Potential is a mystery to us. We often see it exhibited in others, but never seem to realize that we ourselves have it too. We walk on the mats daily and look at Johnny Kimura and say "Golly, I wish I had a kimura like that!", not realizing that we are capable of that same success and our personal potential is limitless. Most of us have dreams to accomplish what seems to be nearly impossible to us. Overwhelmed by the possibilities, we sabotage our own efforts by either not putting in the work or talking ourselves out of achieving our goals altogether. We all cannot be Roger Gracie or Johnny Kimura, but we can become the best version of ourselves through hard work and dedication. Now I don't profess to be a scholar on the subject, I'm just a white belt, but I have had success in unlocking my own potential on the mats with three simple words: Challenge, Risk, and Persistence.
Challenge
I went through a stage where I was scared to go against anyone higher than whitebelt. Then I started to realize that you can't get any better if you remain in your comfort zone. The key to reaching your potential is to push yourself beyond your limits. We can do this by consistently challenging ourselves and overcoming the barriers that hold us back. Once we overcome these barriers, we then understand that we are not as weak as we thought we were, and that epiphany alone is what causes us to reach a new level. Imagine if you are technically sound, but you are lacking in overall fitness. If you allow yourself to continue in that state, you are disconnecting yourself from what you truly want, which leads to acceptance and compromise. You may compromise your cardio, flexibility, strength, and explosiveness causing your game to lack in many areas, but accepting the challenge to eat right and work out may be exactly what you need to surpass your current limitations and unlock your full potential. "Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they are meant to help you discover what is possible."
Risk
As you begin to challenge yourself on the mats (example: rolling with higher belts) you will notice that you will get more and more opportunities to start taking risks. Avoiding risk is the number one way we inhibit our growth. The scariest thing ever to me was getting out of armbars, there are a few escapes from there and most of them consist of the possibility of getting your arm torn off if you attempt the escape, but in order for you to learn the escape...you have to take the risk. I see more people get tapped on the mats because of inaction, than I do from action, and it is all because they don't take risk. If you take the risk, sure you may get tapped, but at least you have something to work with for next time. "Go out on a limb, its where all the fruit are located."
Persistence
You can challenge yourself all day, and risk every limb on your body, but if you are not persistent in your efforts to reach your potential...you never will. A lack of persistence is what keeps people who have all the talent in the world from achieving success and reaching their goals. Persistence equals action, and action equals results. No matter how long it takes you to reach blue belt, if you remain persistent you will eventually get it. It is all about continuous effort, the minute you stop moving towards a goal is the same minute you convince yourself it is not worth it. "The most essential factor is persistence-the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by discouragement."
Do these three things and I promise you that you will start to unlock your true potential. thanks for reading. Ciao!
