Old Becomes New Again

Dr. Travis Bradberry wrote an interesting article about the importance of learning. Bradberry cited research from Stanford University conducted by Carol Dweck and her team that focused on people who were struggling with their performance. Her research project involved two groups that were given specific tasks. One group was taught how to perform better on a task that they had performed poorly in. For the task that the second group performed badly in, this group was taught they were not stuck and that improving their performance was a choice and, in fact, that learning produces physiological changes in the brain, just like exercise changes muscles. All they needed to do was believe in themselves to make it happen.

Upon readdressing the two groups a few months later, the first groups was doing their task even worse. The second group that had been taught that they had the power to change their brains and improve their performance themselves improved dramatically.

Bradberry’s take on Dweck’s research is that we should never get complacent with the skills we have acquired. We should never stop learning. He says that the moment we think we are who we are is the moment we give away our unrealized potential. In fact, he writes that the act of learning is every bit as important as what you learn.

This is why I love kung fu. I have been practicing the art for almost four decades and I never stop learning. As my body ages and injuries pile on, I have to adapt to my changing reality and learn to cope and compete under a new set of rules. The old becomes new again.

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” Henry Ford (1863 - 1947)

Apples and Oranges

We are raised by different parents in different circumstances. Our experiences are unique, colouring our world view. We suffer differently, injuries both physical and emotional. None of us are the same. Yet we tend to negatively compare ourselves to others and expect to learn at the same rate and develop the same skill sets.

The world is not a level playing field. We all bring strengths and weaknesses to the same situation. Comparing ourselves and expecting the same results as one another is not a reasonable assumption.

Celebrate and respect our differences. Recognize not only the value you bring to the table but the value everyone else brings. We are all special.

“The meaning resides in one’s own experience, making the everyday the exceptional.” - Samuel Mockbee (1944 - 2001)

Guns Kill People

The US had yet another banner week of mass killings. Yeah, yeah, I know the old argument - “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” I am assuming that hogwash only flies with those who refuse to think for themselves and those whose personal or financial interests are tied to making these weapons easily available to all.

Yes, people kill people. It happens everyday - both directly and indirectly. We’re killing on a mass scale with our foreign policies that dehumanize everyone who does not look like us, worship like us, or covet the dollar like us. To keep our economy chugging along, we justify raping foreign lands, making them unliveable, and then we label the people we have displaced as security threats, denying them sanctuary when they flee their homeland that we helped destroy. Yes, people kill people but they do it much more quickly and efficiently when they have easy access to a gun.

People are going to kill. It happens. We cannot stop a person from killing if they are committed to a course of action. It is impossible to control people’s actions. What is not impossible to control is easy access to guns. Take away easy access and, while you will not stop people from killing, you will reduce the speed and efficiency of their kills.

Thoughts and prayers are fine but smarter gun legislation is better.

“If guns don't kill people, why do mass killers arm themselves with guns?” - DaShanne Stokes (b. 1978)

Taking It Back and Bringing It Forward

There are times when results just do not reflect the effort being put into an endeavour. Progression paralysis can hit at anytime. It can be frustrating when you are doing everything you can physically do to improve yet your outcome does not meet your expectations. Sometimes we forget that knowledge is not the same as skill. Sometimes what we are doing is not the problem. Sometimes the problem is how we are thinking.

In kung fu, much of what I teach today is knowledge I have had for decades but did  not have the experience to fully understand it enough to be able to pass it on to my students. I have learned that knowledge plus wisdom equals skill. Book smart is more knowledge, street smart is more skill.

Experience you acquire gives you the opportunity to turn the lessons of yesterday into the new lessons of today. If you only take your new experiences and only apply them moving forward, you are missing out on so much knowledge that could benefit from your newfound wisdom.

After every class I teach, I remind my senior students that they have just acquired enough knowledge in the last hour to keep them busy for the next decade IF they take their new insights and apply them to all their old lessons and bring them forward with with this new perspective. Old knowledge is new again.

“Learning how to learn is life’s most important skill.” - Tony Buzan (b. 1942)

Level the Playing Field

We are all the same. No matter our race or religion, we are basically the same. Our values, despite what the extremists on either side of an issue may say, are all the same. Being the same is not the equivalent of being equal.

Being caucasian and born in Canada, I have won the lottery. Through no fault or merit of my own, I was born in the best country on the planet and am not a visible minority. I have never known hunger, persecution, or real fear. This is not the case for much of the world’s population. For most of the planet, the second they enter the world, they are literally fighting for their survival. Food, shelter, safety, everything I take for granted, are not so easy for most people.

It’s easy to say “no free rides” and insist that everyone earn their own way. What is not easy is recognizing that we all do not enter the world on a level playing field. Recognizing the fact that none of us had done anything to earn our birthright goes a long way in empathizing with the dire situation much of the world’s population find themselves in. Wanting a better life for your family is an inherent wish for all mankind. For some of us this is not even a concern because of the luck of your birth location.

We are all the same but we don’t all have the same advantages.

“Safety should be a birthright” - Clemantine Wamariya (b. 1968)

Eye For Detail

A dream is a goal without a tangible plan, and action without mindful intent is just chaos in the wind.

“My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.” - Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926)

Self Help

There are many self-help programs out there. Each one has its own angle of approach in helping people reach their goals. One thing they all have in common is the word ‘self’.

No program in the world is going to help you unless you actually do the work. A mentor can only do so much and is pretty much relegated to the sidelines as your coach and cheerleader. They can show you the way but you have to make the journey yourself.

Usually the only thing standing between yourself and your goals is yourself. Success can just be a matter of getting out of your own way.

“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” - George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)