Yin vs YangThe Battle for Success in Life

Ever been in a fight before? Or at least almost?

Remember the rush of fear as your muscles tense, your perception expands, and sweat begins emanating from places you didn’t know had glands? Remember the feeling of time speeding up and slowing down?

These are the same feelings a new white belt experiences during their first Jiu Jitsu class. It’s like learning how to swim for the first time in an ocean of sharks trying to pull you under. The more you struggle to stay above water, the faster you will drown. On the mat, instead of sharks, there are lifelong wrestlers going at 100 miles per hour, experienced veterans laughing through your guard, and a host of other supreme athletes trying to use you as their learning dummy.

Ahhhh….to be a white belt again.

Jiu Jitsu can be quite frustrating in the beginning for anyone. I tried all the typical short cuts to success, as I had most of my life using physical strength, wits, combined with a host of excuses. However, all were completely useless over time. In Jiu Jitsu, talk is very cheap, cause your words can easily be proven right on the mat. There is no short cut to get ahead of the pack.

The only way to success is to pay your dues on the mat.

Paying your dues is something I learned all about through Jiu Jitsu. I was around 24 when I started, and I had made an art out of getting around paying dues my whole life.

In the end, I probably worked harder trying to avoid them, than I would have if I just sucked it up from the start. Unfortunately, I was under the impression skipping my dues was more advantageous to my future than going through the initial bumps in the road.

Getting choked, tapped, and knocked out, can be very enlightening though.

It was through my Jiu Jitsu career that I learned the necessity of paying your dues. In fact, I have learned to enjoy doing so because if you want to be successful at anything, there is only one way:

Pay your dues, and do it with a smile.

It’s that simple. Get on the mat, get choked, tapped, beat up, and then do it all over again. The more you experience, the better off you are. You smile, cause you know you are on the path to success.

If you just want to jump on the mat and be a superstar, Jiu Jitsu is not for you. I have seen Division One college wrestlers tapped like little boys in the beginning. Believe me, this does not last long, but the point is clear. Without any experience on the mat in the actual sport of Jiu Jitsu, you can not possibly expect to win.

The same goes for life. Without any experience at something, why should you expect to win?  Without putting in the work, how can you expect to be great?

Everybody dreams of being something.

Whether it’s to be rich, famous, successful, in shape, healthy, or whatever, we want all the good things in life. The issue is, many of us tend to only concentrate on the glorious ending, and not the time it takes to get there.

If you want to be an NFL quarterback, you may dream of throwing the game winning touchdown in the Super Bowl like thousands of other young men. However, it is only a small percentage of those thousands that actually make time in their daily schedule to reach that dream. The rest will simply talk, dream, and fantasize about it.

The same goes for a Cage Fighter. Any man with a beer or two in them may debate whether they could be one of these professional fighters. They see the knockouts, the glory of a win, and they think, that’s not that hard.

What they don’t see is the blood, sweat, & tears that is took to get there. They don’t see the daily sacrifices that were made by the fighter at home, at work, and in life.  Becoming a good cage fighter is no accident. It takes consistent dedication, just like anything else in life.

If you throw out the idea that you may be a prodigy at something, reaching that goal becomes rather simple.

You just go through the experience, and learn a little more each time. Eventually, if you work at it enough, you will reach the level you are hoping to attain.

That’s it.

However, when you put the pressure on yourself to reach an elite level right off the bat, even though you have little or no experience, the journey becomes confusing and most likely you will wind up giving up.

Think about it….

• Why set the bar so high?
• Why set the bar at all?
• What does it matter if you try something and fail?
• If you have no experience, why would you expect to be successful, or care if you are not?

The next time you feel like a white belt at something, try to alleviate the natural pressure your expectations can put on you. Relax, take a deep breath, and smile.

Smile because no one gets to the top without paying their dues, so you are on your way. Don’t look at it as a drag. Instead, look at it for what it really is…

A stepping stone to success.

This is a preview to the E-book to be titled ‘A Stepping Stone to Success.’ Look for this FREE gift to our readers during the holiday season on Yin vs Yang.