MONDAY MINDSET: DIALING IN

WEEK OF 4.15.24

 

We’ve all heard the old expression, “practice makes perfect.”

This really couldn’t be farther from the truth.

We should really think of it more along the lines of “perfect practice, with perfect consistency and appropriate intensity, makes perfect.”

There’s a lot to unpack there!

When we step onto the mats to train, we must undergo a transformative process.  Stepping across the threshold takes us into a new world–a  world where we are entirely committed and focused on our own, and the team’s, collective improvement.

We have to shed our professional duties, familial obligations, and stresses of private life and step into our new role as a combat athlete when we bow into class.  Training, all by itself, is extremely challenging – attempting it with the burden of additional concerns and responsibilities makes it that more difficult.

Training requires focus and discipline.  We must maintain this focus throughout the entirety of our training.  We must “dial in” to the drills and exercises at hand.

It is extremely easy to just go through the motions of each drill, especially the tedious and fundamental ones.  On the surface we may regard certain exercises as being purely for the body–but the more repetitive it is, and the more dull it is, the more it actually sharpens the mind.

If we are able to dial in to exactly what we are doing, and apply our full focus to immersing ourselves in that exercise, then we will reap its full benefits.

The warmup portion of the class is not only designed to get the body ready for training, but also to focus the mind.  To establish a standard of physical and mental focus and discipline that will serve as the foundation for all the work to come.

So if you are shadowboxing and thinking about what’s on the menu for dinner tonight, you’re kind of missing the point!

The next time you step onto the mats to train, I want you to shrug off all the excess layers–your work concerns, your family obligations, your general worries and anxieties–and wholly commit yourself to an hour or two of dedicated, personal growth and training.

Dial it in!  You may be surprised at what you can accomplish when you approach a challenge with a unified, laserlike focus of body, mind, and spirit.

See you on the mats!