The Martial Arts Principles of Stress Management

It is almost a cliche that a martial artist must remain calm in the face of stress.  The steely most eyes, the easy, flowing movements in the midst of a chaotic swirl of activity.  What if you could be the same in the midst of the chaos at your work?  Or at your home?  What if you welcomed stressful situations as opportunities to grow?  Well, applying the same principles that our calm, cool and collected martial artist uses can help you do exactly that.

The first principle is “maximum efficiency, minimum effort.”  This is exactly what it sounds like, but it is extremely difficult for most people to achieve.  In karate, it is the goal of ending a fight with one punch or one kick. In judo, it is disabling an opponent with one throw for which you use leverage and balance, not strength.  Applying this to a stressful situation, you can focus on eliminating a stressor rather than trying to lessen each symptom of stress.

The next principle is “break the opponent’s balance while maintaining yours.”  This is what gives judo masters those graceful yet powerful throws against much larger opponents.  If your opponent is off balance, she or he cannot gain any leverage to resist your attack, or to attempt an attack.  You, by maintaining your balance, will always be in a position to attack or aggressively defend.  This means that in any stressful situation, you have a backup plan you can go to if things get out of control.  It also means you build flexibility into your plans, to absorb unexpected circumstances.  

The third principle is using flow to fight an opponent’s attack.  An example of this is a football team using a draw play against a team that blitzes.  The offense lets the defenders rush upfield, through the offensive line into the backfield.  The quarterback waits for the middle to clear itself of defenders, then hands the ball to the running back, who runs into the now vacant section of the defense.  How does this apply to stress?  By using another popular principle often expressed as a prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”  In other words, don’t waste your time, energy and emotional strength fighting against those things you cannot control.  Flow is letting an opponent proceed with an attack that you are not interested in opposing.  Focus on those parts of the stressful situation that you can control, and especially those parts that will influence those parts you cannot directly control.

The martial arts master applies these principles in the execution of the movements.  But he or she also uses them internally and externally to control stress.  The difference between a black belt and any other person is that the black belt internalizes the principles and teachings of martial arts, and lives them in all aspects of life.  Practice is not something that stays on the dojo floor.  Technique is applied to every attack, personal as well as stressful.  You can apply these principles to attack and manipulate the stress in your life.

STRESS JUDO COACHING helps you focus on personal excellence in a number of ways.  While the program was developed for stress management and stress elimination in your life, each module of the training can be used to improve personal excellence.  For example, the module on personal internal energy can be used to keep you at high energy levels while you improve.  The module on meditation can be used to eliminate certain types of stress reactions, so that you can work on excellence unimpeded.  Go to our CONTACT US page at http://www.stressjudocoaching.us/1_3_Contact.html for 3 free and exclusive reports, explaining The Truth (your current stress management program is impotent); The Remedy (the requirements of a program that eliminates stress); and The Overview (how STRESS JUDO COACHING can transform your life).

The REAL 3 Stages of Your Career

Companies look at the stages of your career in terms of you making money for them.  This is because companies are created to make money.  If they don’t, they are either charities or hobbies.   This article looks at the stages of your career for your personal excellence.  Too few companies realize that if they focused on the 3 stages of your personal excellence growth, the company would make far more money.

Here is the rest of this discussion: personal excellence.

The best way to motivate workers is to sincerely be concerned about their growth and development

There are many theories and research studies on motivating employees.  Some seem faddish (“paint the walls orange!”).  Most are based on solid research and analysis.  And they seem, to me, to boil down to one paramount point: Motivate your employees by being sincerely concerned about their growth.

Finish this thought and start a conversation at personal excellence. 

Teach Your Sons To Stop Violence Against Women

Teach your sons to stop violence against women. Teach your daughters that violence against them is never to be tolerated

Domestic violence is a terrible problem.  There are many organizations, shelters, and programs around the country and the world who are helping to assist and educate victims.  These should all be supported, enthusiastically and wholeheartedly.  As full disclosure, I volunteered at battered women’s shelters and organizations for almost 10 years. It was life changing for me.

This article continues at personal excellence.

Train To Transform. Live To Lift Above.

Training is not mere repetition.  Just repeating something makes you very skilled at being mediocre.  Training is the act of perfecting your skill and transforming yourself to be worthy of perfecting your skill.  Any fool can throw 100 punches or sit through 100 team-building seminars.  Training is the conscious act of transforming yourself while you are training.  It is developing yourself while you are developing your personal excellence.

Connect your training to your development at personal excellence.

A Goal Is Not Something You Attain, It’s Something You Surpass

Goal setting is a really hot topic.  It is usually presented inside either time management or project management training.  As part of time management training, goals are presented as what you need to know how much time to allocate to each phase or part of a project.  In project management training, goal setting is presenting as how know when you are completed a particular phase or section.  Goals are hugely important in whatever you are planning.

See more about goals and your personal excellence.

Trying To Manage The Charging Bull Of Stress

Trying to manage stress by breathing is like trying to manage the charging bull by thinking happy thoughts. Take control.

Most stress management programs focus on your internal reaction to stress.  This is because most people define “stress” by how they react to it.  Stress is 2 components: the stressor and your reaction. By focusing only on your reaction, the stress management program is fighting a losing battle.

Read about the bull at personal excellence.

In My Fortune Cookie: A Test Of Personal Excellence

The fortune in my fortune cookie read: "You will pass a difficult test that will make you happier and financially better." I thought, “Of course. It's called LIFE.”

Life is a test.  It’s a great big test with an unknown payoff at the end.  This isn’t an article about whether there is a test at the end.  It’s an article about passing all the tests along the way.  Passing these tests requires your personal excellence and improves your personal excellence.

Life is also a series of tests.  Most of these tests come from other people or from the situations you come to. Now, you don’t have to believe these are tests.  You can call them steps or stages or whatever you want.  But approaching them as tests allows you to frame your mind positively as “seeking to succeed” or “gaining something on the other side” as opposed to simply passing through or surviving.

Read this and finish it at personal excellence.

The problem with corporate America and bureaucratic government is that promotions are based on sycophancy not personal excellence.

Sycophancy is defined as “fawning obsequiousness. Synonyms:  grovelling, servility, cringing, fawning, kowtowing, bootlicking, toadyism, slavishness.”  Obviously, these ar negative terms.  Being a sycophant is a negative thing.

This is a difficult topic, because there is a fine line between good and bad here.  Companies promote people into management that they trust and they can work with, as well as people who are competent.  This is good, because these people become trusted advisors to the people above them.  These people focus on their personal excellence, but not in a narcissistic way.

See how this concludes at personal excellence.

The Funnest Thing

The funnest thing is to say "the funnest thing" and watch people try to remember if that's how you really say it.  Doing something unexpected forces people to react in new and innovative ways.  The key is to be unexpected without hurting someone.

Doing unexpected things knocks people out of their comfort zone.  This helps prevent stagnation without making them so uncomfortable that they actively resist you.  By getting them out of their comfort zone without an actual confrontation, they have to look at things differently even if only for a moment.

More is waiting for you expectantly at personal excellence.

Modelling Is Not Copying. A Personal Excellence Reminder.

Very few people are directly managed by a real leader.  Too often, the person above you on the organizational chart got there partly on merit.  But they also probably got there by copying their boss, who copied his or her boss, and so on, and so on.  These are not real leaders.  These are leaders by position.

No one ever became a leader by submitting to a leader. You become a leader by modelling a leader. Bad leaders think modelling means copying.

More exposition at personal excellence. Let's hear your voice in the comments, please.

5 Ways To Deal With A Sycophant Boss

A bad boss is a terrible situation. An incompetent boss is frustrating. But a sycophant boss is incredibly stressful. You know the type. Never questions any memo or direction from higher up because he or she doesn't want to "rock the boat." Won't support the team if they see a flaw or error in the plan because it might make the boss look "argumentative." Always willing to throw you under the bus if upper management is looking fur a scapegoat for their mistakes. So how do you deal with this person?

See the answer to this question at personal excellence.

Career stress can be from choosing to be a sycophant instead of an unservile leader

Most people want to advance in their careers.  Most large companies have multiple career paths.  Early in your career, you can move back and forth between different paths.  But at some point, you’ve advanced far enough that going to another path would essentially be going back in time.

At smaller companies, the career path is based on the growth of the company and growth in your skills. There isn’t any definite career path, because you and the company are growing together.  You try to align your goals with the growth of the company and maybe sometimes you can steer the direction of the company to align with your goals.

This winds up elegantly at personal excellence.

5 Ways To Deal With A Sycophant Boss

A bad boss is a terrible situation. An incompetent boss is frustrating. But a sycophant boss is incredibly stressful. You know the type. Never questions any memo or direction from higher up because he or she doesn't want to "rock the boat." Won't support the team if they see a flaw or error in the plan because it might make the boss look "argumentative." Always willing to throw you under the bus if upper management is looking fur a scapegoat for their mistakes. So how do you deal with this person?

Read the conclusion of this at personal excellence and add your personally excellent comments.

No One Ever Became A Leader By Submission.

One definition of a leader is “one who is followed by others.” Another is “one who has influence or control over others.” This is accomplished by force (including authority based on position) and charisma (people want you to lead them).

This implies that a leader is a person who expects others to follow. Or a person who is confident enough to seek to influence others. We're not talking good or bad leaders, or people who abuse their office of authority. Just making some generalizations.

This means that a leader has a fairly high sense of independence and autonomy. Not complete isolation (because how can people follow you if you are alone?). But the sense that they can rise from the lowest rank, where everything they do is an order from someone else.

Complete this at personal excellence and add your thoughts to extend it please.

How Leaders Respond To “We Have A Problem”

Leaders respond to “We have a problem” with “Show me” and not “Let me explain why it’s not a problem, okay?” This is because a leader sees his or her role as getting past problems.  Not really solvng problems.  Sometimes that’s your job.  But getting the team or the company past a problem is the responsibility of a leader.

Leaders have the responsibility of implementing the larger vision. Sometimes this vision is of what the team needs to accomplish.  Sometimes it’s at the department or region level. Sometimes it’s for the company or organization as a whole.  This is the focus of the leader.

To finish this thought, please go to personal excellence.

Kata Teaches That Doing The Reps Improves The Skills

Most martial arts have “katas.”  A kata is a fixed sequence of movements to allow personal training in a particular martial art.  in Shotokan karate, for example, there are between 15 and 25 core kata (depending on the style you are studying).  Each kata takes from 30 seconds to 1-1/2 minutes to perform, and can have over 60 steps (although most have 20 to 40 steps).

The rest of this thought concludes at personal excellence.

The Empty Room

Walked past an empty room a dozen times. No one went in. I entered and sat down. Four people came in. That actually scares me

A few weeks ago, I went to Indianapolis Museum of Art. I actually love this Museum.  It has great collections.  It has my favorite work of art, “Acton” by John Turell.  At the time, the special exhibit was works by Ai Weiwei, the groundbreaking Chinese artist.

More at personal excellence, a great place to leave a comment.

Leaders Know Who Is The Smartest In The Room

A leader knows that he or she may be the smartest person in the room, but isn't smarter than the entire room. Use your team for good ideas.

Leaders have a combination of intelligence, charisma, character and experience.  These are very difficult to define and even harder to teach.  Which is good, because this article is not about any of these characteristics.  It is about personal excellence, but that’s at the end of the article.

More about this at personal excellence and please leave comments here and there. Thank bunches!

Leadership needs the balance between the static of what works vs. dynamic creative growth.

Leadership needs the balance between the static of what works vs. dynamic creative growth. This is not a division between conservative or low-risk-takers compared to risk-takers or recklessness.  It is the decision between choosing what must be kept in place - the static - and what must be pushed forward - the dynamic.

This borrows heavily from “Lila” by Robert Pirsig, just for full disclosure. 

To see what I borrowed and how it applies, please finish this thought at personal excellence and leave a comment here or there. thank you.

To take it to the next level, take your mind to the next level first.

To take it to the next level, take your mind to the next level first.

Business has the “Peter Principle” which, put as succinctly as possible, says that people are promoted to their level of incompetence.  Now there’s a lot more to it than that.  But there is very sound logic to it, too.

There is more at personal excellence. Leave a comment and there will be even more.

Never Said At An Interview

Q: Where do you see you in 5 years?

A: 100% micromanaged & scared to voice my opinions.

A common question at job interviews or job reviews is "Where do you see you in 5 years?" One purpose is for the interviewer to see your plans and ambitions.   To see if you have goals and objective. To see if those goals and objectives are attainable.
 

I actually had written “realistic” and then I realized that is limiting thinking.

To unlimit your thinking, go to personal excellence.

The Heart of Leadership

The heart of leadership

The heart of leadership

At the heart of leadership is creativity, imagination and seeing beyond boundaries and conventional thinking

There are many theories on what leadership is. People love to give flowery language and fiery quotes that seem more motivational than instructional.  Listing endless adjectives about leaderships is not defining leadership or even describing leadership.  It actually shows how hard it is to say what leadership is. It’s more than just holding a position of authority.  It’s more than just developing personal excellence. It’s more than just cheering people on or yelling at them.

But there are not too many theories on what leadership is not.

Find out more at personal excellence.

No one ever became a leader by submission. No sycophants. Be You.

One definition of a leader is “one who is followed by others.” Another is “one who has influence or control over others.” This is accomplished by force (including authority based on position) and charisma (people want you to lead them).

This implies that a leader is a person who expects others to follow. Or a person who is confident enough to seek to influence others. We're not talking good or bad leaders, or people who abuse their office of authority. Just making some generalizations.

The rest of this is at personal excellence.

Problem is sycophancy

Problem is sycophancy

The problem with corporate America and bureaucratic government is that promotions are based on sycophancy not personal excellence.

Sycophancy is defined as “fawning obsequiousness. Synonyms:  grovelling, servility, cringing, fawning, kowtowing, bootlicking, toadyism, slavishness.”  Obviously, these are negative terms.  Being a sycophant is a negative thing.

This is a difficult topic, because there is a fine line between good and bad here.  Companies promote people into management that they trust and they can work with, as well as people who are competent.  This is good, because these people become trusted advisers to the people above them.  These people focus on their personal excellence, but not in a narcissistic way.

To read the entire article, please go to personal excellence.

USING AN ONLINE LIFE COACH TO IMPROVE YOUR PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS

Improving your personal effectiveness might be the best way to pay dividends in all areas of your life.  There is a lot of focus on self-help and self-improvement, but less on how to make those improvements actually shine in your day to day life. By focusing on improving your personal effectiveness, you translate every improvement in any area into something that touches everyone you come in contact with.  And maybe the most efficient and cost effective way to improve your personal effectiveness is to use an online life coach.