“When the moment of truth has arrived, the time for preparation has passed”.

Going from good to great isn't about suddenly becoming more talented, younger, stronger, smarter, or luckier.  There is no magic potion, pill, or set of books.  All of the effort and energy, time spent, and dedication to your personal growth comes from time spent reading and interpreting, watching and analyzing, doing and failing.  Greatness is 100% a required participation journey.

Greatness begins when you stop accepting standards that no longer challenge you.
There will always be reasons to settle.  Age.  Fatigue.  Time.  Responsibilities.  Past accomplishments.  Injuries.  Fear.  Comfort.  Success itself can become an excuse: “I've already proven myself.”

But growth asks a different question: “What am I still capable of becoming?”

You don't have to destroy yourself trying to prove that you're still young.  You don't have to be perfect.  You don't have to compete with everyone around you.
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But you should demand something more from yourself.

• Raise the standard of your effort.
• Raise the standard of your preparation.
• Raise the standard of your discipline.
• Raise the standard of your attitude.
• Raise the standard of what you're willing to tolerate from yourself.

Because when your moment of truth eventually arrives—whether in martial arts, your career, your relationships, your health, or an unexpected challenge—you will not suddenly become the person you hoped you would be.
But if you know there is more inside you, good is not where you're supposed to stop.
“When the moment of truth has arrived, the time for preparation has passed”.

​“When the moment of truth has arrived, the time for preparation has passed”.

Greatness is a standard, not a destination and it is not perfection.  Greatness is not someplace that you finally arrive, and now you can relax.  Rather greatness is a standard you allow yourself to grow to.  A level of excellence that is not defined by others but defined by you!  It refers to pushing yourself to the maximum of your abilities, skills, knowledge, and perseverance.  Greatness is not void of problems, challenges, or failures.  It is the continued push you provide when things get tough and you decide that is an obstacle and not a roadblock.

Becoming great isn't about becoming better than everyone around you.  That comparison eventually becomes meaningless.  The real challenge is becoming unwilling to live permanently below your own potential.  You don't need to be extraordinary every day.  You need to be consistent and determined.  You need to refuse to repeatedly accept ordinary effort from yourself when you know you're capable of more.
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Raise one standard.  Train harder.  Listen better.  Prepare earlier.  Keep a promise.  Stop making one excuse.  Do one thing at a level that yesterday's version of you might not have demanded.  Then repeat it.  That's how good becomes great.

There is a saying in the martial arts world, “When the moment of truth has arrived, the time for preparation has passed”.  This applies in everything we do.  We either face a challenge with no experience, no preparation, no insight and stumble and fall at every moment that it counts, or prepared and work through challenges with skills, and then we utilize these skills or experiences and are prepared for the next time.  Every workout is in preparation for when our body would have fallen apart.  Every punch, push, and pain now minimize future challenges.  We study, ask questions, watch, and participate before any real event tries to take us over.

You don't want to begin learning a self-defense technique during an attack.  You don't start building cardio conditioning during a marathon.

The moment of truth reveals what you prepared beforehand.  Prepare your body before you need strength, prepare your mind before adversity arrives, develop discipline before motivation disappears.

Preparation rarely feels urgent because the moment requiring it hasn't arrived yet.  That's exactly why disciplined people prepare anyway.
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Don't wait until you need greatness to start preparing for it.

​We will only grow as high as our ceiling allows.  Anyone who has had a crawl space under their house knows that the floor is fixed and so is the ceiling.  They call it, a ‘crawl space’ for a reason.  To get around you have to crawl, on your hands and knees and this posture is not sustainable.  Do you enjoy crawling or is it better to stand up straight and know you have all the head room in the world for growth?  The taller you grow the more room you want between the top of your head and the ceiling.  This is called the, “The Law of The Lid”.  You will only rise as far as your ceiling allows.  IF you live as though your ceiling has no stopping point you will rise farther than you could imagine because you have removed limitations.
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What about the floor you stand on?  You tell yourself that my current floor is all the further I will fall back.  This floor becomes your new minimum standard.  The floor you stand on is now the minimum effort you’ll accept.  The floor is where you train when motivation disappears.  The floor is where you keep your word when breaking it would be easier.  The floor is how you behave when there are no applauses, recognition, or someone acknowledging your effort.  Your floor is just as honorable as your ceiling.

There comes a dangerous point in our lives when people start talking more about what they used to do than what they're preparing themselves to do next.  “I used to be stronger.” “I used to be more flexible.” “I used to be in better shape.”  Be careful with the words ‘used to’, when describing the present VS the past.  Age changes us and sometimes not in the best of ways.  Yes, your body changes, but it has always changed.  From the moment you were born till the day we die.  Responsibilities change in the same fashion. Priorities change.  Pretending otherwise isn't strength, its denial of the natural order of life.  BUT we don’t have to order our rocking chair, our hospice stay now, not until there are no other choices.  Choices or adaptation is not surrender.  It is finding a stronger path than defeat.

Maybe you can't train exactly as you did twenty years ago and that’s fine.  To be honest, I am training smarter than I did when I ruptured my back.  I was showing off my male ego and it cost me dearly.  Discover what you're capable of today, not based off what you used to do.  Maybe your speed changes, but your technique improves.  Maybe physical recovery takes longer, but your discipline becomes stronger.  Maybe your goals change, but your need for purpose shouldn't.

You are not competing with the younger version of yourself.  You're responsible for developing the current version of yourself.

Your standards are those things we are able to consistently do every day.  Whatever you repeatedly tolerate eventually becomes acceptable.  If you tolerate being late, lateness becomes normal.  If you tolerate excuses, excuses become normal.  If you tolerate weak effort, weak effort becomes normal.

  We have either allowed ourselves to fall into a rut, and we perform for the sake of performing, going through the motions.  Whatever we allow to exist, these are standards.  What is our current mindset that pushes us to grow above our current set of standards?  Do we see our standards as a baseline or starting point for ourselves, or do we see them as a final phase?

When you demand more of yourself, your standards become a frame work, from which you constantly build yourself in to.  You demand a workout even when you are tired, do you demand exceptional responsibilities when you know there is more to give, do you demand the time with your family, even when you know others who are demanding of your time?  Your life usually doesn't rise because you suddenly become more talented.  It rises because your minimum acceptable standard rises.

Stop asking: “Can I get away with this?”
Start asking:  “Is this the standard I want representing me?”

That question changes everything.  When you see it as a public reflection of who you are.  You will raise your standards.

It’s our internal energy that determines how hard we work, making good enough a resting place.  It could be something physical that keeps our energy low, but it could also be from the lack of motivation and ambition that keeps us drained.  Do you remember a time in your life when you wanted something so bad that the work involved seemed inconsequential?  Our energy, our drive, and our ambitions were high, and we never gave challenges or the needed time a second guess?  At one time, yes, and maybe its still there.  You wanted the best health you could possibly push yourselves to.  Maybe some injuries, maybe the time needed has got you to believe, where you are is good enough.

Most people don't wake up and decide to become mediocre.  They slowly accept it.  One missed workout becomes two.  One excuse becomes a habit.  We stop practicing something because we're already “pretty good” at it.  We stop asking more of ourselves because nobody else is asking more of us.  That's how standards fall— quietly.

Look at your life today. Where have you started saying, “That's good enough” when you know you could do better?  This isn't about becoming obsessed with perfection.  Perfection can be just another excuse because perfection is impossible.  Excellence is different.  Excellence asks you to take what you have, where you are, and do something meaningful with it.

Don't measure today's effort against what everyone else is doing.  Measure it against what you know you could do.

There is nothing wrong with being good, until being good becomes the excuse for never becoming better than you currently are or great.

One of the easiest traps in life is settling into a standard that is comfortable.

Comfortable is a place that we feel life is predictable, pleasant, some place that we can effortlessly exist.  We become good enough at our job.  Good enough at taking care of our body.  Good enough in our relationships.  Good enough in our training.

Eventually, “good enough” becomes the ceiling we voluntarily place over our own potential.

Age does not excuse us from growth.  Getting older may change how we push ourselves, but it should never eliminate our willingness to push even more or longer. Your standards should mature with you, not relax because of your age.  Greatness isn't perfection.  Greatness is refusing to repeatedly give less than you know you are capable of giving.

This week, ask yourself a difficult question: Have I actually reached my limits—or have I simply become comfortable with my standards?

Day 1: Good To Great – Good Enough Is A Dangerous Place To Be
Day 2: Good To Great – Your Standards Become Your Normal
Day 3: Good To Great – Age Is Not An Excuse To Stop Growing
Day 4: Good To Great – Raise Your Ceiling
Day 5: Good To Great – Preparation Starts Before You Need It
Day 6: Good To Great – Greatness Is Not Perfection

Understand what truly defines self-motivation.  Self-motivation is a strong, enduring attitude that keeps you growing for life.  The motivation that comes from self-discipline doesn’t stop after one accomplishment.  There is no final destination or stopping point for me until I can’t think or move for myself.  Motivation paired with discipline keeps the door open and fosters endless growth, regardless of age or schedule.  Disciplined motivation keeps an endless goal of always learning and trying.  Believe that growth has no finish line; it is a continuous process for life
           
The moment you stop challenging yourself is the moment you begin becoming comfortable.  Comfort slowly weakens ambition, makes us lazy and indecisive.  Purposeful challenges continue building a healthy mind and body, confidence, resilience, and character.

Become the person who is always learning, always improving, and always searching for the next mountain to climb.

A good part of motivation comes from the people you involuntarily affect.  Those lives you change just from the simple things you’ve done to grow yourself.  What you consider small can be huge to others.  Simple random acts of kindness or support can mean the world to those who are lost and have no discipline.  Even when you believe that was not my intention, it serves the same.  Your strength becomes the flickering light for others.  Your small gains in discipline become small motivators for you, but they are more than that to people around you.  Knowing that you are influencing others is not your goal; that is a separate motivator, one that should keep you humble rather than prideful.

Your main focus should be on adding value to your lives.   Do you know how you should perceive your growth?  You add value to your knowledge and strengths each day as you look to increase who you are by the smallest of steps.  Small steps are more easily remembered than large strides.  We can correct our steps more easily when we take small steps to our goal.  We always have to backtrack when our steps are larger than our memory can hold.

Why add value to yourself:  Become stronger so you can protect.  Become healthier so you can inspire.  Become wiser so you can teach.  Become kinder so you can encourage.
Success becomes far more satisfying when other people rise because you chose to improve yourself first.