Over the past three decades, people have asked me what my biggest challenge has been. As a father, a teacher, a student, a husband and a business owner the most consistent obstacle that I’ve had to overcome is dealing with The Elephant Mindset.
What is The Elephant Mindset?
Here’s a short story to explain.
As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.
Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?
Failure is part of learning. It is our teacher.
Another question we get asked now and then is, “Do you teach Kickboxing or Kung Fu?” Our answer is this, we don’t teach what most people call Kickboxing or Kung Fu. What we teach is kind of like…
Bruce Lee Meets Tony Robbins!
A Life Skill Coach’s purpose is to help guide each student to become a
Martial Artist X Personal Development Athlete!
Conveniently located in Millbury Massachusetts, Life Skill Academy provides high quality martial arts/personal development classes to the residents of Worcester county, including Grafton Shrewsbury Auburn and the surrounding areas, including Sutton Uxbridge and Northbridge .
Stan Tabor is a 6th-degree black belt and has been training in martial arts since 1972. He is the founder of the Life Skill curriculum and association. His goal is to build a future for the next generation of the Life Skill Coaches to use martial arts as a vehicle to teach life skills and habits that help individuals develop themselves into high performers.
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