Excellence is not an act.. but a habit.. Aristotle
..a terrific quote.. one instilled on me in college by my legendary trombone professor, Mr. Edwin “Buddy” Baker. (he once told me even his mother didn’t know who “Edwin” was!) The topic was the pure enjoyment, in a Zen sense, of practice for its own sake.
So many martial art students dread and avoid the practice aspect of their craft. They are focused on the next belt, the big tournament, or worse yet the story they tell their family and co-workers. I always notice with some curiosity the overall training avoidance people have in the summer – and the myriad of BS excuses – like “I have family in town” – used to justify personal laziness and the need to self-pleasure through food and drink.
Too often we are solely “outcome focused” – the classic example is “I want to earn my black belt” – when the correct mode of producing unreal long-term results is to be “behavior focused.” It is the training that created the skill that is important – more important than the belt, and even more important than the skill itself.
At a party I listened in horror as the parents of a young girl, who has been training for 3 years and working toward her 1st Poom stated “we just can’t wait for her to get her black belt so she can quit.” My response, “why not just quit now? if that is the goal then just do it – you’re going to flush all her work anyway.” Classic example: OUTCOME FOCUSED (WRONG) versus BEHAVIOR FOCUSED (RIGHT).
So then, how does one motivate a student (or yourself for that matter) to continue the desired behavior-oriented mindset? The answer lies in values – your core beliefs about who you are, what you do, how you conduct yourself. One needs internal values and self-identity that values the behavior that produces the results.
So, my challenge to you is to find that behavior you are missing and make it a part of WHO YOU ARE… hold yourself to a standard.
