Confidence
Confidence is like the fuel that makes people go. Anything you do can be done better when done more confidently. When we believe in ourselves, everything we do can be done more passionately and more genuinely. Confidence is not built overnight. It takes time, energy and effort.
Integrity Martial Arts Blackbelt Jonathan Metcalf on Building Confidence in Children
From The Path To Leadership: “Martial art students feel like they’ve accomplished something
significant because they have. That is a lesson that is carried with them throughout their life. Our students learn that they can – and do – have a tremendously positive impact on their community, their families, peers and environment. That really does inspire a child or adult to experience that kind of personal power. It motivates them to be an excellent student, not just settling for average. Being your personal best is part of success…throughout history, as a general rule, a martial arts school was central to its town. Martial artists often served like the sheriff or the protector of the village. The schools were often the library or school of education. Students that were accepted to study were expected to live their lives to a higher standard. Being endowed with the ability to take life, martial artists were expected to excel and to live by a code of conduct that reflected the responsibility of leadership and service to those whom they served.”
By definition:
Self-discipline refers to the training that one gives oneself to accomplish a certain task or to adopt a particular pattern of behavior, even if one would rather be doing something else. For example, denying oneself an extravagant pleasure in order to accomplish a more demanding charitable deed is a display of self-discipline. Thus, self-discipline is the assertion of willpower over more base desires, and is usually understood to be synonymous with self control. Self-discipline is to some extent a substitute for motivation, when one uses reason to determine a best course of action that opposes one’s desires. Virtuous behavior is when one’s motivations are aligned with one’s reasoned aims: to do what one knows is best and to do it gladly. Continent behavior, on the other hand, is when one does what one knows is best, but must do it by opposing one’s motivations. Moving from continent to virtuous behavior requires training and some self-discipline.
