Doing Something Hard

You can increase your own mental strength and self confidence by doing something hard. This is a common advice from self-help gurus and lifestyle coaches, even in parenting books. One thing I feel is missing in this advice is that this “something hard” should be just outside your comfort zone and not completely beyond.

If you can’t do more than 10 push ups, doing something hard might look like working to get to 11 or 12, not 50.

This concept is something I feel might also be lacking in the martial arts. As teachers, we have come to a certain level of proficiency through time ans experience but we forget how it is to be a student. So, we push them.

Rightly so, to some extent.

We push our students to demand more of themselves, yes. But no further than what is achievable or risk injury, failure and drop outs.