New Beginnings!

Last Thursday nights class was great! There we were, a brand new team starting out on a new and exciting journey together. The combination of activity, excitement and a bit of nerves help to create this amazing environment to be in and train in.

A new beginning is always exciting for me and just a little bit scary and overwhelming. The scary part is all the unknowns and not having enough confidence in myself. I have to remind myself that we all have our own strengths and weaknesses and those individual qualities are what is going to make this year a fantastic year, as we grow together and as individuals.

There is this part of me that would love to keep everything the same and yet that is almost impossible to do and would also get somewhat boring with fewer benefits as well. Momentum builds through the changes that come with our combined growth and experience and the individual qualities that each of us brings to the team. Each year builds on the previous year and then we usually add in some new blood and voila we have a recipe for the best team ever!

Blogging is an extremely important component on our path to success. It helps to share our experiences and knowledge so that we can all learn and grow and strengthens us as individuals and as a team. I think that success and mastery is more than just doing, it also requires reflection, adjustment and sharing what you have learned or what you are struggling with.   

 I am excited for the year ahead and whatever it brings!

Namaste, Michele Ward

Chinese New Year

Our Chinese New Years Banquet is a celebration of everything that has been accomplished throughout the year and it also signals the beginning of a brand new year. No matter where our journey has taken us this is a time where we all meet and come together as fellow students, friends, family and community.

We plan, organize and practice, practice, practice until finally the big day has arrived. After all those months of practice and preparation it is amazing though how quickly the banquet is over and done. I am grateful for the opportunity to work along side of everyone that comes out to help set up during the day and I enjoy the set up almost as much as the event itself.

Congratulations to Sifu Melanie Beckett and to Sifu Rybak as well as all the students that received awards this year. I am proud to be a member of Silent River Kung Fu and look forward to seeing where my journey will take me during the Year of the Dog!

Happy New Year!

Michele Ward

Follow Through & Communication

During last Saturday's meeting, Sifu Brinker provided us with some gifts and one of the greatest gifts I received was a better understanding of what it means to be part of a team.

Horse team, rooster team, dog team, etc. The commonality in each, is the word "team" and yet it has taken me two years with help to understand what that actually means. My first year on the team I was simply scared spitless and this second year has been about balancing two jobs, team requirements plus travel and the usual stuff life throws at us. And yet I really do not have a good reason as to why I have not been a better team mate. I used to work in management and so I have a very good understanding of what being part of a team involves. It makes sense that I should have been able to transfer this knowledge to the I Ho Chuan team. Unfortunately when I'm not comfortable and confident with what I am doing I tend to follow or hide rather than lead. This is still not a reason because some communication on my part would have gone a long way towards being a better team mate.

 

Yes, we have this amazing supportive and non-judgemental environment that provides a great team atmosphere. Yet how many of us actually understand and embrace the concept of what being part of a "team" means. We all have our own reasons and motivations for joining the team and we know upfront what the base requirements are. This is all set out in black and white. Our journeys are all very unique and sometimes because of this I think there can be a feeling of being somewhat separate from the team. I know for myself that even being away for one class, I start to feel a lack of connection which makes communication all the more important. The grey areas are how you fill in the spaces and mesh the individual and team components together creating a true team environment. I was so focused on my own journey that I forgot about some of the other aspects of being part of a team. 

At work if I am going to be away I will arrange for someone to cover for me. I make notes, I plan, I organize and I communicate. It is really quite simple. I would never just assume or hope that some one else was going to take care of what needs to get done. I know that our intentions are good, but follow through and communication are going to create a stronger team environment.

Even though we all have individual unique journey's, we are much stronger and more effective when working together as a "team". Look at what we accomplish when we all come together as we plan, practise and get ready for the Chinese New Years Banquet.

Namaste,

Michele Ward

Rooster Year in Review

I have been reflecting back on my year as a Rooster to determine growth and how my success rate vs failure rate measures up. When I take a look at all the requirements and personal goals that needed to be checked off, I didn't come anywhere close to being successful. Fortunately I've realized that success is subjective to a certain degree and not everything is black and white.

Some people would say that you've either accomplished what you set out to do or you haven't. Yet even when we fail, if we use that failure as a stepping stone to learn from and continue our forward momentum, then isn't that it's own form of success? Sometimes the growth and benefits that results from failure can surpass the potential of the original goal.

Because I know the value of failure, I will definitely need to re adjust my thinking when it comes to anything on the list that I consciously make a choice not to do. I can honestly say 100% that I failed at the sparing component of our requirements because I didn't even try. There was no success because there was no effort put in and therefore no failure to learn from.

So as I assess my year on the rooster team, I am amazed at the unexpected journey my failures have taken me on and I am grateful for the hurdles along the way. Without those hurdles I would not have developed the knowledge, understanding and awareness that I currently have. I also would not have come this far without the support and feedback from a very dear friend and members of the Rooster team. I know that I could have put in much more effort and yet that lack of effort created some of my greatest insights, but only because I took the time to reflect and figure out what was happening. I now have an improved plan that will help me to check off the boxes and reach my goals.

On many levels my year has been a success. I've had to restart many times along the way, but I never completely gave up. Every attempt to reach my goals has been another step towards success.

Success like mastery is a journey rather than a destination.


Namaste,

Michele Ward