Enter Shaolin Updates | What’s New This Week 1/22/2016

Hey familia, how are you this week?

How are your goals going for this year thus far? (Let us know in the comments below.)

While I feel a wee bit behind business wise, we are kicking butt in the fitness department. 🙂

Sifu Larry and I decided to switch up our workouts and get a gym membership just so we can have new toys to play with! LOL

We have been going consistently M-F for the past 3 weeks. I did miss one day the second week due to my body begging me for some extra rest.

While often I push myself when I feel I need some extra rest, this was one of those moments I could feel if I didn’t I was going to get sick. And personally I’d rather be down one day, vs. several because I didn’t listen to my body’s needs.

There definitely is a balance between knowing when to push yourself further to excel and when pushing yourself further will lead to more unwanted down time. It was good that I listened to what my body needed and could feel the difference between my flesh being weak wanting to slack vs. my body actually needing rest.

Do you honor your body the same? Why or why not?

Before we went to this 5 day work out schedule, we were averaging 3-4 workouts a week. Sure we could have continued to workout at home and we do still for C.O.R.E. workouts, etc. But there is something about knowing you are spending money each month, that makes you want to get your monies worth so to speak.

For members reading this, you should think of Enter Shaolin the same, you want to get your monies worth and utilize your resources wisely. You are investing your money into your training and health, so utilize every penny of it!

It can take time to see physical results, you won’t see them over night, but you will start feeling them right away.

I’ve been so sore and beat up so much the past year and 7 months of training, I have come to not feel right when my muscles don’t feel like they’ve worked out.

I know that sounds crazy, but I actually enjoy the feeling of a good workout. I’m not talking so sore you can’t move next morning, but that nice gratifying feeling that you challenged your muscles to the point of growth.

I’ve told Larry numerous times that I don’t think we were working out hard enough. A lot of times he thinks I’m insane for saying this. But that was one of the catalyst to us creating some change.

It’s also nice since we work online all the time, to get out of the house and change the scenery up a bit M-F.

So, if you are hitting a plateau or just getting bored with your scenery, then change it up. It’s up to you to continue to challenge yourself, so you can keep growing and moving forward.

We can inspire you and root you on, but you have to be the one to step it up a notch and find new ways to keep yourself engaged and moving forward.

Thankfully you have well over 400 videos and counting here at Enter Shaolin that you can mix up and try new things. For example, if you just joined for our Wing Chun, why not explore some Tai Chi, Ngo Dac Na, etc.?

The worst that could happen is you will learn something new. The best that could happen, is you unlock another part of your skill. 😉

Or how about refining what you already know? I made this meme for Sifu Larry’s blog post on Why You Can Effectively Learn Kung Fu Online, and it illustrates exactly why that is a great idea…

Another thing that has been coming up a lot lately on Facebook and via emails, is people are looking at ways to schedule their time more efficiently or need more money. I know when there is a will there is a way and that we make time for what is important to us.

I hear a lot of people say they want to lose weight, or get in shape or learn Kung Fu, make more money, etc., etc…

But usually the people that keep saying these things over and over haven’t made real strides to obtaining said goals.

And usually their excuses or two fold…

1. I don’t have enough time.
2. I don’t have enough money.

In most cases, these are just sad lies we tell ourselves to give ourselves an out that sounds good and few will question us on.

I say this because I’ve made very little income several times in my life and even right now I’m not exactly rolling in the dough! LOL But somehow, I’ve always found a way to afford what we needed and what we wanted to do.

And there have been plenty of times as a single mom who has her own full-time startup business (Enter Shaolin in case you were wondering) 😉 , who trains and exercises regularly, and cooks home cooked meals from scratch, etc., etc. where I could totally use those excuses too, but they are just that… Excuses!

Despite what some people think, I’m not some super human/super being that is more special than you. I’ve just continually been working on me, so I accept less and less of my own b.s. And yes, that means making less and less EXCUSES! 🙂

One of my mentors Dani Johnson says, “Excuses are well planned lies.” And while many may think that is an extreme statement… Think about this… What if we got rid of ALL of our excuses for everything!? Imagine how much further in life we would be today and just how much further we can go!

It’s time to ditch the excuses!

So lets get to it, because 2016 is moving on with or without us. Are you along for the ride?

We could stay stuck with the same excuses, or we could decide right now to get over them.

If you are struggling with money…

1. Figure out where your money is currently going. Print out your bank and card statements for the past 30-60 days. See what is really necessary vs. what is not and get rid of what is not.

2. Create a budget and stick to it, find creative ways to save. Some simple ones are to cook at home, pack your lunch, carpool or bike when weather is permitting, make your own coffee/teas, replace sugary drinks with water, buy whole foods instead of processed and bonus you will be healthier too, if you are not already doing these things.Need to buy something new like clothes, furniture or electronics? First ask yourself if you really need XYZ or do you have something that will work instead or can barrow from a friend, etc.? If you really need it, see if you can find it on sale or gently used (yard sales, thrift store, craigslist, ebay) so you don’t pay full price.

3. Make more money… Start a business on the side, create new income stream doing something you love, get another job, etc. Personally, I suggest starting with figuring out where you can cut out the excess in your current affairs, because for many this is all they need to do, to find more money to do what they want. 😉

If you are struggling with finding the time to do what you love…

1. Be honest with yourself... Have you made these things a priority in your life? If not, why not? Maybe you haven’t figured out why XYZ is so important to you, yet and that’s why it isn’t a priority yet.So lets figure that out so you know your why. Your why should shake you, it needs to hit the core of your being, so when the flesh is weak you can move past it and push on. Keep asking yourself why until you get to the real answer, you will know you are there when you can’t answer why any more. Rarely is a person’s why for anything the first thing that comes out of their mouth, unless they have done this exercise already of course. 😉

Write it down and put it where you will see it daily like on your fridge, bathroom mirror, on your night stand by your bed, your screensaver for your computer and mobile phone, etc…

2. Figure out where your time is currently going. Write down the past week or two, how did you really spend your time? If you can’t remember, keep a time log of what you do for a week or two. You might be shocked to find there are plenty of spaces you could carve out to use for your goals instead of getting lost in the rabbit hole of social media, playing video games, watching TV, and so on.Find ways to utilize your time more efficiently. Commute to work? Spend time listening to audios or podcasts that will help you with your goal. Don’t want to give up the boob tube completely, then spend time exercising with C.O.R.E. training while you watch TV or work on solo drills.

If you like social media or need to utilize it for work, schedule a time with a set time limit to check Facebook, etc. 1-2x a day. Once that time is up, move on.

3. Create a schedule, even if you are not into them. They are the best way to be efficient with your time instead of losing it. You can use an online/mobile app to help or get a paper planner or both.(I could create a whole blog post on this stuff, if you would like to hear all the tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years, let me know and I will get to writing a post on these for you!)

The above is just a bit of what we do to keep ourselves in check, it’s really all about becoming more efficient with your time and money and there are so many ways to do that. You don’t need more time and in most cases you don’t need more money either. We just have to be a better stewards of our time and money, the rest will work itself out, if we do our part.

The past few weeks we have added a lot more to our weekly schedule… Larry was a bit worried this would mean we wouldn’t get as much done, yet we have managed to get more done because we have made a schedule and are sticking to it. Not to mention we have more energy and are more focused, all wins!

One more tip… Last but not least once your excuses have got their proverbially butts kicked, make an action plan for things you will do to achieve your goals. I’ve been using Google Keep to create notes for each of my goals with a check list. For me it is gratifying to be able to check off tasks towards my goal. If I come up with some new ideas, I just add them to my list.

Once a week or at least monthly do a check in to see how you did, where did you excel, where do you need improvement? Write it down and course correct from there.

If you enjoyed this, comment and please share the knowledge because if this post wasn’t for you, it is for someone you know. 🙂

Now on to your training…

Here’s Your New Enter Shaolin Training:

Wing Chun

• Rice Trainer Drill – Hooking And Sticking

Chin Na

• Single Arm Choke – Sealing The Choke

Tai Chi

• Single Push Hands

Ngo Dac Na

• Training Your Spinning Crescent Kick

Blessings & Happy Training,

Jamie Pelaez
& The Enter Shaolin Family