The Magic of Modeling

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It’s a nice day if you wake up in Disneyland…

It’s a nice day when you wake up in Disneyland…

 

In my dream everybody’s got a little house

A dog, a bank account managed by Mickey Mouse

And the only thing we fight about is the Lakers…

 

In my dream all the pirates down in Neverland

Never get the Hook… they just get a hand

While the crocs sing Superman till we just can’t take it…

                                        Five For Fighting

 

Whenever I talk about Disney World, the word magic always pops into my mind first.  After all, only 40 years ago Disney was swampland. It is magical that millions of people every year want to spend their week off there.  That may be why I like to vacation there so much. I believe no matter what age you are, Disney has the ability to transfer you to a different mental state. It can make a forty something feel like a six year old. That is magic.

In 1955, Disney was founded with the service theme “We create happiness”. That service theme is still taught to their over 50,000 employees so that there is no trash on the ground and customers see smiling happy faces wherever they go. If they were not the largest employer in Orlando, you might believe robots ran Disney. They are the model for customer service and creating a magical experience. They create happiness.

Every time I go there, Disney challenges me as a business owner to be better. I find myself looking at my experience trying to figure out how I could incorporate their business practices into my own to provide a better more pleasant learning experience for my students. I always leave Disney feeling challenged to be better and try to model what they do. It is that philosophy of modeling which I would encourage you to use in your training. Find a student in the school that you would like to be like and do what they do. Ask them what they think and how they practice.

Then as Nike would say, just do it.

ASAH

Mr. McCreery

Discover The Magic at www.actionkarate-newbritain.com

Make This The Best School Year Ever

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Buh buh buh buh buh buh

Da da da da da da

You went to school to learn girl

What you never never knew before

Like I before E except after C

Why 2 plus 2 makes 4 na na na

I’m gonna teach you

(teach you, teach you)

All about love girl

(all about love)

Sit yourself down, take a seat

All you gotta do is repeat after me

 

A B C easy as

1 2 3, oh simple as

Do re mi, A B C, 1 2 3 baby you and me girl

Jackson Five

 

Back to School is only 3 weeks away!  Where did the summer go?  We all know the importance of planning, so I thought now would be a good time to start building the foundation for a successful school year.  Here are some good tips that you can review with your child to make this year the best one yet!

YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE

First impressions are often the only impressions you get to make. Make your teacher’s first impression of you a positive one.

START STRONG

Remember that your first few classes are your most important classes. This is where you get off on the right foot and to a good start. Concentrate and be alert so you can do your best.

BE THE KING OR QUEEN OF YOUR CASTLE

Your room and desk are your castle. Be sure to make it orderly and functional. Keep it clean. 

THE SCAR RULE (Be Prepared from The Lion King)

Prepare for tomorrow the night before. Set out your clothes for the next day. Pack your backpack with your completed assignments and books you used. Put it an accessible place so it is ready to go in the morning. Get a good night’s rest.

Start the day in a relaxed and purposeful manner. Set your wake up clock with enough time to do what you have to do in the morning. Thirty minutes is never enough to get ready for school, and it is not fair to you, your grades, or your teacher.

Be on time for school and your classes. Late is never good, while early is almost always the way of the winner.

MOVIN ON UP TO THE FRONT ROW

The best seat is right up front. Sitting up front will allow you to understand your teacher better, and will allow your teacher to understand you better. The body language or gestures that your teacher uses are often the best guides to what you need to learn.

PRIORITIES, PRIORITIES, PRIORITIES

The best time to do your homework is right after you get home.

You will have a better chance of remembering that day’s classes then, and no chance if you chose other distractions first. Do it NOW! The best time is NOW!

TAKE OVER YOURSELF  THEN THE WORLD

Rule your own life. If you let the television, video games, or your friends rule your life, then you will not be the winner you should be. You have a life of your own. It is worthwhile and meaningful. Rule it yourself.

Learn how to hang up the phone. Use respect, but hang up anyway. Your teachers will not accept a 2-hour phone call as a reason for poor or incomplete homework. Learn to say, “Can you please call back in 30 minutes?”

Walk away from situations or people that will destroy your mental or physical growth. Rule your own life.

Make good use of small blocks of time. There is no rule that says you have to lay comatose while listening to music or watching TV. Do some of the easy stuff at those times.

ASAH

Mr. McCreery

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year At www.actionkarate-newbritain.com

You Are A Born Champion.

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But it’s been no bed of roses

No pleasure cruise –

I consider it a challenge before the whole human race –

And I ain’t gonna lose –

 

We are the champions – my friends

And we’ll keep on fighting – till the end –

We are the champions –

We are the champions

No time for losers

‘Cause we are the champions – of the world –

Queen

 

Zig Ziglar once said, “Man was designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.”  I was at a martial arts seminar one time when the moderator asked, “what is your biggest frustration as a teacher.”  I was fascinated  by the various answers some I agreed with others not. The answer that most intrigued me came from my instructor Professor Brenner. He said, “being able to see greatness in people and not being able to help them see it.”

He was dead on. As a teacher there is nothing more frustrating then seeing unrealized potential and untapped greatness. Inevitably it is the student that quits on themselves that makes me obsess for weeks. What did I say, what didn’t I say and what could I have said to better serve this person . My fifteen  years of experience in teaching tells me it is always people getting in their own way. Self doubt, fear of failure, fear of success, etc…

Trees grow toward the sky because that is what trees are meant to do. Storm clouds drop rain across the land because that is what clouds do and Ralph Marston said it best about people,  “In short, you are destined to achieve. Get your excuses, fears and doubts out of the way and allow that destiny to fully unfold. ”

ASAH

Mr. McCreery

Let your destiny unfold at www.actionkarate-newbritain.com

Less Filling Taste Great! Inate Or Hardwork!

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Less filling! Taste great! LESS FILLING! TASTE GREAT! LESS FILLING! TASTE GREAT!

The debate about Miller Lite is considered one of the ten best advertising campaign ever. It doubled the annual sales of Miller Lite in less then five years and made it the first accepted lite beer.  For years whenever there was a disagreement about this or that inevitably someone would call out Less filling! Taste Great!

I got to thinking about the old Miller Lite ad because of an internal debate I had with myself, when a parent of one of my students insisted that my positive attitude was inate. He commented how luc ky I was to have been born with a positive attitude. Whereas, he implied, he was born with a more negative attitude.

I dwelled on it for a couple of days until it occured to me why I could not get it off my mind. I was debating it internally. Inate! Hardwork!   INATE! HARDWORK   INATE! HARDWORK! I think the reason I thought about it so much was because his comment flew in the face of one of my core beliefs: the belief that I can do something significant today to make my life better or worse and it is my choice not inate. MY CHOICE!

I made a choice fifteen years ago to surround myself with positivity. People, reading, thought process, everything to create a better life for myself and my family. I have worked incredibly hard on it for fifteen years and now this person was trying to take it away from me by telling me it was inate.

Once I understood why I was obsessing, my obsessing took a turn to his core belief. His belief system that our ability to be positive or negative is inate dooms him to a life of feeling negative and more importantly it abdicates all his ability and responsibility to change.

I tried to revisit the conversation with the man later, however he was insistant that it was inate no matter what I told him about how I made a choice fifteen years earlier to change. It got me thinking about any significant growth I have had in my life or I have seen other people go through. It usually involved elimating debilitaing belief systems and adopting empowering new belief systems by just opening your mind to the possibility of change.

ASAH

Mr. McCreery

www.actionkarate-newbritain.com

Difference Between Success & Failure? Being Prepared.

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Meticulous planning

Tenacity spanning

Decades of denial

Is simply why I will

Be king undisputed

Respected, saluted

And seen for the wonder I am

Yes, my teeth and ambitions are bared

Be prepared!

Yes, our teeth and ambitions are bared

Be prepared!
From The Lion King

 

These lyrics are from one of my favorite songs in The Lion King. The song is Be Prepared.It is sung by Scar to the hyenas as he hatches his plan to take over Pride Rock. Unfortunately, for Mufasa being prepared for opportunity pays off for Scar. Fortunately, for the animals of Pride Rock Scar was unprepared to be the ruler, his demise was just a matter of time.

As evil as Scar was you have to admire his philosophy of preparedness. It can make all the difference between success and failure. Imagine if you will that you show up for a doctors appointment and your doctor has no needles to give you medication, or you show up for karate class and not only does your instructor not have curriculum for the week prepared he cannot even tell you what you have to do to become a Black Belt. What is your likelihood for success in these situations? I am sure you would agree it is not very high.

So to increase your chances for success always, show up to class prepared.  Be up to date on all your gear.  Have a complete uniform, cleaned and ready to go.  Oh- by the way, parents do not take the blame for your child; this is not a good lesson.  I hear parents often say it is my fault he is not prepared.  Think about the lesson. Kids hear it and emulate it.  I know this first hand with my daughter.  Years ago, I was complaining about the endless amount of homework she was receiving.  I spoke of how I never had that much homework when I was in school.  Soon she started complaining about too much homework and quoting me.  I planted the seed. 

Imagine how easy it will be for your child if they learn now that being prepared is important and is up to them. 

ASAH

Mr. McCreery

www.actionkarate-newbritain.com