I want to tell you about your SECRET POWER.

Whether we are talking about success in fitness, sports, academics or the marketplace, everyone has this SECRET POWER at his disposal - and it will work every single time, if you use it.

This secret power is nothing more than having a daily regimen. I know, it sounds too simple. And it really is simple. But hardly anyone else does it.

The masses flap, flop and flounder. They have no idea what to do from one day to the next, and they is why they fail.

The person who follows a daily regimen of exercise, work or study quickly rises above the herd and becomes better than even he can imagine.

And it doesn’t take that much.

For example, if you do calisthenics for thirty minutes per day, every day, without missing a beat, I can guarantee you that after one year, you’ll be in amazing shape compared to how you look and feel now.

Your regimen may be as simple as 100 assorted pushups, 100 assorted squats and 100 assorted abdominal exercises. Follow this everyday and you’ll be amazed at how much it helps you.

Because I understand the power of daily regimen, I wholeheartedly recommend it in my training sessions. Those who don’t recognize its power would prefer to only Ytrain twice a month. On a regimen like that, you aren’t going to be training for more than a couple of months. You’ll have so many diversions that you’ll forget you were even on a schedule.

Daily regimens guarantee your success.

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Today’s story is by Gary Eby and makes a great point that you have to plan to be successful. Things don’t just happen. Great parents are great because they planned and prepared to be parents. Great leaders are great because they planned and prepared to lead. Read this article and then leave a comment on what you are going to plan for.

There are laws! In fact there are certain immutable laws. These laws cannot and will not change. They have not only stood the test of time, they have been in existence since the dawning of time. As surely as there is day and night and as surely as there is good and bad, there is seedtime and harvest. Always has been…always will be. It is the nature of things. In fact, it is essential to the cycle of life.

Without seedtime and harvest there would be no procreation. There would be no crops. There would be no food. Seedtime and harvest are the most basic fundamentals of perpetuating life on plant Earth as we now know it! Most people aren’t aware of this law or it’s far reaching implications. So, let’s examine this concept and discover how it affects our lives, our families, and our business.

Seedtime and Harvest…How does this affect my life?

In basic terms, you reap what you sow! When you plant bananas you reap bananas. When you plant apples you reap apples. Most of us accept this as a self evident truism. Why does it seem far fetched then, to realize that when you sow discord you’ll reap discord in your life? People who sow strife, reap strife. People who sow joy, reap joy! What you plant into other peoples lives will someday, somehow be reaped in your own life. You are what you are today because of seeds you’ve sown in the past. You have what you have today, because of seeds you’ve sown in the past. Today is the harvest of yesterday’s seeds! Life is a garden…can you dig it? You reap what you sow!

How does Seedtime and Harvest affect my family?

More than you’ll ever know! What are you planting into your children? Are you planting time? What about faith? How about integrity? What do they hear at the movie when you are asked their age? Do you somehow justify a "little white lie?" In my experience, the "little white lies" usually turn into "double feature Technicolor!" If you want champions for children then you need to be planting the seeds of greatness. Plant love! Reap love! Plant big dreams and you’ll reap a President or missionary, or a giant of industry! What are you planting into your wife…or your husband?

Kindness…forgiveness…gentleness? Their hearts are fields that you plant into daily. What you reaping? The law of the harvest says that what you sow, you will reap? We should stop and think every time we open our mouth to speak to our spouse. Will this edify or build them up, or will it tear them down? You see, there are no useless words. They either bless or curse. They either build or destroy! We have two ears…and one tongue. Maybe we should listen twice and speak once. What is your harvest in your family? Maybe it’s time to examine your crops…then examine your seeds.

Make yourself a seed!

You can only duplicate yourself by becoming a seed. This can work for or against you. When you plant a single seed a miracle happens. A plant grows and at harvest time the plant produces hundreds of like seeds. An apple seed produces an apple. That apple has numerous seeds. Plant them and you’ll have numerous apples…again with numerous seeds. A single seed can someday produce an entire field of apple trees. The same law of seedtime and harvest applies in your business. If you plant bad seeds into your downline like complaining, bad principles, or laziness, you’ll have an entire downline of lazy complainers with bad principles. They will duplicate accordingly. No one will make any money. They’ll all quit! You’ll either get discouraged and quit or have to start all over again! Wouldn’t it be better to sow seeds of greatness? "Teach your children well!" These famous words to a so ng apply to networking! Make yourself a seed. Plant your talents and gifts into the lives of your downline. Make sure they succeed. If they succeed, you will! Because you reap what you sow. It should be firmly established in your heart by now that if you’ll adjust your thinking from "what’s in it for me" to "what can I do to help", you will succeed beyond your wildest dreams. Seedtime and Harvest!

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This video is approximately 5 minutes long. Please leave your comments about the event.

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Friendship counts. Whatever your life goals are, you’ll achieve them faster and enjoy them more completely if you surround yourself with good friends - and if you yourself are a good friend to those around you.

Based on my experience, I’d say that a good friendship is a relationship of good intent. A good friend is someone who wishes you well, who cares about your problems, who enjoys your triumphs, and who will sacrifice for you. On the other hand, a bad friendship is based on taking rather than giving. A bad friend is one who just sees you as a resource, as a person he can get something from.

Here’s a test that you can use to determine whether you are (or someone you know is) the right kind of friend or
the "what’s-in-it-for-me?" type…

How strongly do you identify with the following comments?

1. "When I am introduced to someone, I am primarily concerned with that person’s importance - financial, political, commercial, etc. - to me or my world."

2. "If I meet someone who has nothing to give me or teach me - or who can’t even amuse me - I act civilly but coolly."

3. "The best thing about having friends is that they are willing to listen to my problems."

4. "The next-best thing about friends is that they will do business with my honey/spouse."

5. "Another value of friendship is that if I get into serious financial trouble, my friends will be financially capable of helping me out."

Rate yourself (or your friend) on a scale of 1 to 4 for each of the above statements, with 4 representing "strongly agree" and 1 representing "strongly disagree."

If you scored a perfect 20, consider yourself on your way to a major career in politics or Hollywood. (I’m guessing.)

If you scored a perfect 5, you will be happy for the rest of your life.

If you scored somewhere in between, decide for yourself which direction you want to move in.

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Would You Let a Bird Build a Nest in Your Hair?

Many of the problems people experience come from problems in their thinking. They are tormented by the thoughts of fear; they rehearse past injuries; they are critical of themselves and of others.

Understand this: You have absolute control over the thoughts in your brain. You get to pick and choose which thoughts you allow in.

Billy Graham, the famous evangelist, once said, "Thoughts are like a big flock of birds flying over your head. You can’t stop them from flying over…but you can stop one from building a nest in your hair."

Thoughts of unforgiveness; thoughts of fear; critical thoughts; thoughts of potential disaster…will always tempt you.

When a thought like this suggests itself to you, you can receive it…or refuse it.

Use this phrase when confronted with a negative thought:

"That’s NOT my thought!"

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Every parent, at one time or another, has asked their children to stop playing and come do something else, whether it’s cleaning up, eating dinner, or going to karate class. And every parent has experienced the resistance a child can raise when asked to change activities.

You see, there is one source which drives children’s life management skills - Instant Gratification. Children are so caught up in what they are doing - right now - that they are unable to realize that anything else matters.

If it was up to them, kids wouldn’t do anything except those things that are fun and exciting to them.

Now, as adults, we all know that there are other things which exist and matter. We have learned that instant gratification is no way to determine the path of our lives (except for some adults who seem to be stuck in “terminal childhood!).

I personally know two adults who illustrate this point. The first was fortunate to have parents who played an active role in his character development. They helped to mold his future, and were involved with his responsibilities, such as homework, youth groups, and other activities. They taught him to handle these responsibilities effectively.

Of course, like any other child, he did not always want to do his homework. He didn’t always feel like leaving his friends to go to karate, either. But he did go on to earn his Black Belt from “Denny Strecker’s Karate.” Now he is in medical school!

The second person only wanted to do things that were fun. Whenever his parents asked him to do something that he considered boring, he would put up such a fuss that eventually his parents would give in. They were tired of arguing with him. He never wanted to do anything constructive - he’d rather watch TV or play with his friends. By the time he reached Junior High, he and his friends had too much time on their hands and often wound up in trouble. It was all quite fun for him - but obviously, it wasn’t productive at all. In high school, he learned how to skip classes without getting caught - they were too boring for him.

Both of these young men are the same age. The first is excited about the opportunities that lie ahead, and can’t wait to get into the “real world” and help people. The second, on the other hand, is in the “real world” and can’t keep track of how many jobs he’s had. He has no real education, is always short on money, has no plans for the future, and is not happy.

Thinking about these two young men reminds me of what Mark Twain once said: “If you think education is expensive…try ignorance.” Someday, these young men will probably have children… and hopefully they’ll take the time to mold their children’s future.

As concerned parents, we must be able to see things that other parents can’t. We must be able to look at the big picture - and put our children’s desires into perspective. Not only do we need to teach our kids to plan for the future, we also have to do everything we can to keep them focused, active, and productive.

Even parents who do “everything right” won’t necessarily have the “perfect child.” But the “perfect child” never comes from a family who doesn’t take the time to teach, guide, and nurture their child - even forcing them to do the things which are in their best long-term interest.

No doubt, there will be a time when you child will put up a fuss about going to karate. She won’t want to stop what she’s doing - but once she gets to class, she’ll have a great time. You might even ask yourself if you’re doing the right thing. When this happens, ask yourself “Which of these activities is in the best long-term interest of my child?” “Which will help them create a path to success?” “Which will help develop her character?” Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll know that you made the right decision.

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As you already know, discipline is an important part of our classes here at “Denny Strecker’s Karate.” We believe that it is critically important for our students to learn discipline in the classroom - so that they will have discipline in all areas of their lives. As we teach this important life skill, our students develop two types of discipline: External and Internal.

External discipline is the kind that is imposed on one person by another. Once I was at a ball game when I saw external discipline at its extreme - a mother was yelling at her son for spilling his soda… her veins were popping out of her neck, and the mean expression on her face was only intensified when she turned bright red.

This mom brought back memories of a teacher I once had, who was very strict, and always lost her temper. She was quick to yell and to take away fun things like recess, giving us instead lengthy assignments.

External discipline has one advantage - it gets immediate results. The recipients will quickly fall into line out of fear of punishment. However, the down side is that external discipline is often short term. Some psychologists even feel that external discipline will leave long-term scars!

Here at “Denny Strecker’s Karate,” we believe that all people, especially kids… deep down inside… want to do the right thing. It’s just that children sometimes get distracted, or become caught up in the moment, and forget to do what is right.

On the other hand, Self-Disciplined people, or people who have Internal discipline, always do the right thing - without someone else telling them what to do. A person with internal discipline can work by themselves without being supervised. This is a sign of positive character development.

So, how is self-discipline developed? We have figured out a way that, over time, works wonders!

The answer is so obvious… that it’s hard to see!

Picture a small group of kids sitting and listening to the karate teacher. One little boy begins to bother the kid next to him, poking him in the arm.

An external disciplinarian (like my old teacher) would quickly point at the child and say, in a sharp tone, “Stop that!”

There are two problems with this response. First, it focuses the attention of the entire group on a behavior that we don’t want. But even worse - it dashes the self-esteem of the misbehaving child - and in many cases, bad self-esteem is the cause of the misbehavior! Here, the teacher did get immediate results - but did nothing to impact the long-term behavior of the student.

Let’s look at another scenario. This time, instead of drawing attention to the misbehaving student, the teacher looks for a child who demonstrates good self- disciplined behavior and publicly praises the child, saying things like “You are a super listener!” The other students quickly “straighten up,” and the teacher compliments them as well, being sure to include the student who was misbehaving.

By drawing attention to the attentive child - and making an example of good behavior, the teacher improves that student’s self esteem - instead of taking the misbehaving student’s self esteem down a notch.

It works just as quickly, and is more effective than the external methods!
The only challenge is that it requires the teacher to be more patient, creative, and attentive.

And best of all, when done consistently, the misbehaving children are taught what to do (instead of what not to do). Their self esteem is improved, rather than dashed… and, over time, they become self disciplined - and that lasts a lifetime!

A self-disciplined person not only knows what to do… but does it.

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Play along with me for a moment…

What would your reaction be if you just won $25,000 on a game show?

You’d probably say you felt thrilled, elated, or excited.

You would, huh? What if I told you more about the circumstances involved…

You were doing great and had progressed to the last round. You had already won $500,000, but you chose to risk that amount to go for the million dollar question. Unfortunately, you got it wrong and ended up with “only” $25,000.

Now how would you feel? Disappointed, mad at yourself, and just plain awful, right?

So why do you feel so bad if you are walking away with $25,000 more than you had before?

You feel awful because of how you interpret that event. If you focus on what might have been, you will feel very unhappy. But with conscious effort, you can choose to focus on the $25,000 you won rather than the $475,000 you lost.

Here is a great truth of life – what determines our happiness is not so much what happens to us as how we feel about it. Our reaction determines whether we interpret events as positive or negative.

People tend to naturally see the negative side of things because they are easier to find. I was speaking with a parent who was quite upset because she had just learned that she was loosing her job and she is the bread winner for the family.

When she told me the news I immediately responded, “Congratulations! That is great news!!”

She looked at me with a look of utter confusion and said, “Did you hear what I said? I am going to loose my job. This is terrible news.”

I replied, “You have hated your job for years and you said there was no chance of advancement any more so this is great news. Now you can look for something you will enjoy doing and that you will be able to advance in. Who knows? You might even find something that pays more than what you are earning now.”

You choose how to “feel” about events that happen to you. When something happens in your life, look at it from all sides and see where the positives are and focus on them.

A good way to see if you are a positive or a negative person is to look at your children. How do they deal with negative situations? They have learned how to cope from you, so if they are always negative, there is a good chance they learned that from you.

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This is a dangerous time!

With summer in full swing, children have the tendency to get lazy. They want to sleep at all hours, lay on the couch, watch mind numbing TV, and declare, “I’m bored.”

If you allow this behavior to develop, you are sending the wrong message to your child. When was the last time you were able to take 2 months off of work, do nothing, and then just go back in the fall? The real world does not operate that way. It is our job as parents to prepare our children for real life.

I have a tool for you to use to help keep your child a goal for the summer - and even all year long!

It is a chore allowance system that you can use. The key is to have fun with it. Make up some easy rewards your child will be able to purchase. But, also create some wild and crazy ones. Go ahead and put that family trip to the Bahamas on there. It may cost $1,000,000 in allowance checks but SO WHAT!!!!

Click Here to Download your Allowance Chore Checks Program.

If you have any questions about how to use this program, please feel free to ask it in the comments section of this post and I will be happy to help you get started.

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Many years ago, a martial arts student lived in a temple. One day, his teacher and the temple elders decided to send the student on a quest. Upon being summoned, the student was both elated and fearful as he appeared before the elders. They told the student that he must travel to a temple in a far-off foreign land to complete his training. When he arrived, the teachers there would share all their secrets with him.

The student’s travels were filled with many trials and tribulations; he battled many vagabonds, bullies and street thugs. He finally arrived at the distant temple, after walking for almost a year, tattered, weathered, but a different man. He was greeted as a champion and was led directly into the chamber of elders.

The elders handed him a beautiful, leather-bound book, The Book of Knowledge. The book had only one page, which was a mirror. Of course, the student/warrior only saw his reflection. He became frustrated and asked, “Is this a joke?” The elders said, “You are the only one besides us who has made the journey and survived. You are the living example; you can now take our place as the elder and run the temple, so we can leave.” The warrior threw the book to the ground, breaking the mirror. Loudly, he said, “I am happy to be able to have lived the lessons, but I will not waste my time in this jail when so many things are still to be learned.” He then left.

This story is a fine example of the quest for martial arts training. Today, students are not as patient as they once were and they do not realize that lessons are not always clear. The lessons are their experiences, failures, successes, bumps and bruises, frustrations, and their trust in their teachers.
Lessons are constantly presented to you, if you chose to learn. The road to success is paved in sweat, hard work and determination. A very wise man once told me, “The only thing of any worth is something you worked hard for.” Trust in your teacher, but work hard and live the lessons - train to live - live to train. Be the example - live the Black Belt, don’t just tie it around your waist.

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