Best Version of Myself

Being the best version of myself is quite simply, being OK with me just as I am in any given moment. Ego is taken out of the equation. 

A few weeks ago as I was leaving the hospital I had this moment of clarity and awareness. In that moment, I knew I didn’t need to be perfect, everything didn’t need to be in order. I could just be me and that fills me up.

My kung fu Journey has led me down many different paths over the years. Guiding me along the way has been my own pursuit of mastery and striving to be the best version of myself in the process.

The awareness I had recently got me to thinking what does being the best version of myself actually mean? It could mean a lot of things to a lot of different people, but whatever I am working towards and trying to improve or build upon comes down to how I am feeling about myself in the moment without ego muddling things up.

I can still strive to be more, build on my successes and learn from failures, but at the same time be at one with who I am and where I am in that moment. 

The Power of Priorities

Every once in a while I am reminded of the power an intentional priority can hold. I’ve experienced this multiple times over the years and Kung fu is a great example.

Prioritizing Kung fu classes has helped me to have a better work life balance and advocate for myself. It has also helped me to push through my anxiety, guiding me on a journey that has led me to where I am now, all because I made classes and kung fu a priority in my life.

I’ve also learned over the years to make taking care of myself a priority, especially during times of additional stress. Both last week and this week I was able to fit in sometime at the kwoon to train. With everything going on with my dad, it was much needed time to do something for me, but in order for it to happen, I had to make me a priority. 

The power is not just the priority itself. It is in the benefits, the outcome and the ripple effects that develop as a result. There is also power in being able carving out time for myself. Almost to the extent where I am able to create/manufacture the time needed all because I’m determined to do so.

Some of those priorities have been conscious choices occurring as the result of a deep, inner knowing of what is needed in my life in that moment and for the future. They can often start as a tiny seed of thought and then quickly take on a life of their own.

As I reflect on this, I find myself smiling when I consider everything I’ve been able to accomplish because of the power of intentional priorities.

10 Minute Rule in Practice

When I blogged 2 weeks ago about the 10 minute rule, I felt it was important to implement this into my life and put it into practice. My goal was to spend 10 minutes each day on both dog training and 10 minutes on Kung Fu. 

Right about the same time dad went into the hospital for some rib pain and was admitted due to other issues discovered after routine lab work. Thankfully he is close by in the Stony Plain hospital. I have been going to see him 2 and sometimes 3 times a day to help keep him settled and comfortable. He is doing pretty good now and there is talk of him going home in the next few days. 

Care, concern, frequent visits and managing everything that comes with this gets to be tiring at times. I know how important it is to eat healthy and take care of myself especially during stressful times. Breakfast is usually the easiest and supper very doable with a bit more effort. It's the lunch meal I find the most challenging when I'm on the go, so there has been some less than healthy eating for lunches.

Due to everything going on with dad, my commitment to the 10 minute rule has been limited to dog training. Because I am currently working with a trainer, Willow and I both need and benefit from the daily practice. There are days when I want nothing more than to just sit and relax. Keeping what I know about consistent daily practice in mind has helped me to push myself and get it done. I have found it works best to set a timer for 5 minutes, do some training practice, then reset with another 5 minutes right away. There was one day in particular where I was exhausted and thought I would just skip the day. Instead I set the timer and did just one 5 minute session so there was at least some continuity to keep the flow going. 

Overall I'm happy with what I have been able to accomplish and I can see some progression with Willow's training.

Blogging

It has been said by some that I have it all figured out. (This concerns me, I think because of the responsibility I feel it comes with.) Personally I wouldn’t say I have things figured out, but I do think I am developing the awareness and insight that helps me to work on figuring things out. The more important piece is I am actively working on and loving myself while embracing life.

I attribute the insights and where I am at to consistent weekly blogging. Everything I'm in the works of figuring out is a direct result of ongoing reflection and self discovery. For me blogging is work and takes a lot of effort, but it is effort I feel compelled to make each week because of the massive results and growth gained over the years. 

Just 10 Minutes!

How many times as students have we heard 10 minutes per day of practice is all that is required? The answer of course is,... numerous times.

Why is it that this can make perfect sense and yet not sink in enough to be implemented? It isn't because we don't have the time, because really when you think about it, 10 minutes is a blip in a day and very doable. Even the discipline required to commit to 10 minutes a day of anything is easily achievable. 

So what then is the missing link?

Part of the issue is the desire or ego driven need to spend more than 10 minutes and then simply not doing anything because there isn't enough time. Another missing component may be to some degree a lack of completely understanding the value that can be derived from spending 10 minutes everyday on a specific goal. 

As I work on training my dog, the 10 minute rule is a big component to success when it comes to me and my dog learning the necessary skills. I was reminded of this at the dog park this past week when I came across an impressive example of the 10 minute rule. I watched a women throw the ball for her dog. As the dog ran towards the ball and was close to picking it up, she call out a command. The dog immediately stopped and waited for her to give the ok before picking up the ball. I asked her how she had achieved this level of obedience and impulse control in her dog. Her response was it was a simple commitment of 10 minutes per day at home practicing different command words and adding in distractions to build on the skills.

It didn't take much for me to quickly realize this is a great example of what can be gained by utilizing the 10 minute rule. And with that realization also came the understanding of what I'm potentially loosing with everyday that goes by when I don't apply 10 minutes of time & effort to a particular skill or goal in a disciplined and consistent manner.

I also realized not making use of the 10 minute rule is more significant than just some lost days here and there. Each day that goes by without spending 10 minutes on my Kung Fu training or dog training for example, slows down my progress and the potential for exponential acceleration is diminished. And instead of gaining ground I could actually be loosing ground.