As promised in my last post, here are the 3 Mental Kata that I feel have helped me be, in my on unique way, successful.
Remember, just like in Karate, these Kata are not just “quotes” and “fancy words”, but concepts to continually practice with the intention of mastery.
I promise if you take these 3 Kata and practice them diligently over the next 21 days, your life, energy and mental well-being will feel completely new in a positive way.
Mental Kata #1 – Take Responsibility for EVERYTHING that Happens To You
Sometimes, this can be the hardest to grasp, but once you’ve got it, it’s the most powerful concept you can live by.
Here’s how it works:
Every event that happens to YOU, assume that YOU created it.
You didn’t just let it happen, you MADE it happen.
Now, you can argue about situations and events being out of your control until the cows come home, but it won’t do you any good.
On the other hand, if you do take 100% responsibility, here’s what opens up to you:
You now become the BOSS of your life. What you do and what you say is the word.
If things happen that aren’t so good, instead of getting bummed out and complaining, you can ask yourself, “What did I do to make this happen?” then make sure it doesn’t happen again and you get what you want instead.
Overweight?
That’s fine if you want to be, but if not, look at your life and see what you’re doing to cause it, then stop doing those things in favour of actions that will get you what you want.
Gassing out?
Whatever you’re doing obviously isn’t working, so better start doing something else.
Get in a car crash?
You were the one who chose to drive that day.
Lose the welterweight title to Matt Serra?
Then look at what went wrong and fix it!
It’s a simple concept, but it is definitely not easy and takes practice day in, day out, I imagine for the rest of your life.
If you’re still a bit confused, leave a question and we’ll discuss below, otherwise, continue…
Mental Kata #2 – (Re)Claim Your Confidence
We are all born with undeniable confidence.
Think about it – at one point in your life, you couldn’t talk, walk, or even stand-up!
Now, you can do all sorts of crazy shite compared to when you were a baby.
When you first started walking, you fell a lot. Don’t be upset, we all did.
But nobody ever said to you, “Oh, you suck little baby, stick to crawling, you’re much too dumb to ever learn how to walk.”
Nope, you got lots of enouragement and smiles and hugs, making you feel like you could do it.
But after you turn about 3 or 4, you might’ve started hearing things like, “No, don’t do that, you’ll hurt yourself” or “You can’t do that, it’s not allowed.”
These terms and phrases are true confidence killers.
Luckily, my parents always encouraged me, but I know that some of you might not have had that growing up.
If you feel you’re lacking confidence, look back on all of the things you’ve accomplished in your life, like walking and talking.
I’m serious, start there. These are big accomplishments!
And how did they happen?
Step-by-step. You don’t just jump from white belt to black in 1 day.
The key is that every step along the way, no matter how small, pat yourself on the back, because each little achievement will give you a little bit of confidence and it all adds up.
Lift a little more weight in the gym?
Good job, you’re taking your body to the next level.
Learn a new technique?
Awesome, you’re one step closer to mastery.
Refuse junk food?
Way to go! Didn’t it feel good? Remember how good it felt then do it again!
You don’t have to throw a party for all these things, but notice them and let them make you feel good, because these good feelings will attract more of the same and soon you’ll feel bulletproof.
Mental Kata #3 – Live Life On Your Own Terms
Rules rules rules.
We are programmed at birth to follow the rules and conform.
Society is simply a bunch of rules, both known and implied that we all follow.
In our lives, we’ve got to let go of right and wrong and instead, CHOOSE what rules to live by that work for us.
What makes a rule work for us?
One that gets you closer to your goals.
If one of your goals is to be happy, then one that makes you happier.
If one of your goals is to be in top shape, then a rule that improves your fitness.
A few decades ago, a man named Bruce Lee chose to defy the rules and set patterns of traditional martial arts, instead, taking whatever worked best from each art.
Although it’s now known as Jeet Kune Do, the only rule was that there are no rules.
JKD is unique to the individual and the situation and fit Bruce’s goal of being the toughest SOB around.
Use what works, discard what doesn’t.
We’ve seen this happen in MMA – guys like Anderson Silva bringing the front kick back when everyone thought Karate was useless for MMA, young guys like Jon Jones and Anthony Pettis coming up with never-seen-before moves, totally shocking their opponents. [I’m VERY excited to see what is going to be happening in MMA 5 and 10 years from now – it’s going to be WILD!]
If Anderson was like, “I am a Muay Thai fighter. I only do Muay Thai techniques.” then maybe we would’ve never witnessed his spectacular KO of Belfort.
His goal of being the best mixed martial artist has led him to continually evolve his game, looking anywhere and everywhere to grow and improve.
But there’s one thing you’ve got to do
to live life on your own terms…
And that’s DEFINE your terms.
After graduating from university, I started working at a local gym.
I hated the slimy sales people and shady contracts, so part of my ‘terms’ were to never work for a gym again.
Ever since I made that choice, I’ve been successfully self-employed.
In 2006, I started getting bored of general fitness training and loved training fighters way more.
Now, I almost exclusively train fighters and athletes, doing what I want and loving it.
Define your terms (Kata #3), realize that you are the one who will make it happen (Kata #1) then go out and do it one step at a time (Kata #2).
It works – you can do it – if nobody has ever given you permission or support, I’m giving it to you right now.
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My wife-to-be is going to get mad at me if she reads how many words I’ve spent on this post with all the stuff I’ve got to do.
So save me by defining one of the terms you’re going to live your life by starting from today in the Comments section below.
That way, if I can show her I inspired a bunch of my insiders to better lives, she’ll cut me some slack. 🙂
Plus, writing them down is 10x more powerful than leaving them in your head.
Let me hear it – don’t be shy, share your goals below and save me from a night in the dog house!
– Eric
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