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Growing up I enjoyed watching Mighty Morphing Power Rangers and Karate Kid. My love for those shows got me interested in Karate so I joined American Defense Karate. I worked hard for 8 years and earned my white, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, red, red with a black stripe, brown, brown with a black stripe and eventually black belt. This post will take a look at some life lessons I learned through my time becoming a black belt.

1. SHOW UP EVERY DAY– I showed up for 2 hours each day to karate in the afternoons. Whether I was tired the previous day or not I continued to show up. Showing up is half the battle when trying to accomplish something. Showing up consistently for 8 years helped me earn my black belt.
2. ACCOUNTABLE TO SENSEIS– In order earn my black belt I had to listen to and be accountable to the senseis. They taught me how to improve and advance through each belt color. I am thankful for what I learned during my time in karate and that I earned my black belt through listening and applying what I learned.
3. GIVING BEST EFFORT AT ALL TIMES– In order to accomplish goals, you must give your best effort at all times. I am thankful I gave my best effort to karate and earned my black belt.
4. LEARNING EVERY DAY– In order to improve, you need to learn. I learned how to leverage my body weight, how to stay balanced and how to protect myself through my time in karate. These lessons helped me in the future.
5. APPLY WHAT I LEARN– I was the team manager of my college basketball team and I applied what I learned in karate. I was elbowed in the nose by our 7′ center and I did not fall down because I was balanced.
6. BE ENTHUSIASTIC– Enthusiasm is a requirement to accomplish goals in life. Enjoy the process of getting better at your tasks each day. Life is not always easy but if you are enthusiastic about what you are doing you will have a reason to keep going. My enthusiasm for what I was doing helped me earn my black belt, manage my college hoops team and now run The Cannon Network.
7. TIME MANAGEMENT– I had to manage my time between going to karate and doing school work. My ability to manage my time also helped me manage my college hoops team and graduate from the college I went to. Time management is helping me work with my dad, build The Cannon Network and work for future goals.