If you make a decision about who you want to be, you only have to make it once.
Now it is time to take action.
Every day, when you wake up, you don’t have to think about who you are.
The decision has already been made.
You simply have to do the work to prove that you were serious.
Do this work day after day without exception or excuse.
You become who you decide that you are.
We are what we practice.
Whether we are talking about physical, mental, emotional, or even creative habits, we are changed most by that which we most often do.
Over time, repetition and routine become character.
What we practice most is what we fall back on when we are under pressure, stress, or fatigue.
This is why it is so important to build habits around that which we want to become.
We have to practice achieving our goals until the behaviors, skills, and attitudes required for those goals become our natural state.
Through practice, we become that which we are striving toward.
We should, therefore, practice being who we want to be instead of settling for who we are in the habit of being.
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 Kogen Dojo Self Defense Academy where he teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.*
*Robert Van Valkenburgh’s black and white photography can be seen at My Darkness To Light
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If comfort is our standard for behavior, we cannot grow.
The essence of evolution is adaptation as a means of overcoming difficulty.
If we spend all of our time and energy avoiding difficulty, we are simultaneously denying ourselves the opportunity to grow and to change.
By choosing comfort over challenges, we are also choosing stagnation and entropy over evolution.
In a way, this can be likened to stealing from ourselves.
When comfort is the standard upon which we make our decisions, we miss out on new experiences, opportunities, and perspectives.
We never get to see what is on the other side of the challenge, obstacle, or hardship.
Instead of being avoided at all costs, difficulty should be seen as a generous teacher, received like a precious gift, and embraced as we would a loving friend.
Without facing the resistance ahead of us, learning how to meet it and overcome it, we will never know what we are truly capable of accomplishing and who we are capable of becoming.
A life of comfort is a life denied of living itself.
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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We all need to feel supported in our pursuit of the person we are meant to be.
One of the greatest gifts we can receive from another person is to be believed by them, to have them see or hear the story we are trying to tell about who we are in the world and for them to believe that story. This type of belief is both empowering and uplifting. It gives us the permission we need to explore the places within ourselves we suspect are real and true, but are afraid will not be accepted or supported by the world around us.
We all want to be seen and heard in our own way. Having someone else believe what we are trying to say about who we imagine ourselves to be, even when our ability to express it has not yet fully formed into something clear and powerful, gives us the room to continue to grow into who we are. It tells us that it is okay to try, to fail, and to try again until we get it right, until what we feel and how we express those feelings converge into a single path leading us toward who we are meant to be.
This all takes time. It requires trust in and dedication to the process of becoming. Most of all, the process of becoming demands consistency. Once we know what we want to, or must, say with our lives, we cannot hesitate, we cannot waver, and we cannot stray from our path for too long lest we become lost in a world of distraction and confusion, unsure of who we are, who we are meant to be, and where we are headed. If we want others to believe us, we must first believe ourselves.
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.
Success is not what we accumulate, but who we become.
There is no mystical end point where we can say that we have arrived and that our work is done. If we are driven in any way, we will want to and we must continue to move forward. If there is no final destination where we can say that we have achieved all that we have set out to achieve, it is who we are throughout the process that matters most.
Success can be seen as either a process of accumulation or a process of self discovery. If it is a process of accumulation, whether of wealth, possessions, or accomplishments, we are reliant upon external markers for our fulfillment. We can chase them until the end of our days and, even if we acquire all of that which we seek to accumulate, we will never have enough. We will always be left wanting and needing more.
On the other hand, if success is seen as a process of self discovery, regardless of what happens to us externally, we can always find value in our experiences and the lessons therein. Success, after all, is a measure of value and worth. What is more valuable, what is worth more than experience, personal growth, and the enrichment of our lives and the lives we come into contact with?
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, Severna Park’s Holistic Chamber of Commerce, and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
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Meditations on God 