Many studies on human potential have stated that most of us are performing at only a fraction of our true potential. If this is accurate, it means that we all have tremendous opportunity to tap into our potential and enjoy even greater levels of success and achievement. Champions are always seeking to improve themselves: their skills, abilities and overall level of physical and mental conditioning.
There are many ways we can get better. Athletically, we could set a goal to improve our flexibility, strength and cardiovascular conditioning. How do we accomplish this? The possibilities are endless. Bag work, pad work, partner drills, sparring, roadwork, swimming, elliptical, biking and the list goes on and on. Once you’ve set the goal and have clarity, it is easy to find the ways to make it happen. The key for most people, is to maximize the time you are currently dedicating to each area. In essence, work to get more bang-for-your-buck. You don’t always have to put more time in, but most people could put more into their time. Simply by increasing the focus and the intensity, you will find ways to improve without sacrificing time from other areas. As the old saying goes, “It’s not more time but more intensity.”
Now, there certainly are some people that need to do both. They need to dedicate more time and increase the intensity as well. This is true with their athletic development, mental growth, career and financial growth. By learning to better maximize your training time, you will find that it has a positive and powerful impact on other areas as well. Self improvement has a tendency to spread to all areas of progress, growth and change. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. If you begin to go into a downward spiral in one area, it can have a negative impact on other areas as well.
Here are a couple suggestions for ways you can achieve multiple benefits and better maximize the results you achieve:
- First, seek ways to stack benefits. If you are going for a run, try listening to something inspirational at the same time. Or, in my case, often I train with members of a team which allows you to push each other and strengthens the bonds of mutual respect between you.
- Second, pick up the pace. Increase your intensity. Try a little harder, give a better effort. Really work to give your best, so that you can get the best results. This is advice that can be applied to your training and your professional life as well.
When you start to apply the MAXIMIZE principle, you will instantly begin to see ways you can apply it to every area of life. Have fun and enjoy the results you achieve.
Did you know that our habits determine our future? Experts agree that 90% of our daily behavior is habitual. Meaning that most of what we do everyday is on auto pilot. Habits are formed through repetition, good or bad, anything you do over and over again eventually becomes habit. It has to do with conditioning your sub-conscious mind.
One of the many great things about Martial Arts training is the awareness of this and the constant focus on developing good habits for a better life. The good news for everyone is that you can literally re-program yourself for success in any area of life. To become healthy and fit you develop habits that lead to better health and fitness. To improve personal safety you simply decide to develop habits that lead to greater safety and awareness. If you want to improve your financial life you study and develop habits that lead to wealth and financial freedom.
Your habits determine your quality of life. Negative habits breed negative consequences. If you have negative health habits, sooner or later, you will pay the price. The results of negative habits may not show up immediately but they will appear. People who smoke cigarettes don’t die from their first cigarette but millions of people die every year from this habit. Positive and successful habits create positive rewards. If you want to enjoy a healthy, energetic and long life, you must have healthy habits. Good nutrition, daily exercise and a positive attitude have proven to have an influence on longevity and quality of life.
Improve your habits… and you’ll improve your life! When you surround yourself with people that have a positive and healthy outlook on life it tends to be much more enjoyable. The conversation is much better and the challenges of life seem to be handled in more of a proactive manner.
We would like to congratulate the following Black Belt students for becoming our latest champions during the Atlantic-Pacific Tang Soo Do Federation’s International Championships which took place on Friday July 18, 2008 in Suwanee, GA:
| Mr. Duva | 3rd place in Forms |
| Dr. Meetze | 1st place in Forms & 1st place in Weapons |
| Mr. Paik | 3rd place in Forms & 3rd place in Breaking |
| Mr. Scarpino | 2nd place in Weapons & 3rd place in Sparring |
Congratulations to all of you.
Do you expect great health and fitness? Do you expect wealth and happiness? Do you expect great friends and loving relationships? Do you expect the best of life? Law of Expectations says: “Whatever you expect, with confidence becomes your own self fulfilling prophecy”. Said another way, what you expect, is what you get… good or bad, positive or negative.
Martial Arts teaches us to focus on a desired outcome. When you confidently expect good things to happen, good things usually do happen. If you expect negative things to happen, you are willing yourself to experience a negative outcome. If you truly expect to perform well on your next progress check, you will perform well. welcoIf you expect to bomb or perform poorly, you are planting the seeds of failure in your mind. Think great thoughts, take great actions, and you will enjoy the rewards of success instead of the penalties of failure. Tell yourself: “I am the Best… I am the Best… I am the Best!” By doing this, you are sending a message to yourself, that you are the best. You are a Champion and you deserve success. In a sense, you are giving yourself a pep talk to perform at your best level. On of my favorite sayings is: “In life, you get what you expect and accept!” Expect the best from yourself and you will begin to experience greatness in life.
Here’s is one great affirmation to start the morning with: “Yes, today is going to be a great day!”. More often than not, it truly is a great day and at the end of the day, when you look for the good, there are many victories and accomplishments to celebrate, whether it was a great training session and you felt on your “A” game, or someone shared their victories and achievements with you. That is not to say that there aren’t challenges and challenging days, because there are. However, I have found that the more you focus on the good stuff, the more good stuff there is to focus on. If you focus on all the CRAP…you soon become a CRAP magnet. Whenever I ask people if they would rather influence others in a positive or a negative fashion, the answer has always been positive. That being said, the best way to influence others, is by example. So, I hope you will continue to join me in being a force for good and spread more of the good stuff to everyone and anyone you have the opportunity to influence.
Train Hard…Work Hard…Enjoy the Rewards of your Success!