5 minute read

• How Vision & Values create your Victories

• Why winning matters

• The 90 day method

This is called a flying arm bar.

(the video is only 30’s so go ahead and watch it and come back to finish reading)

Flying arm bar or inverted arm bar is a more advanced technique of a simple arm submission.

The setup begins with controlling distance, securing grips and feigning a defensive guard pull while inverting ones body onto the the mat.

Timing and setup is key and you have to position yourself and opponent just right with enough momentum to land it smoothly otherwise you end up in a scramble to regain control.

When executed correctly it’s a great opening attack that can end the match very quickly.

Early in my white belt season a purple belt landed it perfectly on me and ended the match in about 15 seconds.

I thought it was a such a great submission that I asked him to show me the mechanics, break it down and teach me how to do it.

He showed it to me and over the course of 6 months I worked on the skill and began to master the execution.

I broke it down into sequential steps that stacked on top of each other…

• Grip setup

• Body position and momentum

• Timing and explosiveness

I practiced each part with intention and put the time, effort and the hours in because I had a vision to execute the submission in a tournament.

My last white belt tournament I performed the same move twice, on two separate opponents to win both of my matches in under a minute.

It was one of the most incredible feelings of pride and accomplishment.

I saw something I desired to do, put in the work and saw it through to completion.

I had a vision.

I aligned my behaviors to the values that would support my vision.

I stacked a victory that built my confidence and competence for the next challenge.

Winning Matters

As I’ve advanced onto blue belt competition the game changed and that same move does not work with the same reliability.

I need to develop new skills, competencies and self confidence to compete at a higher challenge level.

Martial arts is just like life.

As you progress the challenge gets harder and the competitors more fierce, what worked before won’t work at each new level.

If you hope to stay relevant you must advance in two key areas.

• Confidence

• Competence

Confidence is self belief to take on a task based on experience of completing a similar task.

“I believe I can do this because I’ve done something similar to this before”

Competence is skill development and wisdom in knowing things like timing, technique and strategy.

“I believe I can do this because I’ve developed sufficient skills to perform well”

You need both in life.

You develop both by winning.

This is why victories matter.

In my arm bar example the win was not just the gold medal — it was the 6 months of focused training and skill development that led to the gold.

I had to systematically breakdown each component into smaller achievable chunks to make the win plausible.

This is an essential step in purposeful goal planning that you must do if you hope to turn your vision into reality.

The 90 day Method

Once you have your two your vision complete you’re going to break out the primary goals into 90 day chunks.

Think of a quarter as a 90 day sprint, 12 weeks to learn, adapt and create positive momentum towards your long term goals.

What gets tracked gets done.

So take time to write down and track progress against a bigger picture.

If you’re looking at a two year timeline you have EIGHT 90 day chunks to make your dreams possible.

I think about Kind David in the bible.

Before he reigned as King he trained as a shepherd.

He defending his flock from Lions and Bears, killed a giant and then became a great leader of men.

Each victory stacked to build his confidence and competence for the next challenge.

Every future victory begins with setting up systematic wins and breaking down the big vision into achievable goals.

I use a tool called the Vision Tool Kit to setup my short term and long term victories across my four domains.

===> You can download a free copy of the Vision Toolkit Here

It’s a simple way for you to visualize and breakout short term and long term goals.

On the left hand side write out the goals you hope to accomplish.

Remember to follow the SMART Goal planning method.

Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time Bound.

Put a “By When” date and then for minimum, target and outrageous list out the result that you hope to accomplish.

For the arm bar example the minimum was to attempt it in a live competition.

The target was a successful submission.

The outrageous was 1 or more successful submissions with that move.

Train for the outrageous, plan for the target and learn from the minimum.

Once you have a clear victory you want to stack breakdown the win into its relevant parts.

You can learn to do anything with time, effort and intention so just decide and start doing the work.

That’s really it.

1. Create Vision. [a link to the Vivid Vision how to]

2. Define Core Values. [here’s the newsletter on how to do that]

3. Stack Victories.

The only thing that stands in the way are our VICES.

That’s the next write up and you’ll have to come back for that step.

By the way did you know you can subscribe at erinalejandrino.com and get a fresh newsletter in your inbox every week, view previous newsletters and even join my premium membership for just $11.11 per month which grants you access to a weekly live group call where you can bring your questions and we can hotseat anything you’re working on or working through live.

Much love and many blessings.

Talk soon,

E