5 Keys to Success

After reflecting on the things that I've been doing well and not so well, as well as considering some of the recent blog comments that I've received, I've noticed a pattern and I've come up with 5 things that lead to success for me with my Kung Fu. This post is intended to act as a road map of sorts for when I need to wind my way out of a slump.

1) Acts of Kindness: When I perform AOK it completely transforms my mindset. The kinder I am to others, the kinder I am to myself and I am more open to doing the things that are important, like eating well, training, etc. It's a perpetual thing because kindness begets more kindness. AOKs are a good indicator (at least for me) of my overall engagement.

2) Diet: This is pretty simple. When I eat well, my body and mind respond accordingly. I don't think it's possible to sustain a high level of performance over time without a good diet. For me a good diet means I'm eating less processed foods, more vegetables, and drinking lots of water. 

3) Stretching: I started including stretching with my I Ho Chuan requirements a couple of months ago and it's really paid off. My flexibility has obviously improved and my body feels so much different. High kicks and low stances require flexibility and you can't beat the way a good stretching session makes you feel. I totally get the appeal of yoga now.

4) Getting An Early Start: The times that I am the most successful are the times that I am able to get in some reps first thing in the morning. The rest of the day is so much easier when you know that you have already completed 50 situps. Leaving it until the end of the day is a recipe for failure. I know that because that is still how I do it most of the time. There have been days that I get all my reps done before noon and those are inevitably the days that my numbers are super high and somehow I also have time to do other things as well. 

5) Journaling: If I look back at the times where I was in a really good place and highly engaged, I see that I more than met the minimum requirement for journaling. Conversely, there have been months where I barely met the minimum and those were months that I wasn't doing so well. This is not a coincidence. Journaling, for me, serves two purposes. It helps me organize my thoughts and also solicit advice from my teammates. More importantly, it documents my journey, and this allows me to go back and learn from my own failures and successes. Sifu Brinker talks to us constantly about journaling but I have never needed to be convinced. I have always understood the value in it.

I find that if I do all the things above, everything else falls into place. These things create a framework for me, physically and mentally, that I can build on each day. I'll be the first to admit that even with this framework, things are seldom easy. But hopefully writing this down will be one more tool that I can use when things get tough.

Cory Smid
http://kungfucory.blogspot.ca/