The Morning Blend: Are You Ready to Break the Board?

“The Morning Blend” is a weekly column featured on JobsDirectBlog.com written by Author and Career Motivator Brad Raney. Check back every Monday for a new blog post from Brad and tips to help you get hired!

We talked last time about the importance of having a real plan of attack in an effective job search. Today, we’re going to tackle the next phase of that plan – the mental preparation that it takes to execute your strategy.

On Saturday, my son tested for his Brown Belt in taekwondo. Brown Belts are considered to be advanced students and are only three levels below a Black Belt. My son, Dakota, is 10 years old, and he is on track to be a Black Belt by the time he turns the ripe old age of 12. He first brought up the idea of taking “karate” as he called it, when he was only 5. I asked him why he wanted to study karate and he said he wanted “to be a ninja” for his job. His mother and I thought that this little jaunt in kung fu land would last about 14 minutes, but we said yes and signed him up for some introductory classes.

To our great surprise, he took to it like a duck to water – he loved it – it was clearly a passion for him. When I was 5 I had many passions – Saturday morning cartoons, Coleco Electronic Football, playing pool in my basement, and eating anything that was sweet and bad for my teeth. I certainly did not have any passions that would require me to commit to at least two classes per week, every week, for 7 years to reach a desired goal. My biggest goal at 5 was to eat my way to the bottom of the box of Cap’n Crunch to get the spy ring decoder that was hidden inside. Sweet victory when I finally got it out, though!

While Dakota is very much like me in many ways and looks just like me at age 10, on this point we are very different. He is focused, driven, dedicated, and has challenged himself to become a Black Belt in this form of the martial arts. He quotes a line his master often says to new recruits- the White Belts – “A Black Belt is a White Belt that never gave up!”

We entered his dojang (school) on Saturday afternoon and waited for the testing session to begin. There were 10 students testing on this day to move up in rank. Some were below him, some were on his level, and some were above him. This is almost always the case at a testing session. His instructor, Master Bill, says this is a tradition in the Korean based schools like this one. One reason why this exists is that it gives the audience a more interesting session to watch. But more importantly, it gives the students a clear picture of the path they have already walked, their current place on the path, and the vision for the future. Quite simply, this subtle organizational chart shows students there before, during and after stages of development in human form – very motivating and very humbling at the same time.

During the 90 minute session, students must display a wide range of proficiencies as a panel of Black Belt judges watches and scores each one. These challenges include: physical stamina and flexibility; precise execution of the various “forms” that accompany each belt rank; non-contact sparring; responses to questions about the forms and the tenets that are taught in the dojang; and one final and exciting test – breaking a board appropriate to their belt level.

Dakota has kept each belt he has earned and they are displayed on the wall in his room, along with each certificate that proclaims his achievement in print. He also has every board that he has ever broken as well. The first ones were very thin and fragile. The last one he broke to get his Red Belt was a very solid piece of wood. He broke that one with spinning back kick on the first attempt – called a “power break” because he did it in one try.

After almost an hour and half, Dakota was pretty exhausted but his final test was in front of him – a very thick and menacing looking board – it was as thick as a small phone book! Today’s kick was to be a spinning heel kick – one that if not done exactly right would cause a great deal of pain to the ankle and heel area of his foot. Adding pressure to the circumstance, he had to wait and watch as two other Red Belts tried to break a board with the same kick.

The first young man, a teenager, tried four times before he finally broke the board. His foot was already turning blue and red by the time he got the board to break properly. When he broke it, he exhaled deeply and the crowd applauded his efforts.

Next was a 12 year old who took many failed attempts and got very frustrated with his inability to shatter the wood. Finally, Master Bill drew a face on the board and told the student that “this is no longer a piece of wood – this is Mean Bob and he’s going to hurt you if you don’t stop him first!” The student tried again but couldn’t focus enough to break Mean Bob.

Master Bill then got a thinner board, coached the student again to focus and to shut out the distractions, and to only see his heel blasting through the board. This time the student spun quickly, kept his eyes focused on the target and snapped the board easily with a precise and profound POP of a kick. The crowd erupted with applause and Master Bill put his arm around the student and handed him Mean Bob to take home as well as the broken board – he said, “but next time you will break Mean Bob as well as your next board, right?!”

Taekwondo is loosely translated as the “art of the foot and the fist” and is a discipline that dates back centuries in Korea. The breaking of boards is traditional and is the manifestation of both the physical mastery of the technique and the concentration to focus one’s power. The two students who went before Dakota each had the physical ability to break their boards – but each lacked the concentration, courage, discipline, and belief that they COULD break the board. They each let their mind reduce their power and diffuse their technique enough that they could not complete the task. Only when they fully believed in their ability and let it happen naturally were they able to break their board.

Finally, it was my son’s turn to break. Master Bill asked him to show his spinning heel kick a few times. He asked Dakota if he was ready – my son loudly said “Yes sir!” Master Bill had him do one more kick so he could align the board. Then he nodded at Dakota and braced the large board with both hands.

Dakota took a deep breath, squinted in his best ninja glare, stepped backwards, spun rapidly to his left, brought his foot around quickly, and WHACK! – His heel went dead center into the board and it snapped into two almost identical pieces! He’d broken it in a Power Break in grand fashion! The crowd exploded in cheers and Master Bill bowed and handed the board to my son for his next keepsake – tangible evidence that he had broken through to the next level and that he was now a Brown Belt.

The question for you is this – are you ready to break your board? Are you ready to commit to change and to implementing the plan in your head, turning it into real action in your job search? You have the physical ability and skills within you to find and land your perfect job. However, until you believe in your abilities, focus on the target, and release all your inner power at the one and only goal that you should have, you will not “break through” – you will be frustrated and retreat from your plan.

But you don’t need a new plan – what you need is motivation, commitment, and someone to help you focus your efforts. That’s where I come in. If you have questions about how to create your own “Power Break” in your job search, reach out to me.

For more info please visit my website at www.BradRaney.com or www.ImproveYourVowels.com

Sincerely,

Brad Raney

Brad Raney is a motivational speaker, life coach, author and sales trainer. He has over 25 years of experience in sales and sales management within the broadcast industry. Brad developed the VOWELS program in 2009 and the success it brought his sales team has spurred keynote speeches, workshops, seminars, a website, and his first book “Improve Your VOWELS, Improve Your Career!” which was released in July 2010. Click here to order “Improve Your Vowels, Improve Your Career! The A, E, I, O, U’s of Finding Your Perfect Job!” — Available Now!

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