PrintGet out the box of tissues and watch this young man on China’s Got Talent. He lost his arms at the age of ten after being accidentally electrocuted while playing with a friend. After overcoming his initial depression, he formulated a philosophy for his life that is sure to take him to unimaginable heights. We all have many challenges in our lives, and there is no person who has it easy, regardless of how things may appear on the outside. Thing is, there is no stopping a person with a goal, a drive, a positive outlook, and the willingness to put the work in, no matter what. In the case of this young man, the loss of his arms compelled him to learn to do everything with his feet – including playing the piano. Watch this true champion of life and get inspired. Often, what at first seems like an obstacle, if looked a properly, is really the beginning of an opportunity.
Posts Tagged motivation
This week I took my seven year old son to the skateboard shop and set him up with all the gear. Board, helmet, wrist guards, elbow pads and knee pads. He felt like such a big boy with his cool new gear. He even got some cool new skateboarding sneakers to top it off.
Since skateboards and skate gear aren’t meant to be looked at the next evening was a trip to the skate park where the big boys play.
When we got there he ran right in and got on his new board. I just stood there for a minute in amazement watching skateboards, bmx bikes, scooters, and a unicycle whizzing by at lightning speeds, with wiry, muscular young men jumping, flipping twisting, turning, and flying on them.
I thought, “Ok – deep breath, he’ll survive”. As for my son, he was off exploring the park, completely unaffected by what was going on all around him.
The first time he fell off his ‘big boy board’ I thought – ok he’s gonna fall, its part of learning. By the 10th I thought – wow, he is pretty tough, and he is not giving up. By the 15th or 20th time he fell, the older guys were starting to notice him and say things like “Man that kid has b*lls!” Eventually he was able to manage small ramps, then bigger ones, then he went for a serious one. He got some coaching from experienced skaters and I watched and held my breath.
He stood for a minute, then dropped in and sure enough – wiped out, smacked his face on the ramp and came up with a bloody lip. He popped up and said “I’m ok!” And got right back on his board.
Despite my private little minor coronary, he taught us all a very valuable lesson that day. No matter how many times you fall off your board, ignore the minor scrapes and bruises, and get right back on and ride. Life is just like that, and the only failure is to not get back on your board and try again.
By the way, we went back two days later, and after a few more falls and face plants, he was able to drop in on and ride the big boy half pipe – harder than what he had busted his face on two days earlier.
Update: While I don’t have that really nasty spill, here is some footage I took on my blackberry of the boy’s first and second day on his skateboard. I appreciate your comments.
Photo: taliesin from morguefile.com
“Everyone enjoys doing the kind of work for which he is best suited.”
Napoleon Hill
Doctor to patient: “What fits your busy schedule better, exercising one hour a day or being dead 24 hours a day?”
Randy Glasbergen, Cartoonist
My first boxing trainer was one of those old timers, not unlike Mickey, of the Rocky movies. In my first encounter with him, he asked me three questions. He said, “Are you a wise guy kid? Because I love to tame a wise guy,” to which I answered, “Uh, no sir.” Then he said, “You a bleeder?” to which I responded, “Uh, I don’t know sir.” Finally, he said, “Can you skip rope?” and I said, “Uh, yes sir.” And he said, “Well go grab a rope then,” and I said “Uh, ok sir.”
As a teenager he was a fascinating figure to me, and remains so still in my mind.
He was a typical old time boxing pro, who sat at his beat up desk in the gym, smoking a cigar, talking boxing with other old timers. Sometimes he shouted instructions at the fighters, and other times he would be standing on the ring apron coaching young fighters through sparring session. He must have been 75 when I first met him.
I stuck around the gym over the years, and learned a lot of things. One thing in particular, I will never forget. I asked him how he managed to look so trim and fit, even at his age. When you are in your teens, 75 sounds like 175, and he could still move pretty well, and still had fast hands.
His answer was amazing. He said, “I never left the gym, kid.” I asked him what he meant by that, and he told me the following: “There are 24 hours in the day. If you can’t give one of them to your body, there is something wrong with you.”
Simple as that. He didn’t have a medical degree, but he had a simple logic for keeping himself (and others) in shape. OK, minus his daily cigar, but you catch my drift. An hour a day might sound like a long time to spend working out, so I will modify it for you. How about 10 minutes of simple exercises like squats, push-ups, and sit-ups? It could change your life if you try.
So I have a question for you now. “What fits your daily schedule better?”
“When you always do your best, you are always getting better.”
Shihan J. Levy, M.Ed.
In teaching martial arts, I always tell my students that you do not have to be Bruce Lee on your first day. What I should really say is that you do not need to be Bruce Lee on any day. What you need to be is you – wherever you are right now. What you need to do is get started, regardless of the story running in your head that wants you to believe you are not ready yet. Every day you delay is a day of wasted potential to improve.
Each of us is born with our own potential, and with our own native ability. Our self effort is what gets us from the point of natural talent, to the discovery and realization of our potential. Add good teaching and coaching along the way, and your possibilities expand even further. The point is, start now, and do the best you can. Every time you do your best, you increase the range of what your best is. Sure there will be days when you just don’t have it, but even on those days, get out there and do your best.
When I train fighters for the ring, I don’t care much what the judges say at the end of a match. Don’t get me wrong, it is always nice to win, but winning and losing are both relative. If you get the win, but didn’t compete honestly, it is not a win in my book. By honestly, I don’t just mean following the rules; I also mean giving an honest effort according to your ability. Similarly, if you lose to a superior opponent, but gave it all you had, and really made them earn it from you, I will be extremely proud. In fact, sometimes losing is just what the doctor ordered. My father always told me that you learn a lot more from losing than you do from winning.
Regardless of the activity, one should always be in the habit of doing their best. This habit will lend itself to always going the extra mile – another characteristic of successful people, or what I call “black belts in life”. If you are hung up on winning all the time, prepare for a life of disappointment. However, if you redefine winning as learning, improving, or giving your best effort, you will never fear doing a thing for fear of failure.
This concept has been well summed up by Theodore Roosevelt, who said, “Do the best you can, with what you have, where you are.”
I must confess, I have been eating entirely too much food during Passover.
Whether or not you are celebrating Passover, most people are on spring break right now, and it is very possible that you are also indulging just a bit. Let’s face it, we are all human, and nobody is perfect all the time. The key thing to remember is that just because you temporarily got off track, does not mean that you can not get back on track. It would be easy to stay off track, but you would not respect yourself very much.
There is an old saying that an object in motion tends to stay in motion, and an object at rest tends to stay at rest. In both cases the only way they change their status is if they are acted upon by some outside force. I am paraphrasing here, but you get the idea.
If you have gotten off track with your workout and diet routine, the way to get back on track is to use your own mind as the outside force that gets your body back in motion. With the weather getting better, and the sun shining more, it is the perfect time to recommit to your health and well being.
Tony Robbins has a saying that motion creates emotion. That being the case, one surefire way to feel good is to move your body in a healthy way. Family Martial Arts Academy is the perfect place to do that, because you get a total body workout, doing something fun and interesting under the supervision of a trained professional.
We would all be very blessed to have a sound mind in a healthy body for a long time to come. I look forward to seeing you all accomplishing your life and fitness goals.
I love to hear about your life’s successes. Please post comments with your stories!
Photo: Mariano Kamp
Like Theodore Roosevelt has said, “Do the best you can with what you have where you are.”
Check out the article (and video in the Related Media box) about Charlene Lerner, who has decided to keep shooting.
Photo: Jared Zwerling
At least one third of Americans today are considered obese. Imagine, with all of our advancements in technology, we are less physically fit as a nation than we have ever been before. The Atkins diets, and the Jenny Craigs, and the Weight Watchers just don’t seem to be doing the trick. Not that it is their fault, because it is not. They really are trying to help. The thing is, we just don’t move our bodies anymore. Let’s face it, it is boring as hell to go to the gym. Of course, this would be the perfect place to plug my kickboxing classes at Family Martial Arts Academy, or my personal training services, but that is not the point of this post.
Back when I was in college, I became fascinated with the world of dance. At first I took classes to supplement my martial arts training, but eventually I fell in love with it for its own sake. I studied everything from ballet, to modern, to jazz, to African, to tap. Baryshnikov and Gene Kelly became heroes of mine along with Gregory Hines, the Nicholas brothers, and Bill Bojangles Robinson. One thing all of these men had in common, aside from being incredible dancers, was that they were all in incredible physical shape. It didn’t seem to matter how old they got, when they took to the stage, they were always magical, and they moved with grace and ease.
At one point I was taking so many dance classes, and rehearsing for so many shows, that I was dancing for about eight hours a day. Talk about being lean and fit! My body did whatever I wanted it to do, and I was constantly exploring new physical challenges. It also made my martial arts ability far better than it had ever been before.
Take a look at this video of Shirley Temple and Bill Bojangles Robinson. He is well beyond his youth at this time, but look at how fit he was. He not only dances up and down a flight of stairs, but does it while singing and humming a tune, and never gets out of breath. He feet are fast, his legs are youthful, and his body is agile, trim, and fit. He also looks like he loves to dance and move.
Want to stay in shape? Find a physical activity that you love to do, and you will never stop doing it. It won’t feel like working out, it will just feel like fun. Bet you never thought of tap dancing as a workout, but then again, maybe you never tried it.
And if you happen to be in the Highland Park, NJ area, and you want another fun way to stay in shape, come check out one of my kickboxing classes, or call me for personal training. Never know, it might change your life.
Now, enjoy the video, and get inspired!!
Photo: laurenatclemson
Sometimes it seems that there is way too much information coming at us at once. It can make a person freeze in their tracks, not knowing what to focus on first, or how to decipher what is important information versus what to ignore.
The key thing is to constantly be honest with oneself about what we are truly interested in rather than what we think will make us interesting to others. The fact is that being interested is way more interesting than trying to be interesting for its own sake. Those who are truly successful are typically those who love what they do, and therefore can’t stop doing it. When we face the mountain of information that is always in front of us from that place, it makes it much easier to decide what to do first. Whatever is in alignment with what we love, and where we want to go with it, gets selected. All else either goes on the back burner, or better yet, gets cleared out to make room for more of what supports our personal missions.
That said, I am off to write a follow up letter to those who attended an event I just did. When I am done with that, I will proceed with an online course to help me improve my copy writing skills.
Send me comments about what you are up to, or if there is something I can help you with.
Are you dissatisfied with your life?
Do you feel like there is something missing, but can’t put your finger on it?
My name is Joel A Levy. I help people figure out what they are supposed to be doing here in the world, and how to get it done. See, I believe that each of us is here on a unique mission, and that it is through fulfilling that mission that we repair the world around us, and ultimately, ourselves.
This is what we were put here to do. As such, each of us is wired with a unique combination of skills and interests in order to assist us in fulfilling our life’s mission.
I have three critically important questions to ask you:
- What are you doing to make the world a better place?
- Are you doing the work that you were put on this earth to do?
- What are you doing with the potential you were given?
Take your time in reading these questions, because unlocking the answers to them will reveal you to yourself, perhaps for the very first time.
My belief is that question number two is the real key. Until you are doing the work you were meant to do, you will not be making the contribution to the world that you are capable of. You may experience some success in other fields, but something will always be missing for you. But when you link into who you really are, and the work that supports that, your success will be infinite, and every day will be a blessing.
Similarly, until you are engaged in your life’s work, you will personally slide along laterally at best. Once you are doing the thing for which you were born, you will necessarily grow and develop to the fullest of your potential. That is because you will no longer need forced discipline to do it. This work is your passion, and you will not want to stop doing it. As such, you will improve yourself through it constantly as time goes on, and through your passion, you will use this work to make the world a better place.
I get a real charge out of helping someone discover who they really are, and being able to honestly answer the three questions I posed to you before.
If you want answers to those questions, and what to do about them when you find them, then we were destined to cross paths. I am very easy to get in touch with. I look forward to getting started with you.