How to get to the next level

I got my purple belt in Jiu jitsu last week.

Before the ceremonial tying of the belt, my coach Luis called everyone in to form a circle and gave a short speech that was really quite profound.

He said, ‘Jiu jitsu has taught me a lot about life. To get from white, to blue belt you need to learn a few fundamental skills. But to get from blue to purple belt, those same set of skills, won’t be enough. You need to take risks and get outside of the techniques that you feel comfortable using in order to progress’.

In business we often plateau because we’re not thinking about the skillset required to advance.

We get comfortable dealing with a certain degree of difficulty, using the tools we’re familiar with but avoid facing the discomfort of feeling like a beginner at the next level up.

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REFLECTION QUESTIONS

What ‘belt’ do you have in the sport or business?

What belt do you want to have?

What skills do you need to acquire to move to the next belt up?