Black Belts in Business Part I: Self-Confidence
People often view the martial arts as simply a youth activity. But the reality is there are many useful benefits and applications that can be taken from the martial arts and used by adults as well. Over the next few weeks, we’ll explore how the martial arts can improve your performance in your professional life. Whether you are a small business owner, employee, or chief executive officer of a major company, there are many aspects of the martial arts that can help you improve your personal performance as well as the performance of your team.
One of the most important and impactful characteristics gained through the martial arts is self-confidence. Regardless of your age or profession, self-confidence is a key ingredient to success. The self-confident employee is going to be more likely to make suggestions to their supervisor for process improvements. The self-confident small business owner is more likely to take the necessary risks that will create long-term success for their business. And the self-confident CEO will more easily gain the trust and respect from employees during times of change.
The martial arts offer a great way to help individuals increase their self-confidence. Activities such as board breaking are great for helping individuals feel empowered and conquering a sense of the unknown. In addition, forms, belt promotions, and even the physical fitness aspects of martial arts training allow individuals to feel better about themselves and what they can accomplish. And every good martial arts school will remind their students that what they learn on the mats should impact other areas of their lives as well.
If you, an employee, or co-worker is struggling with low self-confidence, consider the benefits of a martial arts training program. Not only will the individual gain from it, but so will your business.
This is the first in a series of posts about how the martial arts can have a positive impact on an individual’s professional life.
James Davenport is co-owner of All American Martial Arts, which is located in Del City.
Rest and relaxation — not.
I’m beginning to think I don’t ever want to retire. Seriously. Life may be more enjoyable — and safer — if I keep working.
I’m heading back to work Monday, and none too soon. This vacation has been anything but relaxing.
It began peaceful enough. At least, for the first seven hours. That ended with a sales call I knew I shouldn’t have answered. But when it’s shortly after dawn and you are still groggy from sleep, you don’t always make the right decision … like picking up the phone.
Oh, well. That got me up and moving. I actually got a few inside chores done that day and the next while trying to limit outside activities to cooler times of the day … or, night, when temperatures dropped to the mid- to high 90s.
But then things began to happen.
Early on day three, I decided to do some trimming outside along the fence and around the walk and driveway. It only took a couple of hours. But that afternoon, whether due to the heat or some bug I picked up, I began feeling bad. And it got worse, and worse.
By nightfall, I was unable to stay up any length of time. Lying or sitting down with glass of iced tea and a good fan was my favorite activity.
That carried into the next day, when I could only get out of bed long enough to get a drink of water or head to the restroom.
Next came a plumbing problem, necessitating a trip to the hardware store to get a new flush kit. Meanwhile, the lid on the toilet tank fell onto the floor and shattered into about five large pieces, with several chips and shards, of course.
We had talked about possibly using some of my time off to visit family, maybe even those in Kansas City. But the high temperatures have been making life miserable there, too. Plus, I’m a firm believer in not spreading your sickness to those you care about.
Scratch one trip.
The next day, while feeling a bit better, I tried to move a couple of things in the garage and strained my back. One of those strains that makes you sick to your stomach, which I already was. Oh, joy.
I gave it until the following day, when I felt like I finally might get a break. I did — a break in the windshield on my pickup. Apparently, it took a small rock that hit it just hard enough to start a crack.
I tried to arrange for a service job, but could do no better than two days later. Time to park it and wait. I wasn’t exactly feeling like going anywhere anyway.
Trying to take it easy and not do anything to cause more problems, I figured a short trip to the store wouldn’t cause any more damage … other than to the bank account.
Wrong again.
As we were checking out, my little finger got caught in the metal basket on the grocery cart.
On my last day off, the service man came out to look at the windshield and hopefully stop the crack from advancing. His verdict? Nope. Couldn’t fix it. The crack was now too long. A windshield replacement is ahead.
So, with sore back and stomach, a cracked windshield, a topless toilet tank and a discolored little finger, I’m ending this vacation. I need to get back to work to get some rest.
Killing a retirement
Little things add up, and those additions can result in a big subtraction. That’s the lesson from financial expert Steve Orr, a registered investment advisor.
Orr says a couple of bucks here and there might not seem like much, but over the long haul, if you’ve made those purchases daily, it could make a big decrease in your retirement. In fact, it could kill it.
In his report “Are impulse buys killing your retirement?” featured in “know it: Money,” Orr tells you just how substantial a difference in your golden years those little items can make.
“It’s the little things,” he says. “It’s the dollar here, two dollars there things that we pick up every day that start to add up.
“The insidious thing is that it still doesn’t add up to so much that we think it could make a difference in our futures, because we only see those expenses in terms of the dollars we spend, but not the dollars – plus the interest – we could be earning on them.”
He notes that pension funds are being wiped out, companies are canceling their matching contributions to employee 401(k) programs (or wiping them out completely) and the future of Social Security seems dimmer than ever.
So, he wants people to realize that some of their little impulse buys are robbing them. Pennies now can translate to millions later for some people.
Then, he gives you examples that jump off the page.
I strongly encourage you to take a look at this story. It’s sound advice from someone who know the formula for avoiding the pitfalls.
See the story at http://knowit.newsok.com/money-oklahoma
Is your child ready for the new school year?
School returns in less than a month. Is your child ready? The first quarter of the school year is generally devoted to “reviewing” previous material because children have simply forgotten much of what they learned. In addition, children have to mentally adjust to the school regimen. After a summer of play and fun, students, in many instances, have to re-learn the ability to focus and process new information.
If your child hasn’t had the benefit of a summer program that kept them active mentally as well as physically, this process can be a frustrating time for them, you, and their teacher. However, it isn’t too late to start preparing them for the upcoming school year. And this doesn’t require setting them down with a math or history textbook.
"Physical activity is not only good for the developing brain, but also the learning brain." - Dr. Carolanne Roach
The goal is to help your child develop strong mental processes that will allow them to learn new material quickly. Surprising as it seems, this may mean more physical activity than book reading. Optometrist Carolanne Roach, owner of the Brain and Eye Connection Vision Clinic, explains the importance of physical activity to mental development. “In our society children move less and less. They sit in front of a TV or computer for a majority of the day. This lack of movement delays their brain’s development and hinders their ability to learn,” says Dr. Roach. “Movement, coordination, and balance skills are the foundation for academic learning. Movement also keeps the body healthier so the brain can properly function and learn,” she continues.
For younger students, physical play is often exactly what is needed. For older students, physical activity that requires them to learn new skills or information will give them an advantage when school starts and they are trying to focus on the new information they are being asked to process.
"Children who can't coordinate their bodies often have trouble with writing and reading." - Dr. Carolanne Roach
There are a variety of options available to parents to help ensure their children are prepared for the upcoming school year. The best part is, they won’t be complaining about having to do “homework” prior to the start of school. Finding an activity that will engage their minds and bodies is the key. As Dr. Roach states, “Physical activity helps the brain build the foundations for academic learning. By understanding space and how to move through it, the brain can use vision, eye-hand coordination, and motor planning skills needed for learning math, writing, reading, and critical thinking skills.”
James Davenport is the co-owner of All American Martial Arts, located in Del City.
Your communities and more
There’s more to our “know it” communities than news about Edmond, Midwest City, Norman, Oklahoma City and Yukon, and there’s an open invitation to you to become part of it.
Each of these communities has other cities and towns nearby. Sometimes, it’s hard to distinguish where one ends and another begins, and.or there is overlap. We set up the online communities to include them.
“Why didn’t you just use north, south, east and west?” a reader once asked me.
We needed a focal point, a center for each coverage area. Problem was, we still had some equally (or nearly as) large cities close enough in some areas that it almost required a double-emphasis name. For instance, Edmond and Guthrie; Midwest City and Del City; Norman and Moore; or Yukon and Mustang.
There also are those who believe that Bricktown is almost a city within itself … and within Oklahoma City.
So why didn’t we put together separate “know it” communities for each of them? For now, it’s more manageable, more functional to do it this way. Will that change in the future? We’ll see. Just about anything is possible.
We do have a “play position,” or key story on the page for each community. That allows us to emphasize a story from any of the cities and towns in that area. You might have a big event occurring in Guthrie or Piedmont in the lead position in “know it: Edmond.” Or, it might be a critical city council meeting in Moore that leads “know it: Norman.” The top story for “know it: Yukon” might be something big in Mustang.
You see how it works.
But there’s more. You can contribute to the coverage for your area.
If you’re looking for a way to get the news out about an upcoming event, deliver a word of praise, or perhaps an update or follow-up is needed to those in your community. Here’s a possibility for you. Our “know it” geographical communities can help.
Need some help getting the word out about your upcoming event? Maybe you want to say “thanks” to an individual or group. Or, it could be that you need to send an update or reminder about a community happening.
Our “know it” geographical communities can help.
Readers can use Twitter feeds to get their messages out in the five “know it” online communities — Edmond, Mid-Del, Norman, Oklahoma City and Yukon. These include the surrounding area for each city.
Each community has a specific hashtag, similar to other web tags, that helps add personal messages, or “tweets,” to a category. Hashtags have the “hash” or “pound” sign preceding them.
The specific hashtags for the “know it” communities are:
- Edmond area — #knowedmond
- Mid-Del area — #knowmwc
- Norman area — #knownorman
- Oklahoma City area — #knowokc
- Yukon area — #knowyukon
The tags also can be added to other hash tags, such as #NewsOK or #okpreps.
Each “know it” community features a special area titled “NEWS SUBMITTED BY YOU,” where information such as news releases can be added.
To use that area, the reader creates an e-mail with a document or photo attached, then sends it to the address for the particular community:
Here are some tips for using this feature:
- Add the e-mail address to your list of those who normally receive your news. (The other e-mail addresses will not appear online.)
- Send your information and/or photos as a SINGLE ATTACHMENT to your e-mail. (PLEASE NOTE: Text from the e-mail will not appear online. An attachment may be a WORD document [.doc], a text file [.txt], a portable document [.pdf], or a jpeg picture [.jpg].)
- The subject line will be your headline, so be specific about what is most important that you want to emphasize. Example: Cross Timbers Elementary plans open house on Tuesday.
- Avoid punctuation and ALL CAPS in your subject line, but do capitalize the first letter of the first word and all formal titles.
- Remember to tell others about this service!
All sites can be accessed by going to http://knowit.newsok.com.
Editors and reporters consider information submitted for possible use in other sections.
Each community link is a “window” into that city and area, its offerings, its people. These are living, growing communities online, just as they are in real life. We continuously look for new information to add to them, in addition to the items that flow there from The Oklahoman reports.
The design is such that readers can glean a wealth of information about their community, quickly and efficiently, by simply clicking on the topic, ranging from stories to facts and figures on people, services and locations.
It’s all here for you.
Cherokee vote questions remain
There were many bitter words spoken during the campaign for principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and more since. Don’t expect silence anytime soon.
Prior to the vote late last month, incumbent Chad Smith and challenger Bill John Baker and their respective camps had some heated words for each other. In open debate, it was obvious there were serious differences between the two sides in this important vote for Oklahoma’s largest tribe.
Tension grew after the election as well, when the Cherokee Nation Election Commission announced Baker had won by only 11 votes. Original news accounts at the time said some 15,000 Cherokees had cast ballots and the commission had to look over the unofficial results before certifying them.
After sifting through some 250 challenges and working all night, the commission came back with its “official” results: Smith won by seven votes.
A recount was requested and, this time, Baker was declared the winner by a 266-vote margin. A sway of more than 250 votes.
The battle apparently is not over. The results of June 30′s hand recount were certified as official, but the Smith camp contends the recount is incomplete because there is a 251-vote discrepancy between the sum of the votes counted that day and those in the original certified results announced June 27.
One tribal official said he has had enough. Cherokee Nation Election Commission chairman Roger Johnson filed a resignation letter early Tuesday morning. No action has been taken yet on the filed letter.
A story in the Tulsa World said Johnson, citing inaccurate news media reports in the election aftermath, wrote: “My honor, character and integrity have been unreasonably damaged.”
The Cherokee Nation Supreme Court has set a hearing for 8:30 a.m. Thursday on all pending applications and motions.
Meanwhile, there are other tribal offices still undecided because no one candidate got more than 50 percent of the vote in the general election.
David Walkingstick and Mark Vance will meet for the third seat in District No. 1. Council members Jodie Fishinghawk and Harley Buzzard are vying for seat No. 3 in the second district. It will be Dick Lay versus incumbent council member Bradley Cobb in the runoff for seat No. 2 in District No. 4.
Council members S. Joe Crittenden of Stilwell and Chris Soap of Pryor will be in the runoff as well. They were the top two finishers in the deputy chief’s race June 26.
So who will lead the Cherokee Nation? Keep checking http://knowit.newsok.com/culture/cherokee to find the latest updates.
