The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement. You ought not be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat, but to let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment. – Bruce Lee

Being that a few Australian Judo competitions have passed, I thought this was the perfect time to talk about something really important. Whether it be a sporting match, a fight, a test at school or college, or the results at the end of the financial year at work, far too many people focus on the end result instead of where they should be focusing: each and every day leading up to it. It’s another thing we see commonly on tv and in the movies. The underdog team at the finals is down and out, but they manage to pull things together to get the win at the end. The other team, who are the clear favourites and have their game down to a science, are portrayed as the villains and inevitably lose.

As with most Hollywood tropes, this is bullshit. In real life, Daniel would have gotten his ass kicked by all of the Cobra Kai instead of winning with that ridiculous crane kick, because they’d been training hard for a long time. That final match in that movie is the exact opposite of one of the greatest fight quotes I’ve ever heard: “when we are under pressure, we don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training”. Truer words were never spoken. When your judo training is half assed, you take days off here and there, and don’t take it as seriously as you should, you’ll start to crack when the pressure is on. What most people don’t understand is that the will to win, the will to succeed, isn’t something you’re born with or some magical thing that is bestowed upon you. The will to win comes from hard work, because the harder you work for something, the less you’re willing to give it up when it comes within reach.

Sun Tzu said something along the lines of “the smart general only seeks battle when it is already won”. This is why the people that are worried whether or not they will do well on competition day should be worried, because it’s clear they haven’t worked hard enough in the lead up. The people that have given their all for something day after day, who have nothing more to give, those are the ones that get the prize. They might get nervous before the match, but they aren’t worried about the result, because they’ve given all of their being to ensuring they get the result they want. This is also why you see people cry when they lose a big match, because when you give absolutely everything you have and the result slips through your fingers, it feels devastating. The people that haven’t given enough, you never see them cry. They know deep down they haven’t given enough, so they get this kind of disappointed look in their face and shrug off their loss while saying they’ll do better next time.

So instead of worrying about the your next nationals, state titles or even local comp and how it will turn out, put your nose to the grindstone and start working. Put all of your effort into it every single day, and when the big day comes you’re not going to be worried, because you’ve already given it everything you have. And when the going gets tough, your willpower is going to be that much stronger, because you aren’t going to want to give up at the first sign of trouble. When the match stagnates and you’re both tired and one of you needs to score a point, you’re going to keep going. When the fight is over, even if you lose, you can at least have the satisfaction that you left it all on the table. I’ve been on both sides, believe me. I’ve also seen it first hand training with Matt D’Aquino and other champions. The guys that succeed, they are always working their asses off, their approach to judo is relentless. They are on the mat every day of the week. The guys that don’t? They make it to training a few days a week, but they go out and party with friends whenever they feel like it too. They think they want the glory of the top prize, but their training suggests the opposite. When they lose their match at a big comp, they start looking at techniques they need to change, rather than the fact that they need to work harder.

The bottom line is, if you want to win in judo, work every single day for it. Don’t leave it up to chance that you might get there on the day. Another great fight saying is “you train how you fight” – if you train half assed, you aren’t just going to turn into Bruce Lee when the fight happens.

So when you get those days where you can’t be bothered to go to training or you feel like half-assing it, remember this saying and remember it well:

“Luck is the last dying wish of those foolish enough to think that winning can happen by accident.”

Peter Ross:

Peter Ross is an author, motivational speaker and expert on success. Peter has done more things in his life over the past decade than most people do in a lifetime. University degrees, military service,Judo competitions at national level, powerlifting, overseas travel and much more. Most importantly, Peter has studied success and how it happens in depth, and is now bringing the methods to you so you can have the same success.