Quite frankly, I love so much of what goes on in my life that I want to experience every minute of it. We only have 24 hours in a day. Within that 24 hours, we must love our spouse, love our kids, love ourselves for that matter. We must also work, we must eat, we must exercise, we must socialize, we must learn, and we must teach. Really, there is not a lot of time to do all those things.
In fact, even with 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night, I wish I could commit more time to those things I really enjoy above. I know... we all do! If there is one thing I've learned in life, and I've learned it recently, it's to live in the present. I was told recently that I live my life going 90 mph in the right hand lane. Although, I have managed to master the art of squeezing as much out of my day as possible, I may not have always been present due to the fact that I'm already focused on achieving my next task or goal.
I really enjoy talking about goal setting, self discipline, and focus. These are traits that are huge in martial arts. Well, they are traits that should be huge if you have an instructor that lives by them. I enjoy teaching students about these things because I understand these traits and I'm good at implementing them.
What's equally important as having good goal setting skills, self discipline, and focus is having the ability to enjoy your journey through the process. A goal is purposeless, if there was no journey. I know with 100% certainty, someone who puts in hundreds of hours to achieve a Black Belt will appreciate me tying their belt around their waist more than someone we promotes straight from white belt. It's the journey from white to red belt that was rewarding.
I still will only sleep 5 to 6 hours a night. I still plan on being goal oriented, disciplined, and focused. As a master level martial arts instructor, I may be a little late in learning to enjoy the journey, but at least I'm still alive.
Respectfully,
Master Richardson
Chief Master Instructor
The Academy of World Taekwondo
