Perspective Revisited

As a kung fu teacher, I recognize that perspective is important when it comes to maintaining momentum toward achieving your goals. It is easy to fall into a motivation trap if your perspective begins to warp.

The biggest issue I see students struggle with is recognizing the different between an investment and a sacrifice. If you only see the time you spend training as a sacrifice to other aspects of your life it is pretty hard to remain committed to your training. However if you recognize the overall payoff that will come from the training, that investment becomes something easier to commit to.

Another issue that students struggle with is clarity of purpose. Sometimes the reason why we are working so hard gets distorted to such a degree that the value becomes lost. Staying mindful of the why behind the activity helps validate the time and sweat that goes into it.

Proper perspective feeds proper perspective. With clarity of purpose, it is much easier to recognize the value of an investment. Once mindful of that value, everything that used to be a responsibility now becomes an opportunity. It is a lot easier to motivate yourself to cease an opportunity than it is to execute a responsibility. It is all a matter of perspective.

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” - Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)