"Gritty people train at the edge of their comfort zone. They zero in on one narrow aspect of their performance and set a stretch goal to improve it." 

                                                                                      - Angela Duckworth

Comfort Zones.  How many times have you heard you need to get out of your comfort zone(s) to achieve the results you desire? 

Authors, coaches and teachers have told us for decades that in order to really realize our dreams, we need to go beyond our comfort zones.

I totally agree. 

In fact, when I think of my own life and when I experienced my greatest results and feelings of satisfaction, it was always preceded with moving out of one of my comfort...

“Master the basics.  Then practice them everyday without fail.  Small disciplines repeated with consistency everyday lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.”

                                                                                                         - John C. Maxwell

Last week I shared the concept of how in martial arts, a Black Belt is nothing more than a “Master of the Basics”. 

When we bring the principle of “practicing the basics” into our everyday lives, we can find that it serves us greatly in creating mastery and success in everything we do.

I discussed in detail how the practice of my first three of six basic...

Success is neither magical nor mysterious.  Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.”

                                                                                          - Jim Rohn

I believe consistently and diligently practicing the basics is the key to success and mastery in any endeavor. 

In the Martial Arts, instructors consistently share with their students the following......

Black Belt is nothing more than being a master of the basics.

 From early in my martial arts career, I have a vivid memory of my first martial arts instructor talking about the importance of practicing the basics.  He equated the basics as the foundation for all...

“Perfectionism is focused on ‘doing the thing right’, how things APPEAR, and if OTHERS think it’s done right.  Excellence is about ‘doing the right thing’. It is focused on the REASON for a task, and the RESULTS for it to be a success.”

                                                                                                          - Marc Winn

Question:  "What's our goal?"

Answer:  "Black Belt Excellence, sir!"

For the past two decades, I have ended every martial arts class I have taught; whether it was with a group of White Belt kids or a class of seasoned adult Black Belt instructors with the question and subsequent response...

The biggest lesson I've learned is that hurt people hurt people, and kindness is just as contagious.  So, if you can focus your efforts on engineering kindness, it will prevail."

                                                                                  - Whitney Wolfe Herd

During our current times, each of us has a heightened awareness of being contagious and possibly passing on or receiving a virus from someone else.

However, it came into my awareness that “being contagious” is not always a bad thing.

Let me explain.

One of the things I am most proud of in my martial arts career is the process by which each of the students in our organization must undergo to earn their Black Belts.

In addition to 3 to 3.5 five years...

“The problem is not the problem. The problem is the incredible amount of overthinking you’re doing with the problem. Let it go and be free.”

                                                                                                      - Marcandangel

One of my favorite movies is The Last Samurai.  

In it, Civil War Captain Nathan Algren, played by Tom Cruise, finds himself as a war prisoner of the last of the mighty Samurai leaders, Katsumoto. 

Held captive for several months, Algren is assimilated into the customs, traditions and martial arts training of the warrior clan, all the while also facing and eventually overcoming his own personal...

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see" 

                                                                                          - Henry David Thoreau

It feels to me that we are currently living in a very reactive world. 

In our technological age, information comes to us at warp speed and it seems that many times our reactions, both verbally and physically, happen so fast that we are not even conscious of how we are responding. 

One may look no further than our current political environment to see this each and every day.  Regardless of what side of the spectrum you find yourself on, reaction, often of the inflamed sort, seems to be the order of the day. 

I believe...

"The more disciplined I become, the freer I am to have the life I want.  If I conduct myself in a disciplined and organized way, I have much more free time."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             ...

"Move the body and the mind and spirit will follow.  Most of us have it the other way around.  I know I did for years.  I thought I always had to have it right in my mind and spirit before I DO anything adventurous .... like go for a long run, or create a successful career ... But the body can go first.  Like Emerson says, 'do the thing and you shall have the power'."                                

                                                                                                         - Steve Chandler

“I just don't feel like it.” 

...

“People who want what’s best for you, want to see you at your best.”

                                                                                          - Oprah Winfrey

I was recently watching an inspirational video on YouTube featuring Oprah Winfrey delivering a commencement speech to an auditorium of graduating college students (yes, I think Oprah is the bomb ). 

During her impassioned address, she imparted upon the graduates the words shared above,

“People who want what’s best for you, want to see you at your best.” 

Hearing these words caused me to pause, reflect upon and appreciate all of the amazing people I have had in my life who supported and encouraged me. 

 ...