Yin vs YangThe Battle for Success in Life

(taken from my iphone)

Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

I have been quite busy lately, and not able to write as often as I like. Actually, I probably could if I wanted to, but I honestly have been focused elsewhere.

One of the great things this break has given me is a chance to really re-evaluate some of the things I wanted to write. Well, I was lucky enough to see an example of this in the flesh when Robert Drysdale gave a seminar at my Jiu Jitsu school.

For those that don’t know, Robert Drysdale is one of the top Jiu Jitsu guys in the world. He was Randy Couture’s Jiu Jitsu coach on season 1 of the Ultimate Fighter, and he most recently was Frank Mir’s coach against Brock Lesnar at UFC 100.  Read more... (514 words, 1 image, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Life can be very confusing with all the stimulus our mind has to deal with each day. We have bills to pay, family to make happy, work to do, bosses/clients to satisfy, dreams of a better life, and reality standing in our way.

All of this stimulus can really throw a wrench in our ability to prioritize what is really important, and what appears important on a daily basis. There is so much going on that we don’t know what we should focus on. Instead, we try to focus on it all.  Read more... (1172 words, 2 images, estimated 4:41 mins reading time)

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Everyone in life has their position. Whether at work, in your own business, in sports, at the dinner table, financially, or even in your personal relationships, their is an element of positioning. When trying to climb the ladder of success, we are inherently trying to improve our position in life, be it at work, or in our bank account.

Accountability

The first step to fighting for a better position in life is similar to a lot of first steps: Accountability. We must understand that what ever position we are in, it is because we settled for that spot. It is not because of any other reason. We decided at some point that this particular position was good enough. It might not have been a conscience decision. You may not have even thought of it that way, but the truth is, at some point, you accepted the position you are in.  Read more... (1557 words, 3 images, estimated 6:14 mins reading time)

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

First off, I hope every Mother had a great weekend. Seems like one day a year is kind of a small price to pay for the amount of support and love a mother can give all year long. Hope the weekend met every mother’s expectations.

Speaking of weekends, I read a great article on Sunday in ESPN the Magazine (May 18th, 2009) titled ‘Mixed Messenger’ by Michael Woods. For all you fight fans, it is a story about the life of Dana White, the head honcho of the UFC. The story takes place at some different times in the life of Dana leading up to the Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin fight. What struck me about the article is the quote they used at the end to sum up the story:  Read more... (954 words, 2 images, estimated 3:49 mins reading time)

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Every Saturday I teach people how to choke other people.

Well, not every Saturday. Many classes have no chokes in them. Instead we work other Jiu Jitsu moves such as positioning, leg locks, arm bars, triangles, escapes, etc. However, many days, my job as an instructor is to teach people the best way to choke their opponents.

This is not just a physical thing. Sure there are sequential steps to properly apply a choke, but mostly, the art of choking someone is a mental battle. There is a certain philosophy to achieve success. It takes focus, faith in yourself, and most of all, patience.  Read more... (794 words, 2 images, estimated 3:11 mins reading time)

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

WARNING: The following article will obliterate any and all excuses you have created for why you can not be successful. If you wish to continue to effectively believe these excuses, please skip today’s post.

When I was a kid, I used to be sure that I was going to be rich. When I was in film school, I was sure I was going to be the next big movie director. And today, for the first time in a long time, I am sure of those things again. It’s just a matter of time.

I realized this the other day, before Jiu Jitsu class, while reading the back of a t-shirt. As stupid as that sounds, it is actually true. I’m sitting there stretching between classes and I see this printed on the back of my boy’s t-shirt  Read more... (1086 words, 1 image, estimated 4:21 mins reading time)

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Every Wednesday is Personal Development in Business, and this week, to make up for Monday, I included some Jiu jitsu as well.…

The last few months or so have been pressure packed for me. As you can tell by my various posting schedule, my time has been short. I have a budding business I am helping mold, major projects being released, and a growing list of clients to deal with. On top of that, money has been tight because I have been putting it all right back into the business, or working for pennies to build my portfolio. All in all, you could say it has been a tough, but very productive, first quarter of the year.  Read more... (1481 words, 2 images, estimated 5:55 mins reading time)

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Every Monday is personal development through Jiu Jitsu…

Becoming focused on our goals is the best way to achieve them. We can learn about how to improve that focus from MMA fighters.

For a Mixed Martial Arts Fighter to be great, they must have incredible focus. Not just during the fight, but also in the months leading up to it. Focus is what a fighter gets better at as they gain more experience. The things that were once distractions, like the crowd, making weight, etc., seem to dissipate into thin air as they evolve into a better, more experienced fighter.  Read more... (939 words, 2 images, estimated 3:45 mins reading time)

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Every Monday is personal development through Jiu Jitsu…

“Sometimes your the hammer, sometimes your the nail.”

This is a saying everyone at my Jiu Jitsu school knows. My instructor is a big fan of repeating it because it sums up exactly what Jiu Jitsu is all about. In Jiu Jitsu, MMA, and in life, in order to truly master something, you must understand all aspects of it. You can not possibly master Jiu jitsu without understanding what it’s like to be both the hammer and the nail.  Read more... (855 words, 1 image, estimated 3:25 mins reading time)

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Every Monday is personal development through Jiu Jitsu…

Yesterday I went to train Jiu Jitsu at my school. Thank goodness, because in NJ today, there is about 6-7 inches of snow, which means no training tonight. I’m glad I got it in yesterday, as these days, I could use every session I can get to improve. The Sunday open mats at my school are always helpful, as you never know who is going to be there.

Yesterday I was rolling with my good friend, who I got my blue belt with. We are both purple belts now, and have been training for awhile together. He fights, and I have cornered him for all three contests. We rolled for a while, neither quite doing anything spectacular, and no one tapping the other. Then, we kind of came to a strange conclusion: Lately our games have been growing stale.  Read more... (746 words, 1 image, estimated 2:59 mins reading time)