You are not your Taekwondo Skills

They say when you become a parent, that the children are not a reflection of you and your character.

We do what we can for them, and try to teach them… but ultimately they make their own decisions and are their own people.

The same goes for our work; our career. We spend so much time working during the day, and the week, and thus our lives. We build something incredible… but it is still not the reflection of us as a person.

We train hard, and become a 3rd, 4th, 6th degree blackbelt.

But that does not define us!

Imagine that as you grow older, you’ll reach higher levels of Taekwondo recognition, degrees, and influence.

However, your body will slowly become less flexible, and strong overtime.

Therefore we cannot let our Taekwondo techniques define us as Taekwondo practitioners.

We cannot let our Taekwondo practitioners or students define us… Like parents, we can show them how to train their bodies, and we can show them how to be good people through character development and mat chats.

THEY must choose to listen.

THEY must choose to practice at home, put in the sweat equity and CHOOSE not to give up along the way.

There will be successful practitioners.

There will be unsuccessful practitioners.

Good or bad, we cannot define our success as a Taekwondo Master Instructor by our individual student achievements.

So if this is the case… what should we do? How should we think about this?

The answer is surprisingly simple!

We get rid of this ‘perfectionist’ mindset… that as a Taekwondo master or instructor we have to be perfect.

That as a parents we ALWAYS have to know what to say, or what to do in a given situation.

Instead… we can work on our craft.

Every.

Single.

Day.

There will be days when we still yell at our kids… but then slowly there will be more days of peace and love compared to before…

We can work together collaboratively with other Taekwondo practitioners. We can work to help them solve their problems, and in the process unlock our own potential and reach for a higher impact in the world.

One greater than ourselves, and our own techniques.

We can hone our craft every day, and thus help ease the feelings of Imposter Syndrome… which paralyze so many great martial artists, parents, and professionals of all kinds.

Do The Work.

Do it Everyday.

You’ll start defining yourself by the process, instead of a destination.

This will be flexible, and change over time.

It will change with you, and keep you fulfilled in the longterm.

This is how you measure your success, and define yourself.

I always like to compare Taekwondo to making coffee.

You can make the perfect cup of espresso one day…

and then it can taste bad the next.

That’s ok, keep working on it!

You are not a painting, where you work really hard on yourself for days, months or years. Then finally show the public and bask in the success for many years to come.

You are a cup of coffee.

Every day, you have to wake up and brew yourself the best you can.

If you keep striving, you’ll become great over time.

So persevere!

Never give up!

Train hard, and see you on the mats.👊🏻