Finish the Year with a Bang!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and serves as a great time of reflection, but don't be like everyone else and just ride the rest of the year out and postpone everything until after the first of the year! You know those resolutions you thought of last year, but probably lost track of midway through january? Dig those fuckers up and try to actually get something done in these next 4-5 weeks! Don't use the excuse that this is a busy time of the year, or that now is just not the right time, or whatever soft ass excuse people use.Not to sound corny, but make it a challenge. Don't pick your toughest goal out of the bunch, but go after something within reach and in the midst of all the holiday mayhem, focus on that or one or few things and make it happen! Be able to actually start the new year on a good foot and not in an 0-2 count like most people. So if you spent the last 11 months getting butt naked, keep your clothes on for this last one!

The Difference Between a Good Day and Bad Day

is your attitude. Decide what type of day you will have the second you wake up...will it be a great, productive day or will you talk yourself into having a shitty one? Give each day a fair shot...I can't count how many times I've showed up at the gym exhausted and not feeling up to doing anything but ended up having a great session. Your days in this life are limited, so make the most of them!

The Long Term Approach

In Martial Arts, In Life, whatever, shit is going to happen. You are going to have bad practices, bad days, bad weeks...this is just how it goes, but you don't need to live your life in anticipation of these things happening nor should you get down when you have a day where things didn't go as planned. Its great to have high expectations, and everyone should be always be striving to be something more, but as I've gone into in previous entries - don't be afraid to just "be" -as Dan John says- show up, don't quit, ask questions. If you do those 3 things and stay positive while doing it, any goal you'll ever have will be reached! I promise you this. At Underdog BJJ and IMB , we are extremely fortunate to have great instruction and GREAT training partners - no one is top dog and everyone is tough, technical, and like minded in the sense that when are at the academy to train we are there to do just that. I get beat all the time... but I also have my good days, and I understand its all part of the process. If you are not getting beat in training, ever, than you are training with the wrong people or you are just not taking the necessary risks! Michael jordan missed THOUSANDS of shots in his career, but we don't remember those times...we remember him jukin' mugs left and right and sinking jumpers at the buzzer. The difference between people like Mike and everyone else is that number one, he worked restlessly to perfect his game and number two, he always took risks! Sure he had bad days, bad games, bad series', but the reward was so great that those misfortunes were easily forgotten. As Fabi would say, you gotta believe, kid!

Give Yourself Direction

I consider myself very fortunate that I have something in my life that I am passionate about and that I absolutely love doing. Martial arts has literally transformed my life and at 23 I have a clear vision of what I want to be doing for the rest of my life - and I am going to be loving it! Its depressing to see people who go to work everyday absolultely miserable, and I refuse to be one of those people! I want to live the dream and be happy - I'm not saying its going to be easy, or that there aren't going to be ups and downs, but I try to take daily steps to make it happen. But to get what you really want out of life, you need to dig deep and find out what TRULY makes you happy - not just what you think might make you happy. Once you do this and practice putting yourself in that mindset everyday, then all of the sudden things start to happen - maybe not tomorrow, or next week, or even next year, but I promise that only the people that take action on a daily basis will reach their destination.

So, as an exercise, what you need to do is sit down with a pen and paper and write down what you truly love doing and write down what you want out of life.

Think about what truly makes you happy and the type of life that you want to live, and go from there. You'll never get anywhere if you don't know your destination!