Positive Attitude
Attitude is the fuel that drives our personalities and characters.
When positive, it burns cleanly and motors us towards our goals. When negative, it leaves us stalled on the road of life. And as a martial artist, positive attitude must run in the engine that propels you forward to black belt and beyond.
In this article, we’ll first show you how to build a positive attitude, then learn how to maintain it. Hopefully, this knowledge will empower all of us to bring energy and happiness into our martial arts environments, professions, families and social lives.
A positive attitude is built on two foundations; personality, which is external, and character, internal. Both require discipline for support, for an outgoing, seemingly positive man can quickly become a burden to others if he doesn’t have discipline to follow through with promises. While personality is an outward, obvious component of attitude, character – the description of internal traits – is a subtle expression felt by others, rather than seen. Someone with strong character possesses honesty, integrity and generosity; while weak character exhibits selfishness, dishonesty and irresponsibility.
Successfully combined, personality and character comprise a positive attitude, which is a valuable resource for any martial artist. Why? Well, it’s one of the primary reasons people will find your presence enjoyable. Instructors and classmates will feel the glow of your positive attitude, feed from its contagious nature and want to spend extra time with you or participate in drills with you. A positive attitude will also be by your side as you encounter new challenges and look to progress in your art. The honesty, responsibility and moral thinking produced from positive thinking will accompany you in the most stringent belt tests and make you a loved member of your school. The effect will be a chain reaction that improves the mood and performance of everyone around you. And therein lies the immense value of positive attitude!
Now, let’s get into the maintenance of positive attitude. It doesn’t just spawn out of wishful thinking. Positive attitude requires the following upkeep:
1. Exercise Daily:
Making your body strong also strengthens your attitude. This is a perfect requirement for martial artists, as we do this one already anyway.
2. Associate with Positive People:
“Monkey see, monkey do.” Positivity is contagious, and negativity will try and pull you down where it festers.
3. Follow through with Discipline:
Realize which principles constitute your positive attitude and fulfill any responsibilities they create, whether that’s hard work or generosity.
4. Educate Yourself:
Seek knowledge to better your character and stimulate your mind.
What seems like a tall task is actually quite simple once in practice. A positive attitude brings so many rewards, the effort to create and maintain one will be worth it in the long run, both on the mats in your training room and on the path to achieving your biggest goals in life.