“You’re at the point in your training where most people quit,” my Sensei said to me, “between Shodan [1st degree black belt] and Nidan [2nd degree black belt], but you’re still training. What advice would you give to someone who just earned their Shodan?”

He asked me this moments after this photo was taken. We wore masks because months of wildfire smoke pouring into our area has wreaked havoc on us. My sinus headaches became debilitating, causing me to miss classes. I bought air purifiers, which helped, but the smoke was still bad. We were so determined to train that we masked up and had class.

Before the wildfires, I had terrible stomach and GI cramps that interfered with my training. Before that, I suffered from overactive stomach acid, which likely caused the cramps. Before that, anxiety about my family members’ health led to the stomach issues.

Before that, I ruptured disks in my neck leading up to my Shodan test. Rehabbing that injury while preparing for my Shodan test is quite a story in itself.

The ruptured disks were caused by the stress of my restaurant closing due to post-pandemic difficulties. Before that, was the pandemic.

Throughout all of this, I’ve been rehabilitating hip misalignments that I was born with, causing life-long knee injuries and painful feet.

I told my Sensei, “I’d rather go through all of this than quit. It’s the classic coaching question: What would your future-self thank you for? My future-self would thank me for doing the work. In less than a decade, I’ll be 65. I can be a 65-year-old with whatever degree black belt I’m going to be by then, or not. I’d rather be it. And it’s working. Hip replacement surgery is no longer in my future, my knees are getting stronger, and my feet have arches again after going flat. Most importantly, I love training. I don’t want to quit.”

Every challenge has been a struggle I didn’t ask for, but each one has taught me something valuable that I can pass on to my coaching clients and my future students. What challenges are you working through? What would your future-self thank you for?