Each and every day, try to do a little bit more than you did the day before.
Try to work on your goals a little bit more than you did the day before.
Take a little bit more action toward your dreams than you did previously.
Put a little bit more effort into your relationships than you have been.
Try to explore your creative ideas a little bit more than you did yesterday.
Give a little bit more care, concern, and attention to the people you love.
Take a little bit more time for the things that matter.
Give a little bit less of your time to the things that do not.
Use a little bit more energy on that which excites you, drives you forward, and feeds your soul.
Use a little bit less of your energy on that which drains you, steals your joy, and robs you of your hope.
Do a little bit more for others and a little bit less of that which is selfish.
Face a little bit of your fear.
Challenge some of your preconceptions and your prejudices.
Open your mind, your heart, and your life a little bit more to joy and pain.
It does not have to be a lot.
In fact, it should not be a lot.
Slow, incremental progress is enough.
Small, determined steps forward are sufficient.
Trudge forward a little bit more each and every day toward the light and away from regret.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.
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