Posted by What’s Inside?
Human potential. We’re all born with it. Untapped.
What are our limits? What is the extent of our capabilities? Where are the boundaries? Do we really know? Do they exist or are the artificial? We’ve been testing it since the beginning of time. To some, we are only scratching the surface.
If you listen to others, you may have heard,
“You can’t do…”
“You should or shouldn’t do [X].”
“If it were me, I would or wouldn’t do [X].”
“I doubt…”
“Why are you…?”
People without vision love to dictate to others to validate their lack of initiative, effort, and results. Misery loves company and mediocrity does as well.
“Opinions are like A–holes. Everybody’s got one.” – My Old Man
Self-Doubt vs. Confidence
Yet there are so many examples around us of people who do and achieve things that seem “impossible”.
People who “beat the odds”. People who refuse to lose.
How did they get this way?
Were they born with this confidence?
Did they earn it?
Or did they develop it over a long, arduous, lesson filled journey? (Note: It’s the last one. Trust me.)
Well, if you’ve taken the time to be honest with yourself and take a hard look at where you are and where you want to go, then you’ve answered this question.
However, as easy at it seems for some, it is just as difficult for others to get out of their own way.
Moments that Define YOU
I believe in order to “find” yourself, you have to be willing to step into uncomfortable territory and perform outside of your comfort zone.
You should not be avoiding the training situations that develop your flight or fight response; we should seek them.
I’m not saying you should be a high-risk taker. Read these words carefully.
IF YOU ARE DEBATING WITH YOURSELF AND ALL OF YOUR DEBATE POINTS SOUND LIKE EXCUSES – GO TRAIN.
Why?
That’s how we develop our main character traits. That’s how you develop your identity. That’s how you develop your soul.
Everybody seeks to figure out who they are.
It’s life.
Figuring out what we are good at, what we have a “natural tendency” towards, is something every curious human being should be doing.
Your soul is the ‘root system’ of your being.
What makes you tick.
Whether you have heart, or you don’t.
Some of these traits you have an affinity towards (i.e., you’re born with them).
Others you need to coax and fight with stubbornness to develop.
But when you develop them, you make your soul stronger. You create your identity.
How?
You test them every time you test yourself: physically, mentally, spiritually.
Expanding on your basic understanding of what your capable of.
You feed it through self-reflection, and building confidence. Through building your strengths and smashing through your weaknesses.
Confession: I have had many self-doubts on my journey. Especially after having to take a longer-than wanted layoff from training. I’ve even turned my car around and gone home after getting to the Academy.
What doubts/fears was I facing?
All of them pointed to my EGO being bruised.
Being big and strong for most of my life, and realizing that was not the “answer” on the mat.
What else?
Doubt in my abilities to be resilient, survive getting smashed, my cardio, facing physical pain, etc.
My secret for overcoming? Here are a few:
- Stop Overthinking: I re-wired my tendency to overthink things. When my excuse machine turned on in my head on my way to the Academy, I ignored it. I literally told myself to shut up.
- Audio Stimulation: I blasted upbeat music to lift my mood up. This helps distract your brain if you have a tendency to overthink things. Heavy metal, Pop, Rock – whatever got my mind occupied and stimulated to feel energized.
- Face your Fears head on: I faced everything I was running from. I went towards the “discomfort”.
- Move Forward and Don’t Look Back: When I walked through the Academy doors, I took the stress off by deciding I didn’t need to “win” anymore. I needed to survive, defend, and escape bad spots. This accelerated my learning.
- Compete With Yourself: I stopped comparing myself to others progress. This only fueled the wrong flame.
The first time you decided to go into a BJJ academy was a pivotal step towards this self-discovery.
Perhaps the most recent time you put on a Gi to train, you’ve had an internal discussion with yourself about what you want to work on or avoid.
Testing your willingness to accept being the nail to someone’s hammer.
It takes a special person to enjoy getting physically handled, punched, or kicked as practice.
What are other times you may have this dialogue?
- Every time you decide you’re going for a new Personal Record (PR) in the weight room, you are testing yourself. What you are made of. How bad you want it.
- Every time you put on your shoes and get ready to do some drills or conditioning work, you are testing yourself.
- Every time you decide to do a new yoga stretch……………okay, maybe not that one.
Stretching your personal boundaries.
Boundaries that are self-imposed.
It requires discipline and dedication.
Prepare yourself for daily battle.
Face your fears. Reflect. Improve.
Repeat.
I call this Consistent Persistence.
There are no shortcuts.
Develop Your Jiujitsu A-Game 
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