Medallions

How is success measured? 

Practice does not make perfect but it does make progress. If progress is continuous and the application of mastery is a lifestyle, where can success be found? Success seems like a definite achievement, a marker of improvement at a specific time. I can think of two obstacles in regards to the camouflage of success.

1. Attitude, perception, attention, awareness, and all cognitive understanding of who you are and what you are doing is relative across individuals and time. Along the stream of upward trajectory, a person will have difficulty framing their achievements because they won't be conscious of a before and after. The cause-effect relationship between hard work and improvement isn't obvious, so one must know where they began and where they are now. Do you know yourself?

2. Having too high or too low of expectations for oneself. This I believe is the balancing act that will take my legs out from under me. How can you be certain of progress if you aren't where you want to be? Or how can you celebrate achievements if you don't feel finished?

Here's an interesting idea: success may be only found when there is recognition. Whether that recognition comes from a Sifu, teacher, classmate, or yourself when you are completely honest with yourself. On the path to mastery, success is every step you take in the right direction. And it's measured by the distance travelled on that path. So taking note of where you start and where you're at (because you're never finished) is essential to recognizing success. Pro tip: be honest with yourself.

So with this all in my head, I want to fuel myself for the upcoming year. That being said I need to know where I am now in order to look back at in another year  I will write that out promptly

See you all on the screen

Lucy Lee