A few days ago I was having dinner with a dear friend of mine. We covered a lot of ground in the conversation, but we started talking about our kids and our personal goals, etc. He told me that he got his 5 year old daughter into Tae Kwon Do (TKD) and that he was so proud of her discipline and focus during class. It seemed like it was also helping her develop a winning attitude and teaching her to “always fight hard.” Incredible lessons for a young girl to learn at such an early age. And more importantly, he began to light up when he was talking about it.
“I told the head instructor to give me 6 weeks and I’ll be ready to enroll in classes.”
The past few months have been particularly chaotic for my boy (as life certainly does) and he had gotten out of his fitness/nutrition routine and wanted to get back to ‘baseline’ before he committed to TKD. While I certainly can appreciate his deliberateness and methodical approach, I was quick to challenge him.
That 6 weeks is the opportunity for excuse. F* that 6 weeks. Know what happens after 6 weeks? — Something else comes up, you’re STILL not ready, and you just burned through a month and a half. You’re NEVER going to be 100% ready. Not now, not in 6 weeks, so you might as well start next week.
Luckily, he appreciated the challenge (that’s why I love him), got a smile on his face, and understood there’s some truth in those words. His daughter deserves seeing her father as a savage RIGHT NOW, not in 6 weeks or (more likely) NEVER.
Sign up for class and let that be the catalyst for change. Build your discipline and get back to a routine WHILE you’re in gear at TKD.
‘Readiness’ is a target that is so easily missed — there’s too many variables preventing that perfect state. We need to learn to get into action NOW, even when things aren’t perfect. Continuous action in the face of imperfect conditions is what gets us closer to our goals.
Don’t delay, the time is now!
P.S. Four days later I got this text:
