Originally Posted by
David Rosado
I appreciate that. And I know I might look like the bad guy because to some it may sound like I'm discouraging people from pursuing their dreams. I sound like a "hater." In reality, I'm just saying to pursue your dreams wisely.
You know, there are thousands of books, videos, articles telling everyone to pursue their dreams! Go after it! Do it! But they don't mention that you should jump out of a plane with a parachute. You should double check how deep a pool is before you dive in head first. Trapeze artists use safety nets. And novices never perform tight rope walks without a harness or net. Pursuing your dreams is noble. Diving into your dreams without a realistic plan is reckless and a recipe for failure. Like the old saying goes, "If you fail to prepare, then you're preparing to fail." Something like that.
I have many dreams. One of them is to run a school.
But first I need to be good enough. In order to be good enough, I need money to pay for classes. I need money to pay for transportation. I need money to pay for the food that will keep me healthy so I can attend more classes. I need money to pay for icy hot, supplements, vitamins, athletic tape, and braces. I need money to pay for health insurance in case I get a very likely injury. And since BJJ is long term, I foresee multiple injuries. And this is just to get good enough! This isn't even taking into consideration the business knowledge it takes to open a school, market the school, keep track of memberships, dues, overhead, etc. I am no where even close to making a living from BJJ. But I am making a living elsewhere. So why jeopardize the one thing that even makes training possible?
The path to making a living off of BJJ is a marathon, not a sprint. I know I'm only a white belt myself, but I've been around a few years. Long enough to have money affect my training, endure injuries, watch other schools open and shut down. Long enough to know that fast black belts like Keenan and BJ had rich parents that they could live off of while they trained full time. And long enough to know that guys like Geo and Boogey are freaks of nature with years of pre programmed strength, balance, and muscle memory. So for the rest of us mere mortals and middle class, we have to do things the hard way. The looooong way. So if you're really about this, just remember. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Don't burn yourself out too early because you haven't even passed the first 5 miles.