All or Nothing

We’ve all been there: we’ve had a good run at our training, diet, fitness regime, etc., and then, out of nowhere, life throws a spanner in the works. What to do?

For most people, the proverbial spanner can mean the end of their chosen regimen. This is because many of us have an ‘all or nothing' attitude when it comes to the accomplishment of goals.

‘If I can't summit the mountain, I won't bother climbing at all'; ‘I've fallen off my diet, I may as well go back to my old eating habits'; ‘My injury has stopped me from training this month, I may as well not bother going back'. These are some examples of why people fail to achieve.

But it need not be this way. We need not have an ‘all or nothing' attitude; there is plenty to be gained from a moderate approach to living. The race is long, and steady wins it almost every time. So you drop off your diet on the weekend - that's not so bad if you discipline yourself to get back onto it come Monday. In fact, the ability to get back on track is, in my opinion, a far better trait than natural talent. Life does get busy. Unexpected obstacles are thrown in our way from time to time. The more able we are to accept these events and get back to our regimes when time and opportunity permit, the more successes we will enjoy as we make our way through life.

How many times have I seen an enthusiastic student get sick or suffer an injury, only to fall away from training permanently as a result? I wonder how this process plays out in the rest of their lives.

We needn't be so hard on ourselves. Life will always throw problems in our path, but they only need be detours, not dead ends! When we hit a detour on the road, we don't turn back and head home; we turn left, then right, then right again and make our way back to the route that will take us to our destination. We should apply the same strategy when we hit a bump in our training routine: accept it, make the necessary adjustments and get back to it as soon as possible. Some take up martial arts training as a seasonal hobby while others adopt it as a way of life. Regardless of which bill you fit, the sure and steady approach is best. Allow yourself some moderation, cut yourself some slack every now and then. It need not be all or nothing; there is plenty to be enjoyed in the in-between.

As human beings, it is our ability to adapt so well to changes in our circumstances and environment that, to a large extent, defines us as a species. We adapt, we survive, we flourish. And in today's world, circumstances are constantly changing; the stock market crashes, earthquakes and tsunamis devastate communities and have far-reaching effects across the globe; there are wars, political dramas, changes in technology, opportunities found and lost. The world is in a constant state of motion, as are we. The unexpected has become the norm for many of us. More than ever before, our ability to adapt impacts greatly on how successful we will be.

But how can we prepare for unexpected events we cannot yet imagine? Unexpected events (the bad kind as opposed to the good kind) still have their positives in that the more we are exposed to these events, the better we're able to adapt to them and make the best out of seemingly difficult situations. At the end of the day, it's often perspective that allows us to smile in the face of misfortune. The stock market crashes but we are still eating good food, breathing good air and still have our family and friends. We get tapped out by a lower-ranked fighter, but we still have our health and can still drive our cars, rather than walk 20 kilometres a day to school like many less fortunate people in other parts of the world. A person who loses his shoes only has to spend five minutes with a man with no legs and things don't look so bad after all. We are the ultimate adapters - we adapt because the world and our environment requires us to do so. Our ancestors, dating back as far as we can imagine, were gifted adapters. They regularly adjusted to the unexpected; many of them, on a daily basis. Only the over-specialised find it difficult to adapt. The ‘deep generalist' specialises in everything and flourishes in an environment that throws up the unexpected at every turn.

So forget the ‘all or nothing' credo - do what you can, when you can. Cultivate your ability to adapt and be a true force of nature.

John B Will is head of BJJ Australia and teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, shootfighting and self-defence solutions around the world. Check out his regular blog at www.bjj-australia. blogspot.com