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DEVELOP AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE!
MARTIAL ARTS IS MORE THAN JUST PUNCHING & KICKING Martial Arts teaches kids a lot! Self Defense, Discipline, & a Growth Mindset. This month we are focusing on DEVELOPING AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE. We will help your child build self-esteem and gather the tools to stay safe in the world. Give us a call to schedule your first trial class!  Achieving the rank of black belt is no easy task! In order to achieve your goal you need to be S.M.A.R.T! Here is a formula to help you set yourself up for success.
This week we are focused on the A or Achievable. We have a saying in the martial arts that setting a short range goal that you believe that you can achieve. Then, once you reach it you will be able to see a little bit further. Another saying that you might be familiar with is that inch by inch is a cinch; yard by yard can be very hard. Each of us has enormous potential and most goals are attainable if we simply develop the habit of using the S.M.A.R.T. formula. Be sure to LIKE our Facebook page to see more of our weekly student “mat chats” on a regular basis.  Achieving the rank of black belt is no easy task! In order to achieve your goal you need to be S.M.A.R.T! Here is a formula to help you set yourself up for success.
This week we are focused on the M or Measurable. Black Belt is a long range goal; it can take anywhere from 4-10 years to achieve! The check points we use along the way in the martial arts are either colored belts or in some style, certification levels. These would be considered short to mid range MEASURABLE checkpoints to keep us motivated and on track to hit the long term goal of black belt.  We all experience pain, discomfort, disappointment, and frustrations. That difficulty is an opportunity to get stronger, to develop character, to gain a new perspective. Anybody can fall apart; anybody can get bitter—that’s easy. But what that’s doing is wasting your pain. That pain is not there to stop you; it’s there to develop you, to prepare you, to increase you. In 1982, researchers aboard the space shuttle Columbia did an experiment with honeybees. They took them up into space to study the effects of weightlessness on them. According to a NASA memo, the bees “were unable to fly normally and tumbled into weightlessness.” Then it was reported that “the bees have all gotten stationary.” The bees did not have to use their wings, did not have to exert any effort, did not have any resistance. They just floated around. Later they all died. They may have loved having it easy, having no adversity, but they weren’t created for that. You might say that they enjoyed the ride, but they died. We need life’s challenges, struggles, and hardships. They make us better. Don’t just go through the challenge. Grow through it. Learn the lesson, develop the new mindset, improve your skills, and you will come out stronger on the other side!  Hard work, practice, and extra effort are the keys to success in everything you do. When you do just enough to get by, problems are inevitable and you never feel good about yourself.
Black Belt Champions set goals and never give up. They give 100% of their effort and energy to accomplishing the task. That doesn’t mean that you don’t have bad days or feel a little off. That happens to everyone. The key is to show up the next day ready to do your best and stay determined to move one step closer to achieving your goal. I have never seen anyone fail to achieve a Black Belt, but I have seen people give up too soon! Check out this story about actor Jim Carrey’s non quitting spirit... When Carrey was 14 years old, his father lost his job, and his family hit rough times. They moved into a VW van on a relative’s lawn, and the young aspiring comedian—who was so dedicated to his craft that he mailed his resume toThe Carroll Burnett Show just a few years earlier, at age 10—took an eight-hours-per-day factory job after school to help make ends meet. At age 15, Carrey performed his comedy routine onstage for the first time—in a suit his mom made him—and totally bombed, but he was undeterred. The next year, at 16, he quit school to focus on comedy full time. He moved to LA shortly after, where he would park on Mulholland Drive every night and visualize his success. One of these nights he wrote himself a check for $10,000,000 for “Acting Services Rendered,” which he dated for Thanksgiving 1995. Just before that date, he hit his payday with Dumb and Dumber. He put the deteriorated check, which he’d kept in his wallet the whole time, in his father’s casket. Be sure to check out our martial arts gift package special for kids and adults on our Facebook page and website!  Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied. “Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face. “Father, what does this mean?” she asked. He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new. “Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “ Moral:In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us. Which one are you? |
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