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• "Follow plans and achieve goals. When obstacles arise, you change your directions to reach your goal, you don't change your decision to get there." -Zig Ziglar
  
  When sparring, instant change is part of the game. If we try something and it doesn't work, we don't stand there and lament over it, we just try something else. It all happens in seconds. There's a lesson there don't you think? What if we could speed up the decision-making process in other areas of our loves? What if we could stop lingering and lamenting over failed attempts? Let's strive to change our direction when we need to, but not take our eyes off the goal we're all striving for Black Belt Excellence.
  
  
• "The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it." -Carl Jung
  
  This is a great quote for martial artists because it speaks directly to the achievement of becoming a black belt. What we're all working on here, today and every time we meet for traing, is to make the accomplishment of our rank mean something to us. To do that we need to focus on constant and never-ending improvement, mentally, physically and emotionally. The harder and smarter we train, the more meaning the black belt will have for us
  
  
• "No pressure, no diamonds." -Mary Case
  
  Developing a Black Belt Attitude means leering to deal with pressure without losing our resources. Pressure doesn't have to be a bad thing, instead we can train ourselves to make pressure bring out the best in each of us. The first place to start that process is to develop the belief that pressure is good and it serves us.
  
  
• "Unless each day can be looked back upon by an individual as one in which he or she has had some fun, some joy, some real satisfaction, that day is a loss." -Dwight D. Eisenhower

  Let's put a black belt twist on this quote: Unless each class you attend can be fun, full of joy and satisfaction, that class is a loss. Let's remind ourselves that the responsibility to bring fun, joy and satisfaction to a class doesn't necessarily belong in the hands of the instructor. The responsibility resides in each student. You have got to come to class and make it fun. Enjoy the process, even when the training is tough, even when the pressure is on. Don't wait for the instructor to make it fun for you, instead, make it fun for the instructor by coming in with a great attitude.
  
  

• "I have missed more than 9,000 shots and lost almost 300 games in my career. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot...and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life, and that's precisely why I succeed." -Michael Jordan

  To develop a Black Belt Attitude we need to keep loss and failure in perspective. With the right mindset, a loss isn't a loss at all. Loss and failure are two of our best teachers. Our job is to make sure we're learning the lessons quickly!
  
  

• "I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time, I am right." -Albert Einstein

  It's easy in a classroom setting like ours to understand and accept that we're not doing a technique correctly. We know that with practice we're going to improve; it just takes time. The trick is to remember this when we're out of our uniforms! When we're dealing with employees. When we're dealing with school or work challenges. When we're dealing with our parents or children. To have a Black Belt attitude is to know that if we keep cool and keep practicing, we will eventually succeed.
  
  

• "I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed ... and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep trying!" -Tom Hopkins

  Winner's never quit and quitters never win! How can we get better if we don't make mistakes? How can we earn our rank if we quit trying? Let's use this moment to remind ourselves that trying and trying and trying eventually leads to succeeding. This is the "Way of the Black Belt."
  
  

• "Good judgment is most often the result of experience and, unfortunately, experience is very often the result of poor judgment." -Unknown

  Make a mistake, learn a lesson. Learn enough lessons and mistakes are easier to avoid! It's the way we become black belts here at the school and in other aspects of our lives.
  
  

• "People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr

  Tolerance and understanding has got to be one of the traits we develop alongside our dogged perseverance and strict self-discipline. Without physical balance we can't become a black belt and without a certain mental and emotional balance it's difficult to find happiness. Let's make it a GOAL of our training: the tougher we get, the gentler we become. Let's always work to develop the yin along with the yang.