The PATH to a successful life

I was asked to write something to all Kangdukwon and Taekwondo practitioners, Masters and Grand Masters; something that would speak to the shaping of a complete person.

While our martial art is primarily focused on fighting or sport, there is a much deeper aspect that is, perhaps, even more important; the continuous development of the complete person.

There are many Grand Masters and Masters much more qualified to teach and talk about kicking and punching, therefore I would like to focus on developing the complete person.

So what qualifies me to offer guidance or a prescription for developing and succeeding as a whole person?

The short answer is “nothing “ 

I am a very ordinary person, raised on a very small subsistence farm in Piney Fork, Kentucky, by my grandmother and step-grandfather, after my parents divorced. They were depression era survivors who had learned to get by from a very young age, I learned about hard work. Until high school, everything was done by hand or with borrowed mules.

Hard work, followed by hard work, followed by hard work.

Nothing else mattered; not weather, or how you felt, or school obligations; farm work came first.

I wasn’t raised by loving parents that cared about my grades, or extra activities, or anything else outside of the farm.

That was my normal and my life.  

My father lived in Michigan, and throughout my childhood, I tried to do things that I thought would impress him.

It could have gone either way; I could have gone to the dark side and gotten in trouble, or I could excel in school and extracurricular activities.

I think, perhaps based on the friends I chose, that I picked the latter. 

So, from that period of my life I learned the value of honest hard work and choosing friends wisely.
 
From the farm I did my time in the United States Marine Corps.

There I continued training and learned the value of mission focus, discipline and more hard work. 

After the service, I got married and found myself responsible for providing for a family.  

I had a job in a bank, where I met another young friend that went to school nights, who also had to provide for a family. 

During that time we started having a family.

From all of that I decided several things; first, that I wanted my wife to stay home and raise the kids; second, that I would have to work at least two jobs; and third, that I would have to invest in myself, by going to college at night, to learn new things that would qualify me for jobs that would pay better and better provide for my family.

From this period I learned the value of single-minded focus, more discipline, and lots more hard work, and most importantly continuous re-investment in myself.  

At around this same time, I began my training in KangDukWon, under the tutelage of Great Grand Master Chong; training that continues to this day.

From work, school and Taekwondo, I earned to have a purpose, choose a better path and a mission; to learn everything it would take to succeed in each, including all of the steps; and to think of each as the other to success.

During this period, I further developed my mission focus, my resolve to succeed, in spite of all the obstacles life threw, and that truly big, important, seemingly insurmountable elephants can all be eventually eaten, “one bite at a time."

Each success, no matter how big or small, increased my desire for further success, and as I succeeded, I began to share my good fortune and what I had learned with family and then with friends.

 During this period I learned that to have a truly meaningful life, requires a purpose, continuous development in ones self, and increasingly important: helping others.

While I continue my journey in self-discovery and development, As I near the end of my life, I find that to fully complete the circle of enlightenment the last point about giving back and helping others has become more important.

I have been blessed in many ways, but also, as a wise man once told me; “the harder I work and the more focused I am, the luckier I get.” 

I have been fortunate to have successes in education, as a professional, in career, in KangDukWon, and in achieving success in a wide variety of adventurous activities and travel.

The success formula is exceedingly simple:  
1. Aspire to become a complete, enlightened person. 
2. The most important things and the true measure of a successful life is not in material things. Those can come and go.  
3. Pick truly meaningful goals and missions.
4. Learn everything you can about all the steps it will take and obstacles to overcome. 
5. Most importantly, learn to expect and accept that there will be obstacles, and develop such focus and determination, that nothing stops you until completion.  
6. When faced with the inevitable obstacles, remember that there is always at least one more thing you can do; it just may not be easy to see because your emotion clouds your visions; for this enlist great mentors and confidants.
7. Never, ever give up( I have broken or set six world records,   One of them took 7 attempts over 4 years, another one took 135 days to complete).
8. Keep your health and spirits high. You will need the energy. 
9. Always have a purpose. 
10. Enlightenment comes from continuous self-awareness and investment in ones self.
11. You can begin this process at any point in your life. For the most part,  It is never too late, but you will have a more meaningful life the sooner you start. 

Although The success formula is always the same, I can’t over emphasize the most important part of enlightenment; paying it forward, by helping others.  

I still have an ongoing goal of averaging one random act of kindness every week. Sometimes these are big and sometimes very small. Never underestimate what this can do for your soul. 

Good luck in your journey through life.