Friday, March 15, 2013

Turning Your Career into Your “Kung Fu”




“We are all born with natural talent, if you are in tune with your natural ‘Way’ you will accomplish great things in life.” – Sifu Freddie Lee, Reflections Volume I

Many people believe the term “Kung Fu” applies solely to Chinese martial arts. In reality, Kung Fu is finding your path to true expression. It’s dedicating yourself to truly mastering something. A person at a firm could be practicing Kung Fu every day, while others may not. What’s the difference?

·         Kung Fu practitioners aren’t motivated by external rewards. If position, pay, status, etc. are solely why a person does what they do, it’s not Kung Fu. I’m not saying pay isn’t important because everyone needs to make a living, but it shouldn’t be the reason you are in a certain profession. If you don’t exactly like your job completely, work toward finding joy in it. Just because you haven’t landed that dream career yet doesn’t mean you can’t be fulfilled at work. Take pride in the work you are doing. Even if you work making copies or as a receptionist, treat every task like it’s valuable- because it is.

·         Kung Fu is finding a balance. Let’s say you wake up in the morning and love your job. Your career is all you think about. When you’re at work, hours fly by and you get lost in what you are doing. While this is good that you are enjoying your craft, there needs to be moderation. If you’re constantly attached to your work or find yourself putting that in front of your personal life, it may be too much. Kung Fu is knowing when to balance work and home life. Sometimes you need to put the laptop away and make some time for you. That means taking time to take care of yourself. Many people skip meals or eat out and that can do some damage to the body. Don’t forget to take a few hours to distress yourself and make sure you are healthy.

·         Kung Fu is always striving for better. Like a martial artist, one must always keep pushing their limits. Today you might be at the top of your game, but tomorrow you might find that there are new advances in your respective field. Always look for new things to learn in your craft. Kung Fu is the idea that everyone has a lesson they can teach you. Use your mistakes as a tool to get better. Treat every experience as a learning experience.

7 comments:

  1. Wow Wei! that was a great post. I learn something new about Kung Fu. I see that you read Sifu Freddie Lee's book. That's great by all means. Keep up with your Kung Fu!

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  2. They should teach the true meaning of kung fu at a very young age at school. It's funny how a lot of people have great kung fu and they don't even know it.

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  3. This is a very good article, and I agree that they should teach this at school, and also at home.
    I hope that I'll be able to influence and teach my kids these kinds of values.

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  4. Great post Wei!! I definitely strive for that level of Kung Fu where it permeates in all that I do in this world.

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  5. Love the post. Very valuable contribution to this blog and I am very happy to see you take the time to share your experiences so that others can learn from you. I hope to see you more often on this blog. This blog I see to be a very important aspect of expressing our understanding of the spiritual aspects of the Martial Arts of which many times we do not have the chance to cover while in class. I look forward to your quick recovery and for us to continue with the training when you are ready. When you are fully healed, we can start the testing.

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  6. Freddie lee is the real martial arts Just
    Like bruce lee you can learn from them
    Both

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