Disconnect

 I’ve been on the path for better. Working a lot on my muscle balance and flexibility. It was good to be able to do things without the constant pain. Not that it was gone but it was much more manageable. The place I noticed it the most was when squatting. It was much easier to do that. 

Last week with the cold weather and with a wrong move I felt what would have been a disaster. But it was not as bad as it was in the past. 

At the same time I felt something that I did not realize before- when my back hurts, the disconnect between my upper body and lower body is much more significant. 

Now I need to get my back where it should be so I can get the connection back to where it should be. 

Measure

 I keep hearing this - measure what you do. So why do we need to do so? Why is it helping to write it down?

If you don't - how do you know where you are?

If you don't - how can you check if you reached your goal?

If you do - you have a sense of accomplishment or you know you need to work harder...

Soul

 We only have a short time on this planet. You want to become the person that you were born to be. Don’t waste your time on all the junk of life. Spend your precious hours doing what will bring out the real you. The brilliant passionate you, that’s ready to contribute to something meaningful into this world. –Joe

That was one of the quotes in a movie we just watched. 

Trying to think about my Kung Fu training and what brings me joy? what brings my passionate me? Teaching Kung fu and helping others grow is at the top of the list. 

There is a lot of satisfaction and at the same time I get to learn so much personally. 

Time Travel

 I was talking with someone at work about retirement and said that the only way for me to retire now is either winning the lottery or building a time machine so I can invest in the stock market. He said (and he is only 24...) that he will come along with me and just convince his past self to not buy that pizza with the bitcoins he had. Back then it what he had was worth a pizza and now it would have been 500k.

As a black belt we often use a time machine but not to the past. We are travelling to the future. We know what our intent is, where we want to be and then we are back to present and setting course to get to our target. 

This can be utilized while sparing but also in goal setting. Some people call it visualization, "the Secret", "the Law of Attraction", etc. It is very powerful and can improve your life. 

Disclaimer - I am not talking about "I dream about winning the lottery and I do...". I am talking about talking about "I am successful, and there for I get things done successfully".

1-2-3 Continue

As mastery is a journey not a destination, there is no reason to reset every year. No reason to start over but to continue the journey to better myself. Yes, some new excitement is always present when starting a new year. Yes, some adjustments and new focus are made. But overall, this year will be a continuation of my journey to become a better version of myself.