It's the Little Things

I have the world's best job. I spend everyday surrounded by people endeavouring to improve themselves and the world around them. There is no greater source of inspiration than sharing the journey to mastery with someone. You feed on each other's accomplishments and you lend a hand when one of you falter. Experience has shown me that it is the little things that are the difference between failure and success.

I constantly remind my students that every moment of everyday is another opportunity. It is the little things we choose to do with those moments that move us closer to our goals or, at a minimum, open doors for future opportunities. We all know that often inspiration and success are achieved by nothing more than being in the right place at the right time. When it comes to kung fu, I remind my students that we have no control over the right time. You can have the same lesson taught to you by your instructor over and over and it never gets through until one day all the pieces seem to fit and the lesson finally sticks. It is just the right time. While we may not have control over the right time, we have absolute control over the right place — the kwoon. At the kwoon we are surrounded by like-minded individuals, all focused on our own and each other's success. You are not going to learn kung fu sitting in front of a television. Each time you show up for class, you create the opportunity to improve.

Everyone looks for a game-changing experience or opportunity when it comes to achieving their goals. Often it is the seemingly insignificant opportunities that we miss while we are busy searching for those big opportunities that keep us mired in mediocrity.

I have noticed three little things that make a big difference when it comes to achieving long-term goals:

• Always show up. Woddy Allen has famously said the “90% of life is just showing up.” While things rarely work out exactly as initially envisioned, no effort is wasted. Every moment is a chance to exploit an opportunity or a chance to create an opportunity. Neither is possible unless you actually show up and try.

• It's all about the push-ups. Pushups, situps, walking, running, anything mindless and easy. These are things a person can do when they are sick, busy, or just plain unmotivated. If you can discipline yourself to make something mindless a part of everyday AND turn it into something extraordinary, you've got some serious motivational mojo working for you. I do over 50,000 pushups every year. That works out to about 180 pushups every day. Pretty mundane stuff unless you keep track of your numbers. That documentation motivates me when I forget about my past accomplishments and serves to remind me that consistency is the key. The daily toil keeps me engaged in my success even when I am struggling. My pushups create new opportunities every day while getting me closer to my goals.

• It's the journey that is important. Whether or not I achieve my goals, there is value in the effort. One of the greatest gifts my parents gave me was the gift of music. Growing up I thought of it as more or a curse than a gift. Having to practice the piano everyday while I could see my friends playing hockey outside my window was torture. I never became a concert pianist but there is no question in my mind about the value I got out of studying the piano for all those years. The meat was in my journey, not my accomplishment.

“Everyone is trying to accomplish something big, not realizing that life is made up of little things.” - Frank A. Clark (1911 - 1991)