White belt mentality

I’ve been doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) for the past year. I’m addicted. I should’ve signed up to a martial art earlier.

Aside from the life lessons like learning how to lose, how to stay calm under pressure, how to defend yourself, one of my favourites is having a white belt mentality.

Right now, I’m a white belt with 2 stripes. If you’re training regularly and your skill is improving, you get a stripe every 6-months or so. Following this pace from day 1 you should end up with a black belt after 10-years. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower.

The idea of one day being a black belt is exciting. But no matter what colour belt I have, I don’t want to lose the white belt mentality.

What’s the white belt mentality?

When you’re a white belt, you make some quick progress in the beginning. You learn little tricks like two hands in, two hands out, where to put your weight, protect your neck.

Eventually, you’ll think you know what you’re doing. But then you’ll go against someone and they’ll show you otherwise.

So you get curious.

You start asking, what did I do wrong there? How could I do better next time? What should I focus on for the next month and get really good at?

Whether it be BJJ, writing, building a business, a relationship. I don’t want to ever stop asking these questions.

When you have a white belt mentality, you look at the world differently. Everything becomes an opportunity to improve.

No longer are you searching for the finish line. There isn’t one.

With a white belt mentality, every day is day one.