Being a Leader

 Being a leader can be a tough job. It should be a tough job, people look up to you, and follow your example. 

I am a leader at home as a mom, (and a wife lol), I am a leader at work, and I choose to be a leader in my community as well. I may even be looked at as a leader in Kung Fu at times. 

This is a responsibility I take seriously, and welcome. Recently at work, I had a bit of an aha moment. Obviously I cannot get into too much detail, but here is the short of it. 

Whenever we write any type of loan, it goes through a review process. This is too make sure that all documents needed are correct, and completed. And of course for security purposes. One of the most detailed loans to do is a mortgage, for obvious reasons, and which also requires the most documents. The information portal we have is daunting, and time consuming to say the least. Sometimes it takes what feels like 50 searches to try to find the information you are needing. As of late, the reviews have not been great, even for myself. Documents missing, incorrect information, and bad reviews. This bothers me, as I know that I, and my team do our best to get all of the information, and to complete our loans correctly. What ends up happening, especially with a mortgage, is backtracking, more information surfing, and this all takes time, and is not a great experience. Especially for the customer. 

So, as a leader, I have decided enough is enough. I have started to bring a process together, that should negate most of the searching, and have everything needed at the click of a button. I am working on an interactive guide that will take you to exactly where you need to be for the information needed. This may not sound very exciting, but it can absolutely be a game changer. A time saver. A loan reviewers dream. And most importantly, a seamless process for the customer. I am very excited to start this journey, it will not be quick, will most likely take months, but I cannot wait to see how this will change things for my team, and possibly the whole company. 

Kung Fu teaches us to be leaders, to go beyond our limits. Kung Fu teaches us to eliminate mediocrity. Kung Fu teaches us to be that person that sets an example, and be the person that can be looked up to. 

Sometimes being a leader means you are the person to implement change. Change is not easy. But change can be good, and given a chance, usually is. 

See you on the screen!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Normally this quote is not a positive one. It can often mean that I am feeling like I'm am in a never ending circle not moving forward. 

Not in this instance, it is a great feeling. 

With the added focus on my forms that last couple of weeks, moving one step forward, and then two steps back, it is exactly what I have intended on doing. Go through the form in its entirety, break it down into sections, go back and do again. All the while feeling, tweaking, and repeating. 

Muscle memory is definitely playing a factor, but I am really focusing on how my mind thinks something should feel. I am finding that I have practiced a certain technique repeatedly, but it feels/looks different in my form. Why is that? Is it the flow, the mind, the muscle memory? These are the things I am currently working on. 

With focusing on 1 or 2 particular forms per week, I am finding some successes by the end of the week. I feel like the repetitiveness of the week is definitely a positive. Now, there is also some space issues, and I find I have added some small steps in certain parts of the form to be able to complete in the available space. I will have to be extra diligent when back to the Kwoon, or able to go outside, to eliminate these small stepping patterns, as they are almost starting to feel like a natural part of the form. 

See you on the screen!

Physical vs Mental

One week in to my personal challenge for the Year of the Ox. I didn't want to start easy, so I chose the longest form I know. Da Mu Hsing. The longest, and with a great deal of the techniques that I know as well. 

Something very interesting happened to me with this challenge, and my physical abilities vs my mental abilities really shone through. This is one of the forms that I learned early on in my kung fu training, so I have been learning, practicing, and critiquing for several years now. When we do forms in class, we generally spend a good portion of time learning the form, and then we move on to something else. It is up to me to continue to practice, and hone my form. We do revisit in class, but not with the amount of time spent learning it, understandably so.

And this particular form was changed, to help the flow of the form. I have been having a bit of a mental block with the changes from the start. One of the reasons for this was because my mind was trying to tell my body to do something that my muscle memory said - no, that is not the next step! Continuous repetition for a week on this form has helped me immensely. And another neat thing happened by about mid week - my muscle memory was now telling my mind that it wasn't the next step when my mind went back to the old steps in the form. 50,000, I get it.

We learn our martial art to help us become well rounded. We practice our Kung Fu to strive to be better. We live our Kung Fu to become Masters. Will I ever achieve my form masterfully? Maybe, but that is my journey, and I will strive for greatness, and embrace change along the way, and never stop learning and growing.

Bidding Adieu to 2020

 Happy New Year 2021! 

While we bid adieu to 2020, there is sure a lot to reflect on. It was definitely a year of change, but also a year of amazing opportunities. If there was ever a year to take your Kung Fu out into the world, it was 2020.

We had many opportunities present themselves to us, that we otherwise would never would have had due to Covid. Online classes, one on one's, and a wonderful opportunity to take our Kung Fu to the next level. Yes, it was not easy to adjust, and constantly pivot, but this past year also showed resilience, empathy, community, and perseverance. 

I cannot remember a year where I have seen so much compassion in our community. From the programs that were initiated to collecting devices for the less fortunate, to increased food bank donations, volunteers for shopping, and many, many other truley compassionate ideas, that may otherwise not have been founded. 

I organized a food bank drive and collection for the Kinette Christmas hampers at work at the beginning of December, to help with the Christmas season for these charities, as I know they had definitely seen an increase in demand this year. While we normally do fundraising for the Kinette's this time of year, we were also unable to do our normal fundraising actives. It was amazing to see how the community stepped up. In 2 short weeks, we raised more than $1800.00 for the food bank, and $800.00 in cash, and 8 large boxes of toys for the Kinette's. Compassion. The food bank received so many donations this year, they actually asked up to keep our funds for the Coldest Night of the Year walk in February, as they were out of room for more donations! Compassion. 

This year was also an amazing opportunity to take our Kung Fu training to the next level. With virtual classes, we were given the chance to really take advantage of our journey's, and see where we are at. With one on one's with our instructors, we were handed a gift to connect personally with our instructors, which time doesn't necessarily allow for in class. 

Our Christmas advent calendar, thanks to Mrs. Ferris, also provided fantastic engagement, and was a lot of fun to participate in. This also was a great way to evaluate our Kung Fu. This challenge provided fantastic insight, and inspiration for me. 

I have decided to do a Year of the Ox challenge. I will focus on one aspect of our training every month, and do a different weekly challenge every Sunday. I am very much looking forward to seeing how this can take my training to the next level, and the insight it will bring me. I know the Year of the Ox does not technically start until Feb 12, 2021, but I decided to start this calendar year New Year. What a better way to start a year? It was a great way to end the year, so why not?  

See you all on the screen, and hopefully in class soon! Happy New Year!!