“Life is a hailstorm of distractions. It’s not the monster that stops us, but the mosquito.” Robert G. Allen
Warriors don’t let themselves get distracted. Sun Tzu said, “All warfare is based on deception.” Tacticians strive to mislead their opponents and get them to misread the situation and make a mistake and lose the battle. One of the best ways to mislead an opponent is with a distraction. In Japanese, kiutsuri (氣移) means “distraction” but it translates as “moved ki.” Thus, we are felled because we lose our focus when our ki becomes distracted. Distractions cause us to lose focus on the task at hand. Martial arts training tends to be very repetitious and the reason for that is to not only create subconscious muscle memory but also to teach us how to focus quickly or “get into the zone” when attacked. Distractions are the thieves of dreams because we won’t be able to achieve great things if we get too caught up in the minutia of the little things. Likewise, if we let ourselves be bothered by the little things, then we’ll be destroyed by the bigger things. In battle and in life, people mostly fall for distractions because they are easy and less daunting. Generally, the more the daunting situation, the more tempting the distraction. Distractions are the easiest way to activate the “reward system” in our brains and get a dopamine hit. Today, with all of our technologies, there are more dopamine distractors than ever before and it’s easy to just “escape” from reality. Regardless of the distraction or the reason, distractions are about temptation. We give in to the temptation which causes us to lose our focus or mindfulness. The best warriors are the ones who have the strongest wills and are able to recognize when something isn’t important and merely a distraction. A warrior is focused and strong willed and that’s why they aren’t bothered by flies.
Today’s goal: When you get into something, ask yourself “Am I just distracting myself?”