Greetings!

 

In my professional career prior to owing and operating my Do Jang, I was very fortunate to have had some fantastic Role Models and Influences. As a young man of 22 I realized that I was not traveling in the direction that was going to best benefit my Wife and Children. I started studying the people around me. I studied those who I respected either personally or professionally, but just as importantly, I studied the individuals that I most certainly did not respect. In doing this I found certain commonalities on both sides.

 

The latter half of these individuals, the ones who I did not hold a great fondness for, shared two primary commonalities.

 

1. Self Centered - Each of these individuals was most concerned with what the world was going to do for them. How could they get the most out of each situation, and did they get more out of it than you did.

 

2. Arrogance - There is a difference between being self assured and being arrogant. These individuals "needed" to be right. They "needed" to win, and unfortunately for them, they were not able to see the destructive patterns that this was leaving in their lives.

 

I sometimes think about the amazing balance that life offers us if we will just slow down and see it. Although I was watching these individuals self destruct around me, I was also offered the opportunity to watch several others accel to previously unimaginable heights. These people, the ones on the other end of the spectrum, also shared two primary character traits.

 

1. Humility - Each of the people that I studied who were acceling in their field had "Humility". They never bragged or boasted. If they were complimented on a job well done, they would deflect the praises to someone else on their team and then explain why the accolades belonged to someone else. I noticed that this humility allowed them to maintain a steady course while ensuring future successes by building up their team around them.

 

2. Drive - I mentioned previously that some individuals "needed" to win or "needed" to be right. the difference between "Drive" & "Arrogance", is that Drive is the desire to make yourself a better person, while the other is just a desire to be better than another person. Those with the best personal drive climbed the highest.

 

I have made a point in my personal and professional career to clothe myself in these last two personal attributes. I say that I clothe myself in them, because this is what people see when they look at you. They aren't looking at your designer pants or shoes, they are watching your actions. More importantly  than what others will think of you is what your actions will do for those around you.

 

 I can assure you that if you build either a personal or professional life that is designed to propel others toward success, you will enjoy the same.