​One of the best ways to accelerate your success and achievement in any area of your life, especially your Martial Arts…is to practice, drill and rehearse it until it becomes natural and fluent. When you practice/drill/rehearse with the intent of becoming great, you’ll give it better attention and spirit. 
 
This is true in your Martial Arts and any other area of life that you are striving to improve and achieve excellent results in. Imagine how many practice sessions someone like Lebron James or Kobe Bryant has had in their lifetime.  
 
Spirited repetition is deliberate practice.  It is practicing with the intent to get better, to be the best you can be.  It doesn’t mean you are error free.  It means your focus is set on constant and never-ending improvement. 
 
There is a great story of Kobe Bryant told by his trainer, Robert, in the 2012 Summer Olympics. 
 
The night before a scrimmage for Team USA Kobe called his trainer and asked him to meet him at the practice facility at 5:00 in the morning to do a conditioning and strength workout.  When Robert arrived at the facility at 5:00 Kobe was already there drenched in sweat.  It looked like he just came out of the pool!
 
Robert asked him what time he had arrived and Kobe said, “4:30.”  I had to warm up.
 
From 6:00 - 7:00 Robert put Kobe through a conditioning and endurance workout then from 7:00 - 8:00 Robert put Kobe through a strength workout.  After that Kobe told Robert he was free to go but he wanted him to meet him back at the practice facility at 11:00.  Kobe mentioned he wanted to practice a little more before he ended his morning routine. 
 
When Robert arrived at 11:00, Kobe was shooting jump shots.  Robert asked Kobe what time he got done, and Kobe said...just now!  Kobe explained he wanted to get in 800 “makes” and he just finished! 
 
Kobe started at 4:30 AM and went until 11:00 AM, then he still had Team USA practice that started at 11:30. 
 
That’s spirited repetition!  That is deliberate practice and “A” rated work ethic. 

“The way you do anything influences the way you do everything!” 

By the way, Kobe played 20 seasons with the LA Lakers, is an 18-time All-Star, 2-time Olympic gold medal winner, and has made over $200 million in his career! 

With hurricane Irma coming and threatening South Florida, my family and some friends traveled to Pigeon Forge, TN to escape the impending storm.

We rented a beautiful cabin in the Smokey Mountains and decided to make the best of the situation by looking at our time away as an impromptu vacation. Our houses and businesses were buttoned up and there wasn’t much more for us to do but pray that no one would get hurt if the storm hit, and there was no damage.

Joe Torre, Hall of Fame baseball player and manager says, “Focus on what you can control, and not what you can’t.” We had no control on what Irma was going to do but we did prepare for the worst, and we made a plan to get out safely.

So, we are in Tennessee for a few days and was completely struck by the beauty of the Smokey Mountains, the awesome places to run (up very, very steep hills that made me gasp for air when I got to the top), and how nice the people are!

While visiting a place to drive go karts, I was buying my daughter and me a drink. The lady behind the counter was super to deal with. She was happy, had a big ole smile on her face, and she embodied everything you think of when you think of “Southern Hospitality”.

She made it a point to tell my daughter that her slushy was filled to the top and politely warned her to be careful when putting her straw in. She asked me how much ice I wanted in my Diet Coke, and then warmly suggested that I put my straw in carefully so I don’t spill it.

Then she wished us a great day and safe travels. You could tell that she genuinely loved her job.

Now some people may think that being a cashier at a small amusement park may be a meager job that doesn’t really matter. Those people would be dead wrong, and complete idiots if you ask me.

Both my buddy and I thought she was awesome, and she genuinely made buying a couple drinks a super pleasurable experience.

Did she love serving drinks and selling tickets to the amusement part? I don’t know. Maybe, and maybe not. But you could tell for sure that she loved people and wanted to make everyone feel great! And did she ever!

There were countless other times when people greeted us with a big smile, offered to take our picture when we saw a cool landmark, or were just walking by and said hello. You didn’t see that many people with their faces buried in their phones.
Kind of like the good ole days! 😊

This trip reminded me how important it is to make other people feel great. It reminded me to find pleasure in everything you do. Maybe you love your job, and if you do, that’s great!

But if you are not in love with what you do, then maybe you can be in love with who you do the job for. Maybe you love the people you work with!

Perhaps, you love the results that are created in your work. I know people that don’t love what they do, but they love that they can raise money for people in need.

I know speakers that don’t love getting on planes, living out of a suitcase, and being away from their families. What they do love is the impact they can make on their audiences, and they love knowing those people will get better results in their lives because of that seminar.

So, in the end, be a person of excellence. Do everything you can to the best of your ability. Find a purpose in what you do, and do it with a smile. Do it in a positive, friendly way that makes other people better off for engaging with you that day.

Be the rising tides that lifts all boats! Show appreciation to your family, friends, and customers. When you appreciate others, you appreciate as well!
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Thank you for being a part of the Elite Force family!

When you Google Indomitable Spirit, what comes up is…

People described as having indomitable spirits don't need pep talks or protein shakes; their strength comes from within. The adjective indomitable starts with the Latin prefix in, which means "not." The second part of the word is also from the Latin word domitare, meaning "to tame."

Russell Redenbaugh was building a model rocket in his garage when he was 16 years old. The rocket went off accidentally leaving him totally blind and with permanent damage to both hands (he lost 6 fingers).

He was determined to not live the life as a typical handicap person. He shifted his focus to action. He focused on what he could do, and not what he couldn’t. Despite being rejected by Stanford and Harvard, he went on to earn an MBA from the Wharton School in the University of Pennsylvania.

At the age of fifty, Redenbaugh started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He went on to train with Phil Migliarese, Saulo Ribeiro, Jean Jacques Machado and Eduardo Rocha, and to fight sighted opponents.

As a blind person missing fingers, he won the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships for his weight and belt in 2003, 2004 and 2005. He also competed in the unlimited weight division each year, earning silver medals in 2004 and 2005. In 2010, Redenbaugh became a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt.

Today he is an ultra-successful economist, investor, and inspirational speaker.

Russell wrote a book entitled, “Shift the Narrative: A Blind Man’s Vision for Rewriting the Stories that Limit Us”
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Check out his TED Talk here: https://youtu.be/AOOc3VO_Gyg