How to Fight and Persevere

Kung fu is a philosophy; it’s an integral part of the philosophies of Taoism and Buddhism, the ideals of giving with adversity, to bend slightly and then spring up stronger than before, to have patience in all things, to profit by one’s mistakes and lessons in life. These are the many-sided aspects of the art of kung fu; it teaches the way to live, as well as the way to protect oneself.” – Bruce Lee, Striking top five strategies for you: 1. Find your real supporters. It is critical that you find out quickly whom you can count on when the going gets tough, and who is only looking out for their own self-interest. Learn the difference between the two, protect yourself accordingly, and flank yourself with your true supporters, those who firmly believe in you and in your quest for financial independence. 2. Know your end goal. Use your White Belt Vision and make sure you have a crystal clear understanding of your end goal and your “why”. Maintain a relentless focus on it and do not let yourself be swayed by upset along the way. There are many paths you can take to your final destination. 3. Keep on keeping on. Keep putting one foot in front of the other, one “baby step” at a time. Use the power of inertia in your favor: an object in motion tends to stay in motion. If you continue to take small steps toward your goal, each and every day, before you know it, your obstacle will be a thing of the past. 4. As quickly as you are able, move to a useful emotional state. Sitting around moping works for a day or two, but then you need to channel that anger into ACTION! 5. Develop your inner killer instinct. For whatever reason, women in particular typically have a more difficult time with this. But when Ben Bernanke announces QE3 to infinity, or you peek at your latest brokerage statement and see only red/negative, you need to come up with something a little deeper and more grisly than “oh well!” I’ll leave you with my absolute favorite saying of all time: “The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, but if we get on the treadmill together, right, there’s two things: either you’re gettin’ off first, or I’m gonna die. It’s really that simple.” – Will Smith, Kung Fu Master