I did not feel like writing a blog article today.

Chalk it up to preoccupation with other projects, or exhaustion (or both), but I just didn’t have the motivation to write this today. And I came very close to skipping it.

“One skipped article since I started this blog. What could it hurt?” I thought.

I’ve been consistent since I started, posting weekly without fail, so I’ve got a good collection of articles published on my website. One missed week wouldn’t make a difference, I figured. Just one week. One day. One teensy little article. Who’s going to notice?

And I almost convinced myself.

But then I thought about it. All of the articles I’ve uploaded without fail. All of the work I’ve done. I’ve accumulated that body of articles ONLY because I was consistent. Only because I posted regularly, whether I felt like it or not.

How do you get results in karate, or blogging, or anything else? You do the work. And you do so consistently. Whether you want to or not. Whether you feel motivated or not. Whether you have other projects on the go or not. You do the work because you know that THAT is how you get results.

To improve at anything, you need to practise. And you need to practise over and over and over again despite boredom or a lack of motivation.

The formula isn’t sexy, but it works:

  • To improve at blogging, I need to post blog articles consistently.
  • To improve at martial arts, I need to practise martial arts regularly.
  • To get better at ANYTHING, I need to do the work.

And look: I wrote an article. It isn’t perfect, and it’ll be far from my best effort, but I did it anyway. Because deep down I knew that skipping even one article could easily accumulate into weeks and months and even YEARS of skipped articles.

One skipped karate practise is nothing. But one after another? You risk getting worse, and losing all of that hard-earned ability in the very thing that you value.

But showing up whether you feel like it or not? You won’t lose anything. And you definitely won’t regret it.

You will always benefit from consistent practise, even if it’s not always your best effort. How can you remind yourself of this the next time you feel like skipping your training?

Recommended Resources

You’re reading How to Get Results in Martial Arts (& Anything Else) by Sabrina Bliem, originally posted on The Karate Shrimp. If you’ve enjoyed this post, be sure to follow The Karate Shrimp on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!