. While you are taking your |
| just say no, and you can't control that. So what | | | | 10th time management course, the successful |
| do you do? Anything but make that call. | | | | owners are busy making those marketing phone |
| The control factor creates conflicting goals, and it | | | | calls. |
| paralyzes you. One positive goal that will improve | | | | While you are doing what you can to avoid doing |
| your life is to grow your martial arts school, and | | | | what you need to do, the successful owners are |
| making those calls is an important part of that | | | | doing it. They are executing rather than planning |
| growth. The other goal to have absolute control | | | | or studying. Is studying important? Of course it is, |
| of your life prevents you from making those calls. | | | | but not during business hours or as an excuse to |
| Your goals conflict and cancel each other out. | | | | put off executing. |
| Guess what? This happens to every one of us. It | | | | In the classic comic strip Doonesbury, the |
| is the human experience. The key is to recognize | | | | character Zonker Harris was a "professional |
| it and then overcome the conflicting goals that | | | | student." He stayed in school as long as possible |
| are causing you to hesitate. | | | | to avoid entering the real world. I am a lifelong |
| Remember, The Core Dynamics refer to the | | | | student myself, but I also know it's easy to |
| underlying forces that control the patterns of | | | | justify studying to avoid the real world of |
| thought and behaviors that determine who we | | | | execution (here is a helpful rule: Spend at least |
| are. In this case, the underlying force, or Core | | | | five times as much time doing as studying). |
| Dynamic, is the control factor. How you handle | | | | The most successful school owners have learned |
| the control factor is illustrated by your patterns | | | | to delegate, let go of control and try new ideas |
| of thought and behavior. | | | | without fear of failure. They are not held back by |
| This is a key point. The most successful school | | | | their conflicting goals. They attack every day. |