Working Smarter

I am two months into the Year of the Dog and I am three months into my new life of teaching kung fu for a living. Nothing is what I expected it to be at this point but some wonderful things are happening.

I have never been what I would call a smart athlete. I have endured many injuries due to my recklessness and aggressive approach to things. My approach has got me banned from go kart tracks and self preservation is the reason I have never pursued racing motorcycles professionally. Risk taking has never been something I have shied away from.

Two months in I am running into the familiar aches and injuries that accompany me in my training, but this time there is a noticeable difference. This time I am noticing the injuries while they are still in their infancy and I am adjusting my regime to mitigate their affect on me and my progress. I am simply working smarter.

This new approach had got me wondering why it had to take me over thirty years to begin practicing what I preach to my students - “patience, trust, and progressing wisely.” I have never been ‘that guy’ who does not put up before asking others to do the same. Something else is at play. What has changed is time. I now have the time to do things right. I am no longer searching for a spare moment here or there to get in some form reps or a set of push ups. I no longer push through the injury, I work around it. I am working smarter.

I am excited to see what I can accomplish this year. Life is good and kung fu rocks.

“Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade.” - Tony Robbins (b. 1960)