Your “mental game” has a huge impact on your health and performance. Learn how to adjust your mindset, manage stress and fear, and improve your focus.
I had my camera set up, batteries charged, two videos planned, and all I had to do was press record. But I couldn't do it. I had hit the wall. I had burnt out. For awhile before this, I had been thinking about taking a break. But this scared me. All of my [...]
Changing your story can change your life. When you change the narrative, you expand the limits of what you thought was possible for yourself. I grew up thinking I was clumsy and uncoordinated. I heard this about myself constantly. But I didn’t need to hear it; the evidence was [...]
Seven dozen plastic eggs have taken over my life. Weep for me. Thanks for reading and listening. Podcast Show Notes Seven dozen plastic eggs have taken over my life. Here’s my story. Oh, and Happy Easter. Thank you for joining me on my martial arts [...]
I’m getting really sick of the “suck it up, buttercup” attitude in martial arts. I was raised to be tough. I was raised to keep my mouth shut, to be seen and not heard, to not be a whiner, to take my shots without tears, to get up after I fall down. I [...]
You’re not ready. You’re not good enough. You’re not worthy of your rank. You’ll never achieve anything. These are just thoughts in your head. Just words passing through your mind. They mean nothing. And yet we get so caught up in these thoughts that they start to become reality. [...]
We hear it all the time. Failure makes you tougher. Mistakes help you grow. Messing up is how you learn. So… if you fail your black belt test, does this automatically make you more resilient? If you lose your sparring division, does this mean you’ll fight better next time? If you keep screwing [...]
Can anger help us perform better in martial arts? Can it help us clear our heads and fight our best fight? Anger has been linked to negative health effects, like heart disease and early death. And because of this there’s been a lot of commentary on anger being definitively [...]
I felt really nervous about starting martial arts in my 40s. I’d never been athletic as a kid. I hated gym class in school. I was never into sports. And yet here I was, 41, trying out my very first karate class ever. Half the class was at least half my [...]
Just get up and train. If you’re struggling, get up and train. If you’re overwhelmed, get up and train. If you’re depressed, do whatever you can to get up and train. If you’re lonely or grieving or angry, just get up and train. And I don’t care if it’s two hours or two [...]
Struggle is normal… but it still sucks, doesn’t it. And working through our personal struggles can be incredibly difficult amidst societal pressure to “Toughen up” and “Suck it up.” But sucking it up doesn’t make the pain go away, does it. No. Sucking it up often equates to burying it down deep and [...]