Our life is necessarily based on goals – they give us direction – almost any sort of activity that we do, for work or pleasure, has goals, from acheiving revenue goals in sales, to scoring points in tennis and soccer, to ascending ranks in Aikido. We invest an incredible amount of time toward acheiving goals [...]
I have been training aikido at Honbu Dojo (Aikikai Headquarters) since February, and steadily ramped up the number of times a week that I train, from twice a week in January, to four times a week in March, to averaging seven times a week now, including about five times a week in the morning, at [...]
or: Spicing Your Life up with Improvisational Comedy and Clinical Hypnosis.
One of my business consulting clients is multilingual, and is now working in Japan. He came to me one day saying “When I speak in Japanese with people at the company, they often reply back in English. It’s frustrating.”
I told him – they’re probably just trying to be helpful. You can compliment them. Say “Your English is very good – you’re very bilingual, and I need your help to learn to speak Japanese better. Could you reply in Japanese when I speak Japanese?”
Just when I said “Your English is very good,” my client burst out laughing, and took notes.
The principle at work is “Accept what you are offered.”
“Yochan, Otsukaresan” Jason, good job today. Said Sensei. “Arigato Gozaimashita.” I sais, and bowed in thanks. I was surprised to see how happy I felt, and I am reminded of how special a role Aikido has played in my life.1. 1. Commune: Unlike Chinese Taiji or Wushu, which can be performed alone, the forms in [...]
At the end of May, I decided to take a mini-retirement. After working for 6 years, it was just the right time for a sabbatical. “Sabba” is “seven” the seventh in a sequence has been the day of rest since old-testament times. Seventh day of the week is the sabbath. Seventh year of working is [...]
I brought a friend to my dojo today. She had never done any martial arts before. I briefed her on how to enter, and then showed her where to sit to watch. After warm-up exercises, I began to teach her a technique. Sensei said to me “Not yet. She must learn to break-fall first. Go [...]
Remember, you only have to succeed the last time. Brian Tracy
