Remember the original “Karate Kid” movie from the 1984?  After getting beat up by the neighborhood bullies, Daniel (played by Ralph Macchio) learns the art of karate from a “karate master,” Mr. Miyagi.  By the end (beware… spoiler alert!), Daniel masters karate and is able to defeat the kids that once beat him up.

But here’s the interesting thing about Daniel’s transformation… when he began learning under Mr. Miyagi, his lessons never included how to kick, punch or anything else related to karate.  Instead, Mr. Miyagi taught him how to wax a car, with the famous statement, “Wax on, Wax off… Wax on, Wax off…”  Imagine being Daniel though… how would you feel if your karate teacher refused to teach karate, but instead made you wash his car?  I know I’d be frustrated!  You can see the clip here if you’ve never seen it before:

Now I know what you’re probably thinking ,“Bill, how in the world does this actually relate to my life & my business?”

Well, the two things I’ve taken from this are:
1. Profound insights can come from immersing yourself in unrelated fields.
2. Mastering one discipline helps you create the habits that will help you master the next discipline.

Mr. Miyagi knew that waxing a car appeared to have nothing to do with karate, but if Daniel could dedicate himself to this task, then Daniel could also dedicate himself to also learning karate because practicing control over one area of your life will directly relate to practicing control over other areas of your life.

As we’ve entered a new year I’ve thought about this concept a lot, so instead of making resolutions, I’ve started to createda list of “Wax On, Wax Off Activities” that will serve as stepping stones to challenge me to grow:

- Creating a plan for my Physical Fitness.
- Organizing my personal Budget better.
- A new hobby.  (Painting, Drawing, Reading Fiction, etc…. this list could go on & on…)
- Having one night every other week that I make a dinner from scratch & eat it with 3-4 friends.
- Setting daily time limits for Facebook.
- Watching what I eat… only having one Carb-heavy meal per day.

It all starts the big choice to start… from there, with each and every step of progress, mastering the next thing will become easier… and this will roll over into other areas of your life including your business.

What is a “Wax on, wax off” activity that you can incorporate into your own life?