It’s easy to get caught up in what is happening with everyone else around us. In our bok fu do training have you ever found yourself thinking about things like, “that person can kick so much higher than me. It must be because he is 10 years younger.” Or what about, “she is so much more powerful than i am. I wish i could hit that hard.” Or maybe, “he is moving up in rank so much faster than i am. If i had that much free time to practice, i’d move up faster too.” I’m sure that you are all nodding your head and can relate to having thoughts similar to these at one point or another. In our personal and professional lives, the same type of thinking can affect us as well. Comparing ourselves to this person or that person is natural but can make us feel less than adequate. We all know that this type of thought process definitely doesn’t bring positive results, so how do we break that cycle?

Turning that negative thought into something more positive like, “that person has a great height on their kick! I should spend a little extra time on my flexibility training today.” Or say something like, “I can really appreciate how much power she has. I should ask her to spend some time with me on the heavy bag.” Or even, “good for him! he must be working really hard to progress in rank that fast. I’m excited for him and his accomplishments.” Turning a simple negative thought into a more positive and productive one takes practice and discipline. But if you focus on your thoughts, understanding them, and then using them in a positive way, you’ll find that the world opens up for you.