MONDAY MINDSET: TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK

 

Joining and participating in a martial arts program is kind of a weird thing, right?  I mean on one hand you are a paying customer — you have a right to take whatever you want, within reason, and define your own boundaries and level of participation.  For many people, this is a winning formula, and as a coach I’m happy to have these students on the mats.

At the end of the day, spreading the benefits of martial arts and seeing people grow and succeed is one of the most rewarding things for me.

However, to really get the most out of the experience, we have to put the “paying customer” stuff to the side a bit and realize that tuition isn’t the only investment we can make into our training.

Investing in others has a very real, and very powerful, return.  A martial arts school is an embodiment of the idea that the total is greater than the sum of its parts.  It is truly only through collaborative work that we can pursue and achieve mastery.

Taking a team mentality towards your training has its pros and cons — on one hand, you’ll get more.  On the other, you have to give more.  Usually, that means just showing up on days you don’t feel like it, or taking some time to share your knowledge with a newer student.  These are inherently selfless acts, but if you are consistently showing up more often and articulating important skills and concepts to others, you are also training more.  That’s just a fact, and some of your biggest breakthroughs will be in service of others (I speak from experience — teaching has been a huge benefit to my own training).

So when you’re struggling to find the motivation to show up for yourself, consider showing up for others.  It can be a powerful motivator on days that challenge your discipline.