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How judo taught me to avoid Startup Burnout
One thing I gained from judo was the importance of persistence. There are no doubt a lot of people who have better technique than me. They had better instructors who came from famous clubs, maybe even the Kodokan. I started at the Alton YMCA.
There are probably lots of people who have more natural athletic talent than me. I was never particularly fast. I’m also very near-sighted, so I couldn’t see the scoreboard or time clock for most of the years I was competing until I finally got contacts. I injured my knee really badly when I was a teenager and couldn’t do any technique that required putting all my weight on my right leg.
Despite many disadvantages, I won anyway, over and over.
What I did learn was to persevere.
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How did learning perseverance help me run a startup?
Face facts, winning a world championship is one hard slog. In my day, you had to win the state championships to qualify for nationals. After that, you had to be good enough to make it into at least the top five to get points toward the national team. There…
