O
negaishimasu Parents and students,
Our dojo's number one mission has always been to help our parents and their children become highly successful and discover their full and unlimited potential. As part of that mission, in the coming weeks and as always this time of year, our immediate goal will be to help and support you and your child with the start of school.
The winds of change are blowing stronger than ever, and this school year will present some of the most profound changes we may ever see in our lifetime, revolutionizing how, where, and when education is delivered to our children.
You may be feeling overwhelmed by a situation and crisis you have absolutely no control over! Like many many others you may be thinking…."Why should we even bother? This year is already messed up anyway!”I just wish everything could go back to they way it was.” No one would fault you for feeling that way and perhaps one day things will return in many ways to how they were, but for now, this is the hand we are being dealt, and that hand is CHANGE!
Parents…..There is no reason this year can't be your child's best school year ever. We just need to set them up for success. In the next few weeks we will be doing just that in class, through outside resources, and in these weekly mokusos. In the meantime lets start with some important early strategies to help set the table for you and your child’s success. The key is to act early and take proactive steps to get them, and you off to a strong start. Knowing the "why" of why you do something will significantly increase the likelihood it will work.
The immediate "why" is pretty obvious…..To make the most of a less than ideal situation and set my child up for success in the new school year….Whatever that looks like. But I believe there is a much more powerful and valuable "why" under the surface.
Since March 13th, this year has already had a profound and long lasting affect on us and our children. How we navigate this next challenge of restarting school has the potential of forever forming how your child approaches and handles CHOICE and HABITS.
Our lives are determined by Choices and Habits.
Choices: The path you take and where you end up in life is just a series of choices. These are largely shaped by our habits. You can let others, like families and peers, make those choices for you or you can make them yourself. For instance a powerful choice is who you choose to hang around with. We don’t always get to make the rules, but how we follow them and make the most of it, is ENTIRELY OUR CHOICE
Habits: One of the most powerful elements that will determine your destiny in life are the habits you either intentionally or unintentionally develop along the way.
We have a tremendous opportunity here to teach our children the powerful concept in forming their habits and how they shape their mindset, and that is to either RESIST….. or to EMBRACE change. To take a victim mindset, or an empowered mindset. To wait or take charge. To feel out of control or be in control. In the end this choice and behavior is really just a habit.
Out of the two, what may be even more impactful is their habits, because your habits greatly influence your choices. Form good habits and good choices are more likely to follow.
This is an opportunity to set in place and practice the habits that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. Resourcefulness, Persistence, Perseverance, Independence, Patience, Work Ethic. Or, we can let the opposite habits form.
Embrace the change…..In all this there is tremendous opportunity for positive change and growth.
We are almost guaranteed to discover some new and advantageous ways of educating ourselves and our children, and I’m excited for that!
Parents, we don't really have a choice of what school will look like in a few weeks, but we do have a choice in how we approach it, the choices we make and in the habits we and our children develop.
Lets get your child started strong and ready for their best year ever.
Have an amazing week.
Respectfully
Sensei Chris
And Your Keiko TEAM
Keiko Karate – “Actually we do make Ninjas and Superheroes here………………we turn kids into Ninjas and we turn their parents into their superheroes!”