Burn Out

I read somewhere not too long ago that there is no such thing as burn out. There is only boiling water.

We’ve all boiled a pot of water before. It takes heat or fire to bring that water to just the right temperature to make it boil. Once it reaches that temperature it has to be controlled. If you add more heat, the water will boil over. If you use to little it will cease boiling at all.

You must compare your training to that pot of water. Your desire is the fire that brings it to the boiling point. Your determination and devotion are the heat that turns that container of water into a boiling cauldron. If you allow that fire to go out, the water will cease to boil. Soon it will become just a pot of luke warm water. Then finally it will become cold again.

It is easy to find an excuse to not train. Most cases of burn out begin with a real reason whether it be legitimate or self – perceived .
Legitimate reasons might be things like a sickness or injury. You might not feel well and miss class for a couple of nights. You may injure yourself in the dojo or outside of it. Of course it takes some time for the injury to heal. You have no real control over these things.
On the other hand there are things that happen that we do have control over. You have a disagreement with an instructor. You get angry with another student. You feel like you aren’t learning anything and are bogged down.

So you take a few nights off. You catch up on a television show you haven’t seen in a while. You hit a new level in your favorite video game. You see some people you haven’t seen in a while. It gets easier and easier to simply not go. Soon those few nights have become a couple of weeks. Those couple of weeks turn into a month. Then one night you think about it and decide maybe you should go to class. You miss it. You didn’t realize how much it was a part of your life. Yep, you want to go. There’s just one small problem: how do you explain to your instructor why you’ve been away? As you sit there and debate that in your mind, a door closes. Most times if it reaches this point the student never returns to the dojo.

What a bunch of crud. It’s a cycle, people. It’s one of those things that after it starts the fire gets cooler and cooler until finally it goes out. Most people don’t even realize that they are deluding themselves until it is, in their minds, too late.

Always remember the Spirit of First Beginnings .

This part of the Go Do Shin that is your most powerful weapon in avoiding burn out and not letting the fire and devotion dissipate . When you first began training you were excited. Everything was new. You were part of something that you had always wanted to be. You met new people. You learned new things. You felt proud to be a part of this brand new experience in your life.

Guess what…
All of those things are still true! Don’t be embarrassed. Believe it or not most of the time your instructor will understand. Get up off the sofa, pack your uniform, and get down to the dojo!

Don’t let the fire go out!
So you feel like you’ve reached a sticking point. Well tell somebody. It’s completely natural to reach this point. I think everyone has. The thing is there are things that can be done about it but only if someone actually knows that is where you are. A lot of the time it is simply because your instructor is waiting on something from you. Maybe your front kick isn’t looking “right”. Maybe the timing in your forms is just a little bit off. As strange as it sounds maybe your instructor is waiting on you to come to him. It could just be that your instructor is waiting to see some kind of spark from you.
No matter. It is up to you to keep that fire lit inside of yourself. It is your responsibility to be your very own thermostat and notice when you think you are cooling off. The last thing you want to do is hide it if it happens. If you can’t fix the problem how do expect someone else to if they don’t know there is a problem to begin with.

Have determination (Never forget Effort) and find that determination inside of yourself to keep training.