Big changes don’t happen overnight. Well, the good kind anyway. We all know that sometimes bad things happen that can rock your world in an instant. But that’s a different article.
Last week we looked at three pivotal qualities that lead one to success. 1) Commitment; 2) Attention to Detail; and 3) Staying Power.
Today, I’m writing about persistence. This is kind of like staying power, but perhaps in a slightly different way. To me, staying power is critical, even when things are working. But persistence is what you need when things aren’t working!
3 Tips For Success
Posted: August 27, 2015
I’ve tried to pay attention to people in and outside of the gym for many years. It’s always interesting to try and figure out what works. Over the years, I’ve also been privileged to work with many kids and adults in the martial arts too.
Some have wanted to get in lose weight and get in shape. Some have wanted to learn how to defend themselves. Others like the challenge of competition; and still others just like the challenge of doing something new.
Whether it’s the gym, or martial arts classes, or even the popular boot camp classes, they all seem to have something in common: They want to improve themselves in some way. So I’ve been trying to understand what makes some people successful, when others aren’t.
Modeling Behavior Can Be Healthy
Posted: August 20, 2015
“I’ll have what she’s having.” If you’re “forty something” or older, you probably remember this line from the 1989 movie “When Harry Met Sally.” Starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, it was a romantic comedy about good friends that finally discover they’re much more than that.
The #33 movie line of all time (in the top 100) was delivered during the deli scene by an unknown woman at another table (actually Director Rob Reiner’s mother). After watching Meg Ryan’s prolonged “moment of bliss” while eating, the woman wryly says, “I’ll have what she’s having.”
Like most things that are funny, it actually has a basis in truth. It’s human nature to want some of the good things we see. Now we’re not supposed to covet these things, or take them improperly, but we CAN be inspired by them. We can work to earn them ourselves, right?
Fond Memories of “The Minnow Club”
Posted: August 19, 2015
The “Minnow Club.” I had known about it for quite awhile. Every June or July, I spent several weeks at a place called Kimball Camp, up in Reading, Michigan.
Things were quite a bit different back then. But even in the early and mid 70’s, some things were the same. There were lots of caring people, including the summer counsellors and staff.
As long as I could remember, the YMCA camp was run by a compact, balding man with a ready smile, and his tall wife who brooked no nonsense, but obviously cared deeply for everyone. Later I understood that the C. stood for Conner, but to all of us, they were Mr. and Mrs. C.
What STEM teaches us about Exercise
Posted: August 06, 2015
I had the chance to take a very interesting STEM seminar in Bloomington, IL recently. STEM is an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
The point of the training was to provide schools with another resource to help students gain an understanding of the science behind human movement. This is a growing trend in education around the country, as teachers and administrators look for ways to bring real life examples of how science works into the classroom.
Education experts have been noticing that kids today are having a harder time than kids just a few years ago. Test scores aren’t improving, and we’re falling behind in science and technology. Hence the emphasis on STEM.