In this episode, Dean talks about his passion for Brazillian jiu-jitsu and how to hone your power from the time spent being stuck on your plateau.
But what does it mean to be stuck on your plateau? How can lessons taken from jiu-jitsu relate to business? Listen to this episode to find out.
Overview & Episode Content
- Lessons of Great Power from Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu
- How to Hone Your Power and Prepare for the Next Level
- The Power of Breaking Through Your Plateau
- There is Power to Discover When You’re Stuck
- The Plateau Gives You the Power to Find More Possibilities
Lessons of Great Power from Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu
I have been practicing Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu for more than a year now. Now, the sheer number of power lessons I can apply to my life and business just blows my mind away. It is absolutely amazing.
I set a goal in February of 2019 to compete in a Jiu-Jitsu tournament. And then, it actually happened within 90 days of setting that goal. I competed in my first Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament and ended up getting bronze on No-Gi. It was such a cool, pivotal moment in my life.
I never thought I would continue practicing. Because it was something that has continued to challenge me. Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu is like a chess match every time. So, you learn more every single match.
One of the things about Jiu-Jitsu is that there are plateaus. This has happened two or three times for a couple of months now, where I felt stuck at some aspect of the training.
I went to the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays, doing normal training classes. This is the time where everyone is being taught something.
We roll on Saturday mornings. It is just a time for sparring the entire day or the entire time that we are at the class. We put into practice everything that was learned during that day.
Now the thing is, over and over again, I get submitted by the same guys who had been doing this much longer than I have. They would continually submit me and this has been my plateau.
How to Hone Your Power and Prepare for the Next Level
My plateau in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu is getting submitted by the same guys. They would either get me in an arm lock or a choke. I thought I was not getting better.
One guy in particular was our resident blue belt in jiu-jitsu. And if you don't know it, there are only a few belts in Jiu-Jitsu: white, blue, purple, brown, and black. Okay, they do have a red belt but you have to be in for 40 years or so, to get it. It is very hard and takes a long time to get from belt to belt.
Just going from white belt to blue belt takes time and experience. You definitely have to learn a ton. Blue belts are much better than the typical white belt.
Now, the resident blue belt would submit me in 15 to 30 seconds. If I was lucky, maybe a minute. It was just getting so frustrating for me that I would take little breaks from it. But I always went back.
These are called plateaus in Jiu-Jitsu. Plateaus naturally happen because they provide a constraint. And it allows you to build up different types of muscle memory for the moves that you are learning.
The same guy who was submitting me in 30 seconds two weeks ago could not submit me at all in 5 minutes. I was finally able to submit certain people I have gone against and lost before.
My body would start doing moves I knew in my head. These are moves I had tried and failed before. Now, I am able to actually pull them off! It was like flipping a power switch. How the heck did that happen? I don't know.
The Power of Breaking Through Your Plateau
Plateaus happened to me thrice in this whole ordeal. But this is a powerful learning experience. There is power in being resilient in Jiu-Jitsu.
I am now at a point where I can go against some of the younger folk in the gym. I cannot believe I say that.
“I’m 39 and going against some of the younger folk.”
I would be panting and thinking in the back of my mind how these young guys are going to outmaneuver me.
I was being negative on all these different things. But I was just calmly rolling them over and calmly putting them into a submission hold as they were doing whatever techniques they wanted to perform.
I was totally surprised at myself like, “What the heck happened?”
This breakthrough of plateaus has happened over and over again. I look back on life and on business, spirituality, my body, my health, these plateaus come very often, and a lot of the times we see these as bad things. We see this plateau as a bad thing.
We usually think, “Gosh I feel stuck.”
I really was stuck at some points in my life. But I was learning certain things. These are things that I got to learn only through those plateaus. And I was not even aware that I was already in the process of learning new things!
There is Power to Discover When You’re Stuck
Most Pro Sulum customers — who have a Virtual Systems Architect — become customers because they cannot get out of a particular constraint.
That constraint could be time, or that they are working too much on their business. Or maybe the constraint is that they are tired of their business declining when they stop working. These constraints are their plateaus. They have spent time on their plateaus for a while.
I have one recent customer who just came on. He was researching different ways to systemize his business, but never really pulled the trigger not because he is not action-oriented. There was something during the plateau process. The wheat was being separated from the chaff.
The good idea and the good system is being separated from the bad. There is a problem, obviously. But there is also a possibility of fixing that problem.
For me in Jiu-Jitsu, the problem is getting submitted by these bigger guys who have been around for much longer than I have. Of course, there is the possibility of improving my technique and power against them. But often, the right path towards the goal is what's lacking.
I learned a powerful lesson from Garrett J White at Wake Up Warrior. You have a problem but you have the possibility to fix it. You just need to find the path. But not all paths are going to take you to the possibility of fixing the problem.
You must not fear and think you are going to always be stuck on your plateau. That process is there to help you to make good decisions.
The Plateau Gives You the Power to Find More Possibilities
An online course called Keenan Online by Keenan Cornelius was one of the paths I took to be better at Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu. The course went through pretty much every technique in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu. And it helped me out a lot.
I took another path through an app called BJJ Over 40 — Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Over 40. You may be wondering why I would want to learn how old guys do Jiu-Jitsu? Their lessons work for everybody. It is universal.
Those two things overtime allowed me to take that path to the possibility of defeating those people in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu who had been plaguing me for so long.
The same thing goes with business. I did not want to hire a massive amount of employees, I did not want to make seven figures plus in revenue over time, I did not want to have to deal with W2's, payroll, worker's compensation, insurance, etc… I had to find courses and mentors that taught me how to do that.
The plateau gives you the power to find the path to the possibility. And that lets you solve your problem. What are you plateaued in right now in this week?
Conclusion
I want you to enjoy the plateau and start researching ways to get on the path to getting to the next level of that plateau, but don't get anxious about getting stuck. Don't get frustrated by it.
Enjoy being on the plateau because this is going to lead you to the next level. You will reach the next level whether it is now, a week from now, or a month from now.
Right now, your subconscious is simply finding the absolute best way to do that. Just trust that God, your subconscious, your talent is helping you to find a way to break through to get to that next level.
Resources and Links
This is Dean Soto inviting you to go to google.com and type in “Freedom In Five Minutes podcast” and it will come up with your favorite podcast apps to listen and subscribe to.
The more that you listen, the more value you're going to get. So go check that out.
Also, if you want a Virtual Systems Architect that can literally automate your entire business in as little as five minutes a day then go to ProSulum.com. Get yourself a Virtual Systems Architect. I will see you, my friends, in the next Freedom In Five Minutes podcast episode.