Everyone’s a White Belt at the Start

In our last article, 2012 New Year Intermission, we spoke about how Canada Day or Independence Day marks the halfway point in the year. This is a great place to evaluate your progress towards your most highly coveted goals. In the first half of the year, did you achieve the goals you set for yourself? If not yet, are you happy with the progress that you have made so far?

If not, why?

Are you seeking a different way to work and move towards your goals, or what we at Samurai Innovation call “your essential priorities”? What if we could show you a method to achieve your goals and reach your essential priorities twice as fast with half the effort?

Fundamental Success Indicators™

There is such a method, and we have developed, tested and honed it on ourselves and with our students. You can achieve what you want in life when you identify your Fundamental Success Indicators™. This is a system designed to cut through the diversion and bring focus to everything that is important to you. It acts as a tool that guides you towards achieving your essential priorities with 100% certainty.

Our process is simplified as follows:

1. Identify what you want most

2. Identify the essential priorities around those goals, dreams and desires

3. Match them with a powerful set of metrics to help you move towards them the same way a sprinter runs the 100 yard dash to the finish line

What makes Samurai Innovation unique is that we seek to blend the secrets of the samurai with cutting edge strategy to sharpen you and your business results. We will introduce some terminology that is commonly talked about in the martial arts and part of The Way of the Samurai.

Ready to begin?

Everyone’s a White Belt at the Start

Everyone's A White Belt At The Start When you begin practicing most martial arts, you are given a fresh, new and clean uniform. Some schools call this a kimono or a dogi. The jacket is adorned with a crisp, often very stiff white belt. The white belt is a symbol and a reminder to all students in the dojo (training hall or school). This reminds the experienced practitioners of their first experience training and the awkwardness of being new at something.

The second reminder is to be easy and be a diligent training partner and teacher with the new student. Your job as the teacher of a white belt follows:

1. Make them feel safe

2. Help them feel comfortable learning something new

3. Encourage repetition versus perfection and have them try again after they stumble, trip or fall

4. Build their confidence to keep trying until they learn the sequence of the techniques

5. Inspire them to show up to the next class

White Belt Power

The white belt is powerful in that it also represents equality, respect for beginners, along with respect for teachers. It reminds you to keep an open mind through the process. The most powerful feature of the white belt is that it reminds you to avoid the “I know that” syndrome. Often times, when I hear students say, “I know that…” it usually is accompanied with a lack of confidence to perform at their highest potential.

Are you starting your goal achieving at White Belt?

We have all hit points where we feel like starting over in our goal achievement process. That is natural and actually a good place to be. We often don’t take time to take stock of what is happening as our life unfolds before us.

You can employ the power of the white belt today by assuming the beginner’s mindset. Look at your goals through the lens of a beginner. Consider how you can go about attaining what you seek in a new and slightly uncomfortable manner. What avenues or methods haven’t you explored yet that could help you?

All samurai or martial art students feel uncomfortable when learning a new technique. The antidote to the awkwardness and fear that enters your mind is to get in many repetitions of training. This ultimately requires you to show up to class and train.

Are you showing up?

Are you showing up consistently?

Are you showing up with intention and focus?

Woody Allen is quoted saying that “80% of success is showing up”. This is sage advice that I have used time and time again to reach new heights and to discover and accomplish things that years prior, I only dreamed of.

In our next article, we will go Under the Kimono and show you how identifying your personal drivers will yield the greatest results.

We welcome your questions and feedback by leaving a comment below.

Domo Arigato

About the Author Shane Fielder

I am a grower of human capability and a business builder. The best part of my life is helping people become stronger and develop their skills, talents and character in order to lead powerful lives. I have had the great privilege to study under some of the greatest minds of business, leadership, health and fitness along with the most talented Martial Arts instructors. My passion is helping people to become even more powerful in life than they already are.