As we start 2020, we commonly hear about new year resolutions or upcoming goals to achieve.

Yes, we have gradings and taikai competitions that can be thought of as goals. I believe the journey is more important than the destination. Where the way is more important than ticking off the check boxes. As I cast my mind to the past where I recall reading about the three pillars by Paul Shin. He wrote about competing to round out one’s training. I believe the three pillars to success are universal and to summarize his writing.

If you want to excel at Iaido or any martial art. You’re going to want to join a Dojo. I joined Mumonkai Iaido Club at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Center in Toronto in January 2019. Your Iaido won’t develop without joining a dojo. Similar to how I joined Toastmasters to improve my public speaking. For others it may be joining a gym. The end result is the same. Nothing happens until you join.
The second pillar is to actually goto the gym or attend the Toastmasters meetings or in this case practice your iaido on a regular basis. Without practice your iaido won’t develop. I practice three times a week and at home just about every day.
The third pillar that ties into what I hope to learn from participating in the competition, is to go out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself to be better than you were the day before. To learn by watching others, to embrace the community and expand my iaido experience. Just as I have competed in international public speaking contests to push myself into being better than I was the day before.

I am a lifelong learner and look to continually improve myself and change is a part of learning.

A way of life to me is more fulfilling than ticking off the check boxes by setting goals.

There is a difference between competing to win vs competing to challenge oneself.

That’s where I’m coming from, how I get there and where I’m going. We are all born, and we are all going to die. It’s what we do between those two checkpoints that matter the most when we are alive. Live a life worth remembering and regret nothing.