“Dedicating your time to being AGAINST something is the same as dedicating your life to something you hate; you feed it with your energy. Knowing what you are against, helps you decide what you are FOR. From there, the best thing to do is to pour all of your focus and time and energy into what you are FOR instead.”
                                                                                                                                                                                           — Teal Swan

We live in a world where being against something is often the loudest message in the room.

Scroll through social media, turn on the news, or listen to the latest debate—and you'll see it. Movements, political platforms, and conversations are often built not on what we want to create, but on what we want to destroy.

And while standing against injustice or hardship can feel noble, I’ve found that fighting against something too often keeps us focused on what we don't want...

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly; you're doing something.”

                                                                                           - Neil Gaiman

Every four months, I receive a new group of Black Belt Candidates from our martial arts organization to train in preparation for their upcoming Black Belt Testing with me. 

Since most of these candidates are my student’s students, this is the first time many of them have trained with me.  As you might imagine, many of them are quite nervous, not knowing what to expect in their first classes with me. 

This oftentimes causes them to freeze and make errors that they wouldn’t regularly make.  This then causes greater nerves and trepidation which then leads to even large...

“Dedicating your time to being AGAINST something is the same as dedicating your life to something you hate; you feed it with your energy. Knowing what you are against, helps you decide what you are FOR. From there, the best thing to do is to pour all of your focus and time and energy into what you are FOR instead.”

                                                                                                                             - Teal Swan

In our society, we are so conditioned to focus on what we are against.

Today, entire platforms, movements, philosophies and political agendas can be based on this “against-ness”.

In our personal and professional lives, as we encounter difficulties, our initial reactions are generally to resist what is and fight against our challenges to get the results we desire.

While fighting for a cause we believe in is certainly an admirable endeavor, it is my experience that when we place our attention only on what we dislike/hate, do ...

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly; you're doing something.”

                                                                                           - Neil Gaiman

Every four months, I receive a new group of Black Belt Candidates from our martial arts organization to train in preparation for their upcoming Black Belt Testing with me. 

Since most of these candidates are my student’s students, this is the first time many of them have trained with me.  As you might imagine, many of them are quite nervous, not knowing what to expect in their first classes with me. 

This oftentimes causes them to freeze and make errors that they wouldn’t regularly make.  This then causes greater nerves and trepidation which then leads to even large...

“Dedicating your time to being AGAINST something is the same as dedicating your life to something you hate; you feed it with your energy.  Knowing what you are against, helps you decide what you are FOR.  From there, the best thing to do is to pour all of your focus and time and energy into what you are FOR instead.”

                                                                                                               - Teal Swan

In our society, we are so conditioned to focus on what we are against. 

Today, entire platforms, movements, philosophies and political agendas can be based on this “against-ness”. 

In our personal and professional lives, as we encounter difficulties, our initial reactions are generally to resist what is and fight against our challenges to get the results we desire.

While fighting for a cause we believe in is certainly an admirable endeavor, it is my experience that when we place our attention only on what we dislike/hate, do not agree ...