Always a Winner

Becoming a winner isn't always about victory. It could be about what you gained from the experience. It could be meeting a goal, or finishing a task before a deadline. A winner is a person who sees their own positive results and gains, and embraces them in a humble spirit.

Staying positive and having great humility requires a great deal of discipline, patience, and diligence. It is without a doubt a strong attribute to have in a person's personality, as with experience, it has allowed me to become acquainted with many great individuals.

Looking at a loss is only what you make of it. Whether it be a chess game, a huge tournament in the finals, or a MMA Titlebout, if you learn nothing from the loss, then consider it a true defeat. This in turn is a result of thinking negatively, and getting the negative energy reciprocated from the occurrence of this thought process. Deal with the idea that if you lose, it is only because you feel that you lost. Stay positive and try to find something you can improve on.

A victory can be looked as something to learn from for the future. Seeing this mindset, you're always a viable champion. There are times of frustration in a loss, but as long as you're able to take that anger away and focus on what you can do to do better next time, that alone can change you into a victor of the event. Everyone makes mistakes, its important to recognize these mistakes though to follow up on them and correct those mistakes.

While a winner can be defined victorious, a winner can also be a loser as well. Someone that wins without learning anything or by being arrogant is nothing short of defeat. Always be wary of your surroundings, environment, and attitude towards victories. It is never positive to become arrogant, and this will prove to show that you've only been defeated in the long run.

I delayed this post until after UFC 134 to reflect on some of the fights that happened tonight and how they reacted after winning. While some overreacted and had the need to backflip from the cage (really? was that necessary?), some took the wins as a great goal achieved and are now able to move even further in their paths. Another aspect to pay attention to are the people who lost their fights tonight. While some just walked off in anger (defeat), some shook hands and congratulated the victors, being wholly humble and you can bet they will be studying what they learned from the event.

Stay humble people! It can help us all become winners if we look at the situations in our lives optimistically! 

The Right Advantage

In a previous post, I outlined how taking the advantage whenever possible can be directly beneficial to anybody. In my mistake, I forgot to disclose a different form of advantages.

First off, taking advantage of something causes disadvantages for anyone else. It's a natural balance of life, whether anyone likes it or not. However, there are disadvantages to people that can prove truly harmful to them; whether it be relationships, finances, or emotionally. These are important to notice, because they show that you care. Try to be weary of these situations because they really will effect you in the future.

Advantages to look for are ones that will prove useful to you, and won't harm anyone that you know. Unless you enjoy that sort of thing, I wouldn't advise anyone taking advantage of family, close friends, or work partners. Those are the people that make you who you are, there isn't many reasons to disrupt that. Playful advantages are fine though, of course.

In the end it is just about being aware of which advantages you're taking, and whether or not they are worth taking. Some advantages are worth less than others, and some of course are worth more. Find what's right for you, and don't partake advantages just because someone else did it. Make the advantages your own! And remember to be wary of the advantages, there will always be another opportunity, it is whether you find it or not.

For more information on Advantages, refer to my previous post Advantageous Knowledge. Thanks guys for the continued support!

----------------------------------------------------------

Sorry for no recent updates. I've been on the road all week and some family members in Oregon that I haven't seen in over a decade dropped by (I'm in Southern California, it is a really long drive). I'll provide more posts again though, and as always will comment/'click' on your blogs for those who follow. It has been absolutely hectic with school around the corner, but figured I'd post at least some sort of an update! I haven't given up!

Reacting Upon Conflict

Arguing with another being is bound to happen with someone over a given time frame. The important focus is how to deal with the conflict without harm. Sure there are times in frustration where you want to just fight and get it over with, however think about if it is really worth it. Is that conflict really worth your blood, sweat, and tears? Knowing when to fight and not to fight is a big step in becoming a better person.

Make sure to remain calm at all costs. Not only does this make you the more mature being, but also shows you have more self-control. Who cares what last word he/she says? Will you see him/her again if he's a stranger? Probably not.

Never look into their eyes. This can only fuel more anger, however it can backfire if they find not looking at their eyes is disrespectful, so I'd advise to be careful on this.

Be the smarter being. Stay focused and analyze the person while they're rambling about how you look bad, how you are weak, or something else irrelevant to the situation (usually).

Stay off to an angle of the person. Never stand directly in front of them. This exerts all of their frustration and maddening energy directly towards you. Angling off allows the energy to flow away. This falls directly in line with keeping a distance from the person at all costs. If they come in, assert that they need to keep their distance, or slightly back up, but don't back up too much, as this will portray weakness to the other person.

While some may read this and think of the person doing this is the lesser man, think of it optimistically and realize the bigger man is one who does an action that results in no harm to either party. This might be slightly embarrassing, but it is definitely more worthwhile as the next day you won't be feeling the soreness from the actions dealt. Myself, training in certain Martial Arts, I definitely lean towards not fighting. If what you're striving for is efficiency, this is one of those principles. What slows you down tomorrow because of today will not benefit you, but only slow you down.

If the person starts coming to you in a forceful attack manner in any way, counter immediately and be the first to finish. Efficiency is key, there is no point in dragging on a fight. However, be verbal to always try and stop the fight first after the first blow. If it continues, then finish it and walk away.

Now while I'm not trying to tell people how to deal with conflicts, I feel this is the best approach in advice towards those specific situations. Always be forgiving, and never let the conflict get out of hand. To stay in control is to stay in power, and that is most important in these types of conflicts.

----------------------------------------------------------
I bring this post up because it is an event that recently happened to me this weekend. I knew the person was not going to do anything just by analyzing, but always stayed in control of the outcome. In the end I will probably never see the person again, and am not feeling the consequences of that event now. I'll bring in some experiences like this occasionally to fuel some posts, but I thought it was a good idea to touch on. Anyway, hope everyone's weekend was a blast! Stay positive.

Advantageous Knowledge

Ever been in a situation where you knew you had the advantage in a given situation but didn't take it? Many people experience this all the time, whether it's a relationship opportunity, a promotion, or even just being in a spot at the right time but not pushing forward. Our everyday lives are surrounded by these moments all of the time. It is being able to recognize where these advantages are and when to utilize them.

Advantages are around no matter what situation you are in. The key is to focus diligently on what you're doing, and the advantages will show themselves. This helps illustrate the post from Attentive Focus to a realistic situation. Knowing what an advantage is, is basically thought of as a moment in which there is something to be gained beneficially. With this in mind, think of all the moments that you may have have missed or taken and realize it was an advantage at one time.

There are an infinite amount of examples to be displayed about this, but a couple wouldn't hurt to show the effectiveness of it. One example would be a competitive atmosphere in which two men are fighting in a kickboxing match. If fighter A is fully focused but fighter B is half distracted, fighter A will find more advantages than fighter B will. Let's say fighter A doesn't block a kick properly, and fighter B drops his hands when kicking. Fighter A will notice the advantage of the hands dropping while fighter B may not notice the hole of fighter A not blocking the kick properly.

Let's look at another more civil example. Walking down the street can be one. The average person may not realize the advantages he/she has, but there are too many to name. The disadvantages are easy, but the advantages can be some of these: saving money on gas, enjoying the outside air, getting exercise from walking, not having to deal with traffic, don't have to park.

As you can see, this also goes hand-in-hand with the Attitude Perspective post as well. I try to correlate all of my posts together so they work in unison with each other, and this is another example of this. Always take each beneficial information you receive and use it as an advantage for any given situation. It is definitely difficult at first, but in practice can become outstanding.

The point of this post was to surround the brain with an idea of advantages, what they are, and how they come to you. The average person commonly misses these advantages, even some that are blatantly right in front of them. Take advantage of the advantage, and be fully aware of the benefits that are to come. Again, I like my posts to unify with each other, and therefore to understand some of the content I post, I advise reading some of my past entries as well. I hope people recognize their advantages more often, they're always around no matter what you're doing!

The Opponent is What You Make It

Ever done any competition? The sense of adrenaline pumping through the veins before it's your turn to go up next. Some people cannot stand it, some people absolutely love it. Imagine taking the whole world and establishing goals as your opponents.

Firstly, setting this up requires a little bit of open mindedness. It's weird at first to see something like "finishing my 4-hour shift" as an opponent, however it is possible with a specific mindset. Creating this image allows a longer focus into what you're doing.

Evaluating the goal analytically is important to understand the most efficient and reasonable method of finishing it. This is a process in which you are finding the weaknesses of the opponent and using the weakness against it. Think of the goal as a huge brick wall. The weakness is a hole, and the only way to intrude the wall is to keep breaking through the hole. Finding these holes are critical to overcoming these opponents efficiently.

When finished with the opponent, there is no reason to be over-exaggerated in excitement. What I mean is, don't be arrogant, but humble. Not only does this promote maturity, but positivity. The last thing to do would be to promote negativity. Sure a little celebration is fine, but yelling and all that is just unnecessary.

So why is this important? Efficiency. Being able to finish a task swiftly and unharmed (whether it be emotionally, physically, psychologically, etc.) is key. This can be applied to everyday life, whether it is school, work, or even relationships. For myself I enjoy being challenged, so if the opportunity comes, I am right there and ready.

What this post helps realize is that open mindedness is useful. Taking your goals and allowing them to flourish into a challenge is what allows a better focus in the goal. Finding the holes in these goals allows for an easier time in completing them, and finishing the goals gives accomplishment but humbly, instead of arrogant. This post took some time to make, but I hope it assists with any challenges you endure.

Destiny or Choice

There are many times in the life of a human being that people must make important decisions in their time span. Decisions that lead to either success or failure to that given person. In deciding what a person wants or wants to go towards, goals bring a sense of life or hope to what a person should work for.

Always have a goal set in mind. To live with goals creates a purposeful line of work to do towards that goal. This allows for a more hopeful set of mind rather than a mind without purpose. Another reason why its important to set goals is to remember the experiences while reaching that goal. If it was a long and big goal, the reward feels so much better when reached. This same feeling exists in small goals, but probably not to the level of excitement in a big one.

 

Try to set at least one goal per day. For example, I set many goals all of the time during my life. If cleaning the room was my plan for the day, that can be a goal. A small goal can still be considered a goal. If pursuing towards a Ph.D degree with only a year in college was wanted, that should be your goal. Now I don't mean for everyone to go get Ph.D's, but I mean that if you have a large goal in mind, but only a small step towards it, continue pursuing and don't let anything stop you from reaching it. There are always obstacles and barriers blocking our paths to our goals in some way, but its finding the holes in those blocks and barriers to get through to this goal. More on holes in a future post.

There are people in the world however who feel that it is worth cheating to reach their goal. I feel this takes away from the actual experience itself and makes the endpoint less satisfying. Be legit, feel legit!

The basic mindset is to have a goal, and to pursue that goal no matter what it takes. Even if the goal feels unrealistic, the journey and experiences to that goal may create a learning experience that nobody can ever take away from you. With courage and dedication, those goals that you, I, and everyone else makes can eventually flourish. Remember to not take away from the experience, but to enjoy and live through it -- optimism will come in handy in this goal-fulfilling quest.

------------------------------------------
Some of these ideas that I post are pretty well known thoughts, but I thought I'd reinforce the concept to maybe introduce a goal to somebody that they weren't thinking of until reading this today. I do have future ideas for more analytical posts, but I hope this was a joyful one. Maybe I'll put in something about finding the holes in not just yourself, but other perceptions as well. Thanks guys for all the support!

The Attitude Perspective

The way a person reacts to anything, creates a consequence no matter what happens. Whether it be frustration, bliss, or sadness, each emotion can change the atmosphere of a situation almost instantly.

Being an optimistic individual gives life a more fulfilling experience. Taking in each event and looking at it positively brings back positive results. It's almost like an investment, where if you put in positive energy into a given situation, you'll more than likely get a positive reaction back. This allows a more gratuitous, fantastic, and prodigious lifestyle in the course of anyone's life. Staying positive is an optimum way of living everyday.

Now while being positive has its upsides, being the opposite is the same consequence. Negativity goes out, negativity comes back. I'd like to stay off the topic, only because of the previous sentence.

There are given times where negativity or positivity just comes out. That's fine. Being positive 100% of the time disrupts a balance in yourself, almost feeling like you're holding it all in. The reverse however, is much more detrimental in my opinion. My suggestion in a balancing scale would be to be about a 70:30 ratio with positivity in favor of course.

Food, focus, and balance all come back in this post by guiding a more positive lifestyle. Staying healthy, focused on a subject, and not going overboard on anything all help towards staying happy. The consequence though is being disciplined enough to keep it all in tact. Stay positive, stay balanced, stay happy people!

------------------------------------------

Just a heads up on why I'm a little late on this post:

First of all I apologize. I've become occupied by just becoming an uncle approximately 16 hours ago, along with being accepted to a University and taking care of the paperwork. I had a difficult time picking a topic to write on, but I felt that with positivity being reinforced, it will not only help everyone who takes it to the next level, but help myself in keeping stress to a balanced and optimistic level. Either way I hope people didn't forget the blog, I'm still here!

Closer Look at Balance

Composing a decent balance creates a wide variety of benefits in any person's lifestyle. No, no, I'm not talking about the balance in your bank account, but the balance as you're moving, thinking, and doing. A good balance creates a better you; it helps with better mind processing, posture, and strength.

In mind processing development of balance, this can lead to an infinite number of objects to consider. For example, going back to the eating post Dynamic, Delightful, Destructable, a good diet is composing a good balance in how much you eat, when you eat, and what you eat. Another example would be knowing when to work, and knowing when to provide time for yourself. Too much work leads to stress, and overall an unhappier lifestyle. Too much time for yourself may result in you being homeless, or just becoming lazy. Keeping balance in mind is not only just about how well you can stand on a fine piece of rope, but in how you live your life as well.

Balance helps with posture! Standing straight and keeping your core hips in a position of no slouching will improve your overall posture in how you walk, run, and sit. Due to the effects of good posture, this will lead to easier breathing. Proper breathing patterns will help lead to thought processes. Because of this, it is indeed an important aspect to consider.

Strength is usually the first thing noticed when someone exhibits another performing an excellent example of balance. For example, gymnasts show an incredible amount of strength through their practices of balance and timing. While this is definitely a more physical approach to balance, it is one that cannot be forgotten when looking into it.

Overall the type of balance that I like to consider to be most important is the mind processing portion. Only because with developing a good balance in most of what I am doing leads to a happier lifestyle -- I try to exercise a good balance in everything, however feel that is impossible to do because of the unknown properties that I'm not considering in a given moment. Simply balance is just another piece of the puzzle for something to think about. Nothing to completely stress over, because then the balance of that thought process would be overwhelming, but rather just another aspect of becoming a better person. If handling your bank account with a balanced budget is going successful, then you're practicing a good mind processing balance. Think about how you exercise balance in a daily basis, and you'll see that there is always at least one thing that is going well with it, whether it be gaming, physical exercise, or schoolwork. Thanks for reading, and thanks for the support everyone!

Attentive Focus

To stay in focus without being distracted is a very difficult task to hold on its own. It requires a good level of discipline and can be practiced all the time. This area of distractions is heavily involved with multitasking.

There are times where multitasking is handy, but for the most part, it's important to break the habit of doing so. An example of this would be talking on the phone, while putting your shoes on, and trying to eat at the same time. It takes away attention from everything that you're doing. How many times have you multitasked on the phone and had to have people repeat what they were saying? Granted, some people are great at dealing with the situation, but others may be giving a lot more attention to say organizing lunch for the day rather than paying attention to what the other person is saying on the phone.

Keeping multitasking to a minimum level allows full attention and a much better focus in what you're doing, whether it be work, school, or hobbies. Breaking down the necessities for focus is much more key rather than trying to do everything at once. Almost like the turtle and hare race analogy. In addition, having a deep focus allows to view things you wouldn't have before, such as this picture, where instead of just a flower, it is barely beginning to bloom and flourish into something much more extravagant.

Going to keep this short for today. The main idea is to cut-down on distractions and focus on whatever you're doing. It will allow better relationships with people, better output of work, and you may be more satisfied with your results!

Dynamic, Delightful, Destructable

Having a good day can be a resultant of many factors. One of those factors is nutrition and diet. Now I'm not saying everyone should lay off the cheeseburgers and sodas, but am stating that it does make a difference in what is put into the body. High sugar and heavy meals can result in definite mood changes, loss of focus, and overall just not feeling too good. Let's not stop there! Another consideration to think about is when to eat. Eating every hour can increase calorie intake substantially, and jeopardize the moment that you're in. I was actually going to wait on this topic, but thought I'd put it in after yesterday's post on awareness.

When I wake up, I plan to eat in the time periods between from when I woke up, to approximately an hour. If I don't eat in that given time frame, it can effect how much energy I have throughout the day. Furthermore, after eating, I time about 2~3 hours before I eat again, whether it's a snack, or an actual lunch. While it may seem excessive, eating properly most definitely effects my performance; a reason that I must keep a great diet intact.

If you examine some of the most efficient athletes, they have nutrition consultants and specific chefs to cook them the proper meals for maximum performance. One of the athletes (and now very widely known) is Georges St. Rush Pierre (GSP). One of GSP's core outlooks on his training is diet. Without a proper diet, it could mean the loss of a fight, or in a different perspective, the loss of an opportunity in business, relationships, and focus through school.

Now the question is, "Well what can I eat?" There are fruits, vegetables, and all kinds of varieties of foods to eat healthy rather than fast-food joints, chips, cheeses, soda, and other non-assisting foods. It sounds a little cliche, but eating properly will help in a lot of ways, and energize your body much more-so. If there is any need in what exactly is needed to eat, there are an incredible amount of resources out there on what is good, and what is bad for you. I typically drink only water, or some fruit juices, and eat carefully.

There are times when you can eat badly! Some suggest not to do it all, but some people have to live at some point right? If you're not training for a fight or a specific sporting event, every week or every two weeks of having something bad isn't all that bad. You may feel a reason why you don't eat that stuff anymore after indulging into it, but keeping a balance in that department isn't a bad idea.

Again, I'm not enforcing people to just change their dietary methods or telling you to "EAT THIS WAY ONLY!", but rather to be more aware of what eating really can do for you. This does take a lot of discipline to do, but it is a worthwhile investment to anyone's lifestyle. A good diet can help lead to a good life -- something my coach told me once. So far I would have to say it's true, I'm a much happier person when I eat properly. Not only does it lead to a happier lifestyle, but it is a core ingredient to becoming a Martial Artist. I hope this is something to learn from for everybody!

Perception of Being Aware

Surprises happen to all of humanity each and everyday. Whether the person is as clumsy as can be, or concentrated consistently, providing a surprise can challenge the emotional reaction of anybody. In being an individual who gains a self-awareness level higher than average, there are perks to this gain.

Perks being that it revolves around the concepts of what you are doing, eating, viewing, hearing, touching, and thinking about. All of these actions happen everyday, all the time, forever. For example, being aware of eating an average cheeseburger and knowing that it's bad for you (I'll get to a post on how Nutrition benefits everything sometime) would be considered good awareness because it demonstrates the realization of what is being put into the body.

However, there are disadvantages to this. It is not ideal to be constantly looking at what you are doing and become distracted by being aware. For example, playing a game of tennis with a friend or few. While the serve is made, before you're able to react to the ball, you think about what you are doing, where you are at, if you're hungry, and basically plague your game by being distracted and possibly smacked upside the head from a tennis ball. This causes mistakes in the game, and overall a worse experience for not only yourself, but everyone involved. Becoming an aware individual involves better thinking, perception, and efficiency. It is more logical to be aware at the appropriate times than being aware while doing work, homework, or playing a game. Stay focused in what you are doing and notice this!

When I look at the world, city, or arrangement that I'm in, I like to understand what is happening all around me. Sitting on the front porch in a plastic chair, listening to the leaves bristle, hearing the dirt crackle at the bottom of my sandals, seeing the air flow in the direction the Earth takes it, and watching cars drive down my street is a common thing for me. The easiest way for myself to be aware is to be still. Not frozen like a Popsicle, but being a still self where distractions are rare no matter what I am doing.

What I'm suggesting is know your surroundings more. Understand who you are, what you can achieve, and what is out there in the world. It's important to make life the best that you can make it out to be, and one of those ways is just knowing what is around you.