I Quit!

Hi!
Thank you so much for the amazing honor to teach your child karate. We hope all your child’s dreams and your goals for your child of confidence, self control, focus or whatever it is you want to see grow in your child come to fruition and become a strength in their life.

With that said, we want to take a moment to talk to you about one of the number one “enemies” that will absolutely crush your child’s dreams and your wishes for your child’s success.

Take a moment to read the quotes above from Michael Jordan and Thomas Edison. Do you think that Michael Jordan wanted to quit at times? Do you think Thomas Edison suffered from boredom and discouragement working so hard on his experiments? Absolutely! They are people just like you and me. They went on and experienced tremendous success in life. Still to this day—84 years later Thomas Edison is revered as one of the greatest inventors. He persevered.

Our kids have been in karate anywhere between 9-13 years. We have three that are black belts and one that will test this year. Have they wanted to quit at times? Absolutely. Have they got bored,
discouraged, overwhelmed? Yes. We’ve always encouraged them to keep going, telling them “You can do it”, “You are awesome”. If you ask them they will tell you they are so glad they persevered and did not quit.

We have never met a person that told us “I did karate when I was young and my parents let me quit. I am so glad, I quit.” No, not once. We have however heard 100’s of times- “I did karate when I was young and I quit. I wish I never quit . I wish I would have gotten my black belt”.

We would encourage you to set goals for your child to achieve in karate. If it’s a black belt, tell them what it will take. Write it down and hang their goal on the wall. Keep it always before their eyes. Whether it’s karate, playing an instrument or playing basketball your kids will never experience the sense of achievement if you let them quit. It will rob them of seeing their dreams come true. If you let them quit something when it gets hard, guess what? You are teaching them that it’s ok to quit and it will be easier for them to quit the next thing they encounter that is hard.

Your child has greatness inside of them. They will accomplish something incredible if they learn the skill of perseverance and commitment in every area of their life!

With love,

Paul & Michelle Pearson

“Winners never quit, and Quitters never win.” – Vince Lombardi

“If you quit once, it becomes a habit.  Never quit!” – Michael Jordan