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Meditations on God

  • Robert Van Valkenburgh

  • Routine Is The Foundation Of Progress

    Routines help us do what we must when our motivation is lacking.

    Even with regards to things we want or need to do, it is difficult to stay motivated all of the time.

    Desire comes and goes.

    Passion comes and goes.

    Enthusiasm comes and goes.

    Routine helps us to stay on track.

    It helps us to do the things we need to do even when we do not want to do them.

    Beyond that, routine saves us from making unnecessary decisions from day to day, allowing us to conserve our mental energy, attention, and focus for the unexpected variables that will inevitably arise.

    Routine gives us something to fall back on when we are uncertain, unfocused, or overwhelmed.

    Developing a healthy, positive routine gives us a foundation for measured improvement, growth, and achievement that randomness never could.


    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.

    Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

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    September 26, 2020
    achievement, attention, decisions, focus, goals, growth, habits, progress, routine, success

  • On Effort And Overwhelm

    We risk being overwhelmed by life’s challenges whether we try too hard or not hard enough, but only one of these options can lead us beyond our difficulties to success.

    Life will not always be easy.

    We will struggle.

    At times, we will be overwhelmed by decisions, challenges, and setbacks.

    This is true whether we are trying to get ahead or not.

    Effort, trying our hardest, doing our best, does not guarantee us success.

    It certainly does not guarantee that things will be easy, that we will not be overwhelmed, or that we will not fail.

    The only thing that effort promises us is that we can be successful, not that we will.

    Lack of effort, on the other hand, does not offer us any promises of success either.

    Lack of effort does, however, guarantee that we will not be successful.

    The choice we must make, therefore, is whether we want to take a chance on the possibility of success or if we want to guarantee our failure.

    Through effort, at least we have a chance.

    At least we have hope.

    Life will still be difficult.

    We will still struggle and get overwhelmed at times.

    As long as we do not give up, as long as we continue to push forward, we give ourselves the opportunity to make our suffering temporary.


    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.

    Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

    If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.

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    September 25, 2020
    challenges, difficulties, difficulty, effort, failure, overwhelm, struggles, success

  • On Novelty And Change

    Innovation is measured in the positive impact it has on our lives, on the lives of those around us, and on the world at large.

    If it is to be of value, it needs to positively affect people’s lives in some way, shape, or form.

    Innovation purely for innovation’s sake is not really all that useful.

    Innovation without a purposeful function, without some kind of positive and meaningful change, is more novel than it is necessary.

    If we are driven to innovate, we must do our best to avoid novelty.

    An audience attracted to novelty will soon move on when something new and more novel arises.

    They will have no loyalty to us or our ideas because what we have to offer is not what they are looking for.

    They want something new, but we want to make a difference.

    Our audience, the people we should be seeking out and who we hope will seek us out as well, are the people who are looking for the change that we are trying to make, whether they know it now or not.


    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.

    Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

    If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.

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    September 24, 2020
    audience, change, community, innovation, novelty, value

  • Balancing Weakness With Strength

    When we see weakness, especially in those we claim to care about, we must choose whether we want to ignore it, exploit it, or support it.

    We all have flaws, insecurities, and shortcomings.

    None of us is anything close to perfect.

    Even the strongest amongst us is weak in some way.

    Sometimes we know how, why, and in what ways, but often there are aspects of ourselves that even we do not see, understand, or want to accept or admit exist.

    If we spend enough time with someone, as we become familiar with their personality, character, and psychological, emotional, and behavioral patterns, certain truths begin to come to light.

    We begin to see aspects of their character that they may wish were hidden, covered up, or of which they are not even aware.

    Weaknesses begin to be exposed.

    As this happens, as we become aware of another person’s flaws, insecurities, and shortcomings, as we see their weaknesses, we have to decide what we want to do with this intimate and powerful knowledge.

    We can choose to ignore it as something that is none of our business and does not concern or affect us.

    We can choose to exploit it, take advantage of it, or even attack it, using it as a tool of destruction.

    Or, we can choose to support it, doing our best to make up for it in our own way, balancing out their weakness with our strength.

    This is a decision that should not be taken lightly.


    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.

    Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

    If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.

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    September 23, 2020
    caring, compassion, empathy, intimacy, kindness, knowledge, power, strength, support, weakness

  • On Risk And Action

    Action without risk mitigation is carelessness, but risk mitigation without action is procrastination.

    All action is inherently risky, but not all risk is necessary.

    Our goal should be to preemptively mitigate unnecessary risks to the best of our ability so that our actions have the best possible chances of success.

    No matter how much we have researched, tested, and prepared, however, we will never really be able to account for and mitigate all potential risks.

    Risk mitigation is not the same as risk avoidance.

    There is no way to accomplish anything worthwhile while also avoiding risk altogether.

    If we try to mitigate risk to the point of avoiding it, we are no longer preparing.

    We are now procrastinating.

    At some point, we have to decide that we have done enough and that the remaining or unforeseen risks are worth facing, addressing, and adapting to while trying to achieve our goal.


    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.

    Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

    If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.

    Share this:

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    September 22, 2020
    achievement, action, decision, procrastination, progress, risk, success

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