Saturday, May 2, 2009

The Dojo Kun - Training Rules



I made a list of rules to guide your training here at the Black Belt Project. I call this set of rules the Dojo Kun. These rules will help you get the most out of your own personal training.

Here is the list of training rules:


  • Decide to become a Black Belt Set the standard high for your life. No matter where you start, you can create any life you want.

  • Ask "how" questions Only ask yourself how you can do something because your mind will come up with an answer. Eliminate why questions because questions that begin with why often help you make excuses.

  • Talk about what you have done not what you plan to do I'm sure you know someone who is all talk. Don't let that be you. Let your results do the talking and keep your plans to yourself.

  • Define the perfect day in your life Decide what your days should look like if you did what your mind thought you could do.

  • Commit to get everything you want to do out of your head and into written or digital actionable lists Clearly define what done looks like for everything you need to do into written step-by-step instructions.

  • Carry your lists everywhere Make your lists portable so they are with you to refer to at all times.

  • Establish what your mental strength is once a week Know how many tasks you are currently able to complete without fail each and every day.

  • Focus on doing at least what you are mentally strong enough to do each day Do at least the number of tasks you know you mentally can do for sure. If you reach your mental strength bar for the day, that day is a success. Anything above that is a bonus.

  • Use progressive resistance to improve your mental strength each week Every week, add a small number of tasks that you must complete each day.

  • Only concern yourself with your own mental strength and not the mental strength of others Only you know your potential. Compare where you are with your own mental strength and make your sole focus to improve it each week. As long as you are building mental strength, you are on the right track.

  • Update and refine your actionable lists Break down your lists to achieve certain goals. Break down tasks into equal sizes so it takes the same amount of mental strength to do each task on your list. Include every single step you take on your lists. Organize and order your lists into the most efficient set of steps.

  • Use thirty day challenges Get rid of bad habits and instill new ones by using 30 day challenges.

  • Continually seek improvement As you progress, the perfect day will be achievable and you'll see it with greater clarity. Ask yourself how to make it even better and repeat the process over and over until you can't see places to improve upon it.


If you have any questions about the Dojo Kun, or the Black Belt Project, don't hesitate to contact the Virtual Sensei.

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Michael Kuhn

Black Belt Project: Build Mental Strength

8 comments

Looking forward to your future post on "The Black Belt Project". I have been using GTD for a long time but I can always learn something new or tweak something to work better.

I have my gui ready.

Thanks Proximo. Good to know someone's reading. Keep in touch!

You know sometimes I think you just have to suck it up and get some work done. I know I have wasted years just thinking about working or waiting until I feel right to do some work. When you start doing what you need done, you actually enjoy it, well for me I do. I find that all of a sudden I have less things to do (since I finished them) and I'm just happier because I did a ton of work today.

@Golf: That is so true. I actually worked on some stuff I had been putting off and felt much better once I got it out of the way. Thanks for the comment.

I have read the Dojo Kun and agree to abide by the rules. Getting through the white belt will be a great 30 day journey and will help give me the mental "attitude" to get to the next level. I'm looking foward to the process! Now I need to work on my active visualization...

I hereby make a commitment to strive for excellence in my life. I am commited to improve myself and all the different areas of my life.

Ok, that sounded a bit too official but at least I mean it!

Love the Dojo Kun by the way. The only thing I was hesitant about was the visualization part, as I never have tried it myself, but after giving it some thought I'll give it a try! Follow the master you know...

Only last thing, wouldn't it be good to numerate the rules? I think that would make it much easier to refer to them in the forums. On the other could that lead to the interpretation that some rules are more important then others.

That is awesome Lasse! It does sound pretty official I agree. I am happy you are here. Let's get that first belt soon! I will be revising the Dojo Kun as we go along and will probably number them. I didn't want to number them until I knew it was definitely complete.

Good evening, Virtual Sensei. I have completed this step in preparing for an amazing journey together. I am very please to have found you and the Dojo. Thank you for the effort you have and continue to put into this project.


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