Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. There’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them… Fortunately, there IS a way to find out! All you have to do is start by figuring out what you want to accomplish most in life and set the goal! After all, a goal properly set is halfway reached.

There are many ways to set yourself up for success everyday.

Over the next few weeks, I will share several WIN BIG EVERYDAY SUCCESS TIPS that are easy to apply and take immediate action on.

By following these tips, you’ll develop a more productive and positive outlook toward everything you do. You will also feel an increase in your energy for excellence in achievement.

Today we share WIN BIG EVERYDAY – SUCCESS TIP #1

One way to set yourself up for success is to start each day in a positive way. When you get up in the morning, try getting up about 15 minutes earlier and immediately drink a big glass of water.

Use the first 30 minutes of your day to condition your mind for a great day. You can use daily affirmations, prayer or empowering questions.

”I’m a Winner and today I am going to WIN BIG!”

That would be a simple affirmation and you may combine it with empowering questions like “How did I get so lucky?” or “What am I happiest about in life?” or “What am I most grateful for?”

We all have a tendency of talking to ourselves. The primary purpose of these types of questions and affirmations is to condition ourselves to fill our minds with positive and empowering thoughts.

Your thoughts impact your emotions, which impacts your actions.

As simple as this is, it is a proven strategy of many Top Performers in business, sports, academics and leadership.

One of the many unique aspects of our Martial Arts & Fitness Academies, is we focus on conditioning the mind, body and spirit for winning big everyday in life.

Our Award Winning Martial Arts for Kids aims to help kids develop a winning attitude toward Academic Achievement, along with their athletic growth and social skills improvement.

Our safe and effective Mixed Martial Arts & Fitness for Adults is designed to help you travel at the pace that is right for you. No prior experience is needed.

However, we do offer more advanced/accelerated training programs for anyone that does have prior training or is simply more athletic and conditioned.

We are not a hard core, highly competitive atmosphere.

Although we’ve created many High Caliber Champions over the years, most of our students are professionals and like minded, family oriented people that simply want to train hard, get in and stay in great shape and study the Martial Arts for personal development and improvement.

If this sounds like something you might enjoy…it’s time to check us out.

Imagine you are standing next to a small pond. You pick up a small stone and throw it into the pond, how does the water react? Next you pick up a larger stone and throw it in, how does the water react now? The simple answer is that the water responds appropriately. The small stone creates small ripples, then the water returns to stillness. The larger stone creates larger ripples, and again returns to stillness. This is the idea of mizo no kokoru, or “mind like water”, and it is a major theme in the martial arts.

When we are faced with a physical attack, either over-reacting or under-reacting can cause us to fail to successfully deal with the attack, leaving us exposed and ultimately causing us pain. How many times have you either over-reacted or under-reacted to a problem in life? Whether at home, at school or at work. Chances are, the reason you couldn’t respond appropriately was because of how turbulent the waters of your mind already were.

As we get stressed, we tend to hold on to the stress and never truly return to calm.  These stresses keep building until our still pond becomes a rolling sea. We then start to give small details more attention than they deserve, and avoid larger issues we should be paying more attention to. Having a “mind like water” is all about keeping our responses to stresses and problems proportional.

When we can empty our minds of all the clutter that accumulates throughout the day, we return to the stillness of the pond, and then we can deal with new problems in the right way.

Training in the martial arts helps to develop this ability. Students must learn to focus completely on the lesson at hand, and not to be distracted. When practicing forms, students must give their full effort to each individual technique, and not worry about the next move. When sparring, students give their full attention to their opponent, or they risk losing. All of these skills can be translated into everyday life.  But they must first be trained consistently.

So the next time you are in class and are distracted by feeling tired and sore, or the next time you are at work and face a difficult situation, try to challenge yourself to have a “mind like water” by responding to the situation appropriately and then letting it go.

Instead of worrying about how you view the quantity of the contents of the glass, I encourage you to worry more about the quality. Most of us fill our glasses with whatever life throws at us, and then quickly discover we’ve run out of room for the important things. Stephen Covey used the metaphor of filling a container with rocks in his book “First things first”. Basically, when you fill your glass with the small pebbles and sand of life, your glass quickly fills up and there’s no room for the big important rocks like relationships and personal growth. But if you start by putting the larger rocks in first, the pebbles and sand can find space between the cracks. So what are your big rocks? Your family and friends? Your physical health and fitness? Your personal and spiritual growth?

When we prioritize and fill our lives with the right activities, and most importantly the right people, we will be happier and more fulfilled. So the next time someone asks you if you see life as half-full or half-empty… ask them what’s in their glass!

Most people tend to have very foggy goals or wander through life daydreaming with no real direction. This is why we encourage you to develop S.M.A.R.T. (we’ll go into that next week!) goals in all areas.

Martial Arts training, and life, are a lot more fun and exciting when you have exciting and specific goals that you are aiming for.

Climbing the ranks and progressing in your journey to becoming a great Black Belt Champion is an extremely motivating process. Learning and practicing your skills, training hard and getting yourself into your best shape ever, has a very positive impact on all areas of your life.

Once you have clarity with your goals and you have very specific targets to aim for, you must keep your goals in the forefront of your mind. It helps to review your goals daily.

To be successful you must eat, live and breathe your goals until you’re doing everything possible to move in the direction of your dreams.

“At first dreams seem impossible, then improbable, then inevitable.” – Christopher Reeve

When the “Why?” becomes strong enough, the “How?” becomes easy. When we have a goal that we aren’t taking action on, it’s most likely because the “Why?” is not powerful enough.

Ask yourself:

Why do you want to be in great shape?

Why do you want to improve your relationships?

Why do you want to do better at work, in school, at home?

Why do you want to improve your martial arts skills?

Is your “WHY?” powerful for each question? Remember that knowing why you want something gives you with the ENERGY TO TAKE ACTION.

“Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy.” –  Denis Waitley

To paraphrase Merriam-Webster, to be stubborn is to be “unreasonably unyeilding”, and I can see how people could assume this is a bad thing. But what exactly is unreasonable? I guess it’s when everyone in the world is telling you that you’re wrong, that you should give up, that your goals are unrealistic and unattainable.

And maybe they’re right. Maybe your goal is unreasonable. Maybe it doesn’t make sense and there’s a strong possibility that you’ll fail. But if we’ve learned one thing throughout history it’s that “unreasonable” gets changed to “visionary” once the unreasonable is achieved.

Sometimes you have to persevere in the face of adversity. Sometimes you have to defy common conceptions and do what you KNOW is right. It might be the world telling you to stop, or your own mind telling you that you can’t do it… but it’s in moments like this when being 100% stubborn can be the best thing for you.

-Sabumnim

In Martial Arts, posture is an important ingredient for balance and power. Good upright posture also lends a balanced beauty to the art. The beauty is appreciated not only by the Martial Artist but also by those who have never been in Martial Arts. The standard of beauty is universal.

The parallel human quality to posture is honesty. An honest person is a person with a straight posture in their heart. The Latin word for honesty is probitas, which can be translated as “uprightness”. Honesty is appreciated by all cultures… the standard of beauty is the heart is also universal.

When we are honest we tell the truth, even when it can hurt us. We also conduct ourselves in an honest, straightforward way with others. It was once written that if you asked a samurai to swear an oath, they would be deeply offended. They considered their words to be enough.

This week, your assignment is to emphasize the best posture your can both in and out of class to maximize your balance, power and health. Also, remember to be honest with yourself and others. Remember, to be honest in the little things is no little thing.
“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”

- Thomas Jefferson

As a Martial Artist, we are constantly seeking to improve our flexibility. This is because greater flexibility allows us to kick higher, move faster and hit with more power, as well as help us to prevent injury and increase overall health.

Outside of our Martial Arts training, the parallel human quality to flexibility is gentleness. Gentleness is the ability for us to get along with others. It means to be easy going and not get easily bent out of shape. Gentleness of human character is essential to being accepted by others and to succeed in life.

Lao Tzu, one of the greatest ancient Chinese philosophers, put it this way: “a man is born gentle and weak. At death, he is hard and stiff. Green plants are tender and filled with sap. At death, they are withered and dry. Therefore, the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death, and the gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.” So let us develop gentleness in the game of life, just as we develop flexibility in the game of Martial Arts.

Your assignment this week is to set aside some time that you can work on your flexibility. Off the mat, your assignment is to work on being as gentle and easy going as you can in an effort to get along with the most number of people.

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.” – St. Francis De Sales

In the Martial Arts, balance is extremely important. We must have a good sense of balance in order to execute our movements with power, speed and timing. In a sparring match or a self defense situation, a loss of balance quickly creates an opening for our opponent, and we may lose the fight. One of the most important keys to keeping your balance is staying calm, centered and focused.

Outside of our Martial Arts training, the parallel human quality to balance is rationality. To be rational means to think logically and clearly without emotion. It means to make intelligent decisions based on wisdom and character. Just like balance, the biggest factor in keeping our rationality is to always remain calm, centered and focused.

Although this sounds easy, it can actually be quite difficult. In the heat of the moment, when we are upset or angry, we can quickly lose our focus and then say or do things we will later regret. The only way to make sure we can keep our calm in stressful situations is to practice. After all, if you regularly get upset at insignificant events throughout your day, how are you going to react when something really bad happens?

Here are two assignments to help you develop these qualities. First, while training in class, try to focus on staying calm and maintaining balance in your techniques. Second, outside of class, try to stay calm and centered when things happen that would normally make you angry or stressed.

“Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.” - Brian Tracy