As a young 3rd Dan that had just started a college club, I was very hard core with the technical aspects of class as well as attendance expectations of my students if they were to train. I was very strict and often told them that if they did not come to class enough that they might as well not bother training at all! My mentality was towards getting these college students ready to test for the next rank and make sure that they were technically proficient. Little did I know that others may have different expectations for training. They may want to get different things out of training other than testing and may have other priorities going on in their lives.
As I grew as an instructor, I encountered several students that changed my perspective on this topic. After all, instructors need their students to help them grow and indirectly teach them lessons they otherwise would not learn. Here are two different brown belt students that helped me improve my expectations of my students and their effort. I will simply call them Student A and Student B for their privacy.
Student A had issues in technique attendance and attitude, but always wanted to test for the next rank in spite of these points. Student B had issues in attendance and had mediocre technique, but this student did not want to test. This person knew that they needed to put forth more effort and make improvements and progress in the ranks. Student B had a good attitude when they did train and always asked good questions about the technique and how they can improve technique themselves outside of class.
To no surprise, Student A does not train, but Student B does on occasion. Through comparing both of these students I have changed my stance on the topic of attendance and training. I now tell my students, “If you need to take time away or train less frequently, that is fine; just temper your expectations of testing. You are always welcome if you have a good attitude, but don’t expect to move forward without the necessary dedication.”
While this applied to me and how I judged my students as an instructor, it is important for us in any aspect of life to evaluate OURSELVES this way. In many aspects of life we can do many things at different levels of dedication. For example, I can be an amateur photographer and take good enough photos, but if I am unwilling to dedicate a sizable amount of time to photography, I have no hopes of ever becoming a professional. To have those expectations would be insanity. We must remember though that being an amateur photographer is a perfectly fine thing to be if it is something that I enjoy. If we want to be high achievers we must understand the work we need to do and be willing to do that work as well. We need to manage our expectations based on the effort we are willing to put forth.
Is there something in your life that you want to excel in? If so, make sure you are willing to put in the effort necessary to reach the level that you want to reach, otherwise you will be disappointed and frustrated. If it is something that you just want to do for enjoyment, that is okay too, just hold your expectations as high.
