Happy New Years!
Although I don’t love physics as much as some of the other Team Lloyd Irvin Instructors to name my school after the subject (make sure to check out Roberto Torralbas’ school in Naples FL), one of the law I really like is Newton’s 1st Law of Motion which states:
An object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force.
I like this a lot because it exemplifies how hard it is for people to change their behavior (and consequently, their lives). All the factors (people, activities, job, etc) in our lives push and pull us to live in a particular way and it is not easy to change directions. It is one of the reasons why 43% of convicted felons end up back in jail within one year and also why ~80% of fitness and health club members end up not going after the first month. Their old lives swallow them back up regardless of how people “feel” about them.
The point is that it is HARD to change behavior so that we need all the tactics and tricks we can to force us off the beaten path and improve our lives. For myself, one of the most productive things, I did this year was put up a $2500/monthly bet with a few colleagues of mine – basically, we had certain things we needed to do with our businesses and if the tasks were not completed, we had to pay! In my case, punishment (of fear of it) definitely got me off my butt and working! Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was able to double its space to 6000 sq. ft. making it one of the largest Martial Arts schools in the Baltimore area and we were once again able to double our student base. (NOTE: this type of bet is not for everyone. I tried it with one of my students and he just disappeared after accepting the bet… lol!)
Lloyd Irvin is a big proponent of writing down your goals. Studies indicate that individuals who write down their goals have a higher chance of completing their goals. So what I am asking you to do is to write down your goals for the coming year and you can post them here or just email them to me. Most of the International tournament competitors have already done this so if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?
