If you wanted to learn how to succeed in battle, would you ask a rookie soldier or a seasoned, decorated veteran? Would you trust battle scars or certificates on a wall?

If you wanted a good lawyer, would you find some apathetic academic, or a newly qualified lawyer, or an experienced, successful lawyer who had battled with giants over the years and won?

How to Succeed Against All Odds

I once had the privilege of spending time with a real business warrior, who was also the Sheriff of Pretoria, the city I lived in. He was a fellow Director in our Rotary Club.

When we had ordered our lunch, I asked him the burning question:

“You have succeeded against all odds, in varying business climates, you have a sterling reputation, and you have become wealthy. What is the secret to your success?”

His answer has always stayed with me. Here is the gist of it, as I remember it:

“Robin, there are two responses everyone must choose to ANY challenge or circumstances – fight or flight.

I deem it my responsibility to succeed, to react positively, and to take the fight to my enemy, whether that enemy is money problems, a business opponent, or any other challenge.

Many people see hardship as an excuse to retreat and fail. They welcome any circumstance that will offer them a way to hide and defect. I don’t believe I have an option – I INSIST upon success, whatever the cost. I believe that saying, ‘For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.’

To me, my friends and family rely on my success, and I don’t make or accept excuses for failure. I’m like a boxer that keeps getting up off the mat UNTIL I win.”

His favorite quote was by Friedrich Nietzsche:

“Courageous, untroubled, mocking and violent-that is what Wisdom wants us to be. Wisdom is a woman, and loves only a warrior.”

Difficult Times Call for Action

That little pep talk before a delicious peppercorn steak was worth a hundred hours of anemic blather from academics.

Difficult times are a reason to take deliberate, brave action, not an excuse to stay at home and play video games while your wife supports you. Financial challenges are not solved by hiding and wallowing in self-pity, but by rising like a phoenix and going on the offensive. Instead of crying and cringing, get creative and courageous. Excuses are for losers. Carlos Castaneda said:

“To be a warrior is not a simple matter of wishing to be one. It is rather an endless struggle that will go on to the very last moment of our lives. Nobody is born a warrior, in exactly the same way that nobody is born an average man. We make ourselves into one or the other.”