Tag Archives: moving

We Begin A New Decade 2020

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We close out another year and usher in a new decade. All of us tend to make resolutions on New Year’s day and yet how many of us follow through? We often give up within a month, why? Change is hard, leaving our comfort zone is not easy, does it mean we do not want to improve our lives?  We all have dreams and aspirations, but are we willing to put in the work that it will take to reach them? If we want something bad enough, we will make the time, find the funds, be consistent and throw away the excuses.

My Choice: Do Nothing Or Make the Best of Life

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We will all come to a point when we feel we have hit rock bottom, placing the blame on others or circumstance no longer works, one path offers freedom, the other more of the same. Time to pick ourselves up and begin to repair the damage we have done. It starts with the mindset that we can do it, it takes consistency not for a day or a week, but for as long as it takes.

My Life Was A Mess. Then I took Control.

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I thought I had bad luck, that I was suffering because of some outside influence. I was wrong, I made the choices that disrupted my life and it was up to me alone to put a stop to it.  I learned that I could change my life by changing my attitude. It is never an easy road, it took me decades to get where I was at this point and it would take years to get out.  I began, one step at a time, day after day, I kept moving forward.  Controlling my body through fitness and nutrition become a blessing because I could see results quickly.

Thanksgiving Day

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We are all given gifts, they differ from person to person, it is what we do with them that counts.  If we waste them or don’t use them for a good purpose, things never seem to fall into place. We all know what is good for us, we don’t need someone to take charge, nobody can do it better than we can for ourselves.  Step up and take responsibility for our own lives.

Take Charge, Investigate, And Move Forward In Life.

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How often do we let a lack of self-control set us back in life? Do we follow the latest trend blindly without doing our own due diligence?  Its time to step up, take charge, do our own research, trust in ourselves and live the life we dream of living.  Making our own informed decision is the only way to live life.

What We Put Into Our Bodies Really Matters!

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There are few things in life we have control over, yet what we choose to consume is one that we alone determine.  The things we put into our bodies and minds matter. If we fill our days with low-grade fuel and thoughts, how can we expect anything good to come out of it?  It’s about time we step up, make the uncomfortable choices, take personal responsibility, this is when we stop letting others choose what is best for us.

FOOD #2

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We are only free when we conquer our ignorance and weakness while taking personal responsibility for our actions.  It is when we put away selfish thoughts, stopping giving into animal indulgences that we realize just what our purpose is on this planet.

Never Stop Learning

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Becoming an expert in anything is never quite as simple as taking a weekend course to get certified by an organization.   The journey for knowledge is never-ending. Many people expect to go to school, take a class or two and become a master at something.  In reality, a true master never stops their quest for knowledge.

With martial arts, in particular, I’ve learned that when you teach others you quickly realize how much you still do not know. You realize what faults you have, and if you take the right steps to remedy your faults, it helps you grow.

No matter what you do well, there is always someone who does it better.  If we become so conceited that we believe our own hype, we will never continue to grow.

Even if you receive the highest award in your field, you cannot relax and quit working on your craft.  If you do not consistently grow, you will soon be outdated.

There is a documentary I have watched a few times called Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It is about a man who found something he loves to do, make sushi, and he works tirelessly to perfect it. He is never content and is constantly looking for ways to make better sushi.  That is why his small restaurant is rated the best sushi restaurant in the world.

In life, we must constantly keep learning in order to stay relevant.  If we want to stand out in any endeavor we must keep learning and it must be quality knowledge that we gain.  

We must change our mindset. Instead of doing something to win, we instead will choose to do something to gain knowledge and grow.  It can be humbling to work at things we are not good at, but in the end, it is a valuable lesson. To grow, we must let go of our fear of failure, humble ourselves and often it means forgetting about what the rest of the pack is doing.  

I encourage you to pick something you are not good at, and start learning, growing and developing new skills.  Each of us has at our fingertips a vast amount of knowledge, why not use it?

When it comes to our faith, the same thing is true.  We can never just sit back or coast on our faith. We must constantly strive toward growth.  As a Christian, it is up to me to put in the work to continuously grow and become more like Jesus.  None of us is without faults. I need to realize what my faults are, and work on them.

Proverbs 18:15

An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

 

Why Details Matter

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Sometimes I like to just hang back, watch people to see what they do and how they act.  If you pay attention you can easily determine why some succeed and others fail at certain endeavors.

It has become easy for most of us to skip over the small details in life.  We live in a quick on the go society.  In reality every detail, no matter how small, matters. I have the luxury of hindsight because I am able to look back on my life and determine why I was successful at certain times. I can also be sure of why I failed at other incidents.  It comes down to the details.

Why are Vincent Van Gogh’s works of art so amazing and thought provoking?  After all anyone can paint a starry night.  In reality, very few can capture the mood and feel with a brush.

Last week I watched a championship fight between two fighters at the top of their game.  One of them was hit by a huge hook and right away he came back with a wicked cross.  The hook seemingly had little effect on the one hit.  Two still pictures reveal the reason behind it.

The hook was “winged,” which means the hips were not used and it was only a palm strike.  He didn’t hit with his knuckles, but his opponent did use his hips and turn over his punch.  Those tiny differences made the difference between being able to walk through a punch and being thrown against the ropes.

How many times do we fail to take each step we need to accomplish our goals? Are we using our hips to throw our hooks (hypothetically), or are we just slapping with our hands? I have been and am guilty as the next person when it comes to cutting corners.  I used to never worry about the small things, I always figured I could go back and fix them. This faulty way of thinking has cost me a lot over the years.  I think about all the time and heartache I could have saved myself and I realize how ignorant I had been.

We walk through life without realizing that God has provided us with everything we need to live a prosperous life of fulfillment.  It is hard because we cannot see the big picture or the final outcome. This is where faith comes into the picture and helps us get through the rough periods.  The good news is, that even though we can’t see the future, our job is not to blindly walk in faith, he has given us clear guidelines of how we should live in the Bible.

Our lives are made up of thousands of tiny actions that take place every hour of the day and night.  A chef cannot put a culinary masterpiece on the table without careful attention to each of the ingredients.

I listen when someone is explaining something unfamiliar to me and I absorb the information.  If I don’t understand something, I will ask questions.

I make every effort to do whatever task I set out to do right in the first place. I know I will fail at times, but I learn and I never continue to make the same mistakes again.

How could paying attention to details make your life easier?  The next question is why are you not sweating the details?  When we cease to learn, life is over.

Matthew 7:7-8

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Proverbs 13:4

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

 

Act Two

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Did your life seem to be right on track, and then it ran right off the rails?  Modern life is filled with pitfalls such as divorce, losing your job, sickness and the list goes on. It is filled with distractions that would like nothing more than to keep us from moving toward our goals.  We have to keep moving forward.

Forgiveness is something frequently discussed in terms of the people close to us, but we often forget to forgive the closest person of all: ourselves.

It’s good to look back on your life and acknowledge your past mistakes and learn from them.  It’s also important to forgive yourself for them so that you can move on with your life.

No good comes from putting your life are on pause to live in the past.  We cannot go back and change the things that have happened. What we can do is move on, refusing to repeat the same mistakes.

I can remember the night very vividly, yet it was already almost two years ago.  Fortune Gym, the gym in Hollywood where I had worked for six years, threw my wife and I a going away party.  As I looked around at all the people in attendance, it hit me hard how much I was going to miss them all and how much I was actually going to be missed.

One of the people at the party was a young man I had met at the gym about two years before.  We had chatted briefly and I had taught him a little Jiu Jitsu.  The next time I saw him he told me he had read my book.  He knew someone in the book, so we had a good laugh about it.

Over a two-year, period I trained with him often.  One day I had a talk with him about his line of “work.” He was selling large quantities of pills and marijuana.  I was worried about him because he had not yet been arrested for anything, but he was playing a dangerous game and it was bound to happen.  You commit crimes, you will get caught.

I told him that it may look good and it may seem like easy money, but in the end you will pay the price.  I could see he was unsure of what to do with his life, but I could also see that he took note of the message I was trying to get across.  A few weeks later he had an unrelated legal scare and was facing some serious problems.  The legal problems ended up going away, but I am pretty sure it helped guide him toward making better choices in life.

Although I haven’t seen him since the party, I speak to him about once a month on the phone.  Thanks to social media I can follow the things he is doing with his life. He opened a music studio, started managing talent and even started his own music label.  He got a chance to live his life differently, and he took it.

A second chance is always there if we are willing to sum up the courage it takes to change.  It is never easy giving up what is familiar no matter how wrong it is.

I left Brooklyn, New York and drove to JFK International Airport on a cold November morning.

I parked my car in long term parking and took the train into the terminal. I knew deep inside I was not coming back.  I had two suitcases and a laptop. I knew life was about to change for me, but I had no idea how much.  In that moment, I was just relieved for fresh start.

That was twelve years ago.  I still had many lessons to learn and places to live before I reached where I am today.  I had to learn to forgive myself, to forgive others and to accept God’s forgiveness and plan for my life. Leaving Brooklyn was only the beginning of my second chance.

I have been reading the Gospels this week.  It is clear to me that Jesus took those that were considered broken and gave them new purpose and everlasting life. He even forgave Peter after he denied him in public.  If we know someone who denies Christ, who are we to give up on them when Jesus did not give up?  Who are we to shun away people who may have not done the right thing in the past, if Jesus did not do that? How can we hold our past against ourselves when he does not?

America is the land of second acts, it is still the best place in the world to reinvent yourself.

I am over a decade into my second act, and I am still learning new lessons and moving forward every single day.

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.