All the coaching

I realized today that I am hitting a $1000 per month worth of personal coaching. I get coaching in almost every area of my life, Martial Arts, business, financial, curriculum development, etc. Most people would find spending this amount of money crazy, but I feel it the best money spent. I always feel more confident and happy when I am growing mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.Of course, I had to sacrifice owning many things in order to get this level of coaching.

What has coaching done for me?

I once read that people spend their money on three things: to Be something, to Do something, or to Have something. What has been dubbed the BE-DO-HAVE. In my value system, I place little value on the DO and HAVE. I drive an old used car (I’ve never owned a new car). Instead of regular vacations (the DO), my vacations are related to my personal development, charity work, or business related in improving the quality of our school.

Coaching helps firmly put you in the BE category.

I want to BE

• The best instructor and student mentor
• The best husband and father
• The best school owner
• The best community leader
• A philanthropist
• Just a plain ole good person

After years of coaching and constantly push myself beyond my limits, I realize the importance of everyone receiving coaching. Unfortunately, our society barges us with messages to HAVE more things or to DO more. And many people have incorporated this message into their lives and value systems.

I believe that we need to shift our thoughts and put more focus into the BE of our lives. The good news is that the Martial Arts is a perfect method of creating a foundation in the BE.

So I may never own a new car but I plan on continuing to develop myself through coaching. If someone asked me for a million dollars, would I give up all the knowledge, friendships, and experiences I learned in my 28 years in the Karate, I would say “Never”.

The benefit of all this training is that I am able to incorporate many of the ideas into our leadership training therefore giving our students the coaching without them investing extra money required to get the training! Kind of a wi-win for everyone.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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The Ripple Effect

I was thinking of the ripple effect that we make through writing. I was reading an article at a popular blog. He referred to a comment made from a reader about saving money on groceries by riding a bike. I read the comment and it was very similar to an article I wrote in the spring.

Is it possible that this person read my article and applied it?

I can tell for sure, but it’s cool to think that possibly you wrote something that effected somebody. I am a big fan of the Butterfly Effect that says that a slight variation now could expand to huge changes in the future.

Think about teaching Martial Arts. One lesson will create a huge ripple effect in a child’s life. Repeat that one lesson over the course of the four years until Black Belt then our students hears the message 400 to 600 times (this comment, I got from Coach Callos. The ripple effect again!).

One of my favorite sayings is Earl Nightingale’s Strangest Secret, “We become what we think about most of the time.” Our leadership curriculum at our Martial Arts school is material that I feel is important and I want to constantly remind myself of. So that I can control what I think about therefore what I BECOME.

In the process, we’re changing the way our students think and what they become. It’s great watching my students grow through our leadership material.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Half the Team on the Bench

I had a bunch of people contact me about Ester’s shoulder surgery. Thank you so much for your concern. The surgery was a great success and now, the healing process has started. She’s in a arm sling for the next four weeks.

In the surgery center, I talked to the guy next to me in the office as a waited for Ester’s surgery to be completed.

He said, “You’re going to learn to really appreciate all the things your wife does!”

Wow, he was correct. This week has been busy, busy, busy attempting to keep up with everything around the house and dojo. My wife and I work great as a team. We divide responsibilities in half or work side by side towards accomplishing a goal. The surgery is like putting half of our team on the bench.

I special thanks goes to our daughter, Christine, for helping us out so much. She’s a gem.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Transparency - Looking through the Looking Glass

One thing about journal online is how it creates a level of transparency. In other words, you’re life becomes an open book. It’s the nature of the animal.

During my UBBT test, it was amazing meeting everyone at the events. After reading everyone’s journals, it was almost like meeting an old friend – (that you never meet before?).

This transparency is important for the process of self-development.

Why? Because transparency means that our external self (the one everyone knows in public) is congregant with our internal self (the self residing in our heads). Without this congruency, personal development becomes impossible because you can’t communication your mission or message effectively.

Journaling has become my way of communicating my message or mission. Along the way, I have learned some much. My readers have grown with me by applying leadership into our lives. My school has grown as these ideas surface within our program. I see these ideas increasing our student outcomes, dramatically. My journaling helped me strive for solutions instead of focusing on problems – writing is a great sounding board.

At one time, I hid most of my thoughts and feelings. My internal self was confident, optimistic, and positive but fearing the criticism of others, for many years, I hid this side of me. The transparency of writing has unleashed these shackles that held me back.

I want to thank all of my readers for following me on my journey.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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One Hundred Pushup Challenge

You gotta love a challenge. One of our adult students, Gwen, showed us the one hundred pushup challenge website at www.hundredpushups.com. This website teaches you a six weeks training program to perform one hundred consecutive pushups.

Gwen's idea is starting to catch fire in our dojo. We have a few adults committed for the six weeks including myself. I love the idea so much that I may add the one hundred pushup challenge to our curriculum once a year. Sound like a great New Year's challenge. It only takes about 5 minutes/ 3 days a week so give it a try.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Ester’s Shoulder Surgery today

Today, Ester has a shoulder surgery scheduled for a torn rotator cuff. Over the last few months, it has caused her pain and limited mobility. After a month of rehab and medicine to no avail, they performed a MRI and concluded that surgery was the solution.

So finally, the day has arrived. Yesterday, they called and told us the surgery would be at 12 o’clock instead of 8 o’clock. This news set off a slight level of anxiety for me. I know that after it’s done and over with. Ester will feel much better and regain her shoulder’s mobility, but the extra four hours of waiting is tough right now.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Burger with goat cheese and tomato–basil relish

This weekend, we had our annual Karate Picnic. What a blast it was! I enjoy getting to know my students better outside the environment of the karate school. It’s great that we are surrounded with such a fantastic group of people.

We have lots of leftover frozen burgers from the picnic so I created this recipe to use some of the burgers. That’s right. This is a totally original creation.

Ingredients

Tomato-Basil Relish
1 pint ripe cherry tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
.Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Goat Cheese
4 Quarter Pound Burger Patties
4 Hamburger Buns

In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, garlic, basil, oil, and vinegar. Grill the burgers to desired doneness. Place burger patty on bottom bun. Spread Goat Cheese on burger patty and top with tomato-basil relish.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Weekly Links: Summer Karate Picnic

Tomorrow is our annual Summer Karate Picnic. It's great to relax at the park with 200 of closest friends.

I am super busy today preparing for tomorrow's picnic so I am going to leave you with two good links to read.

• 
  picnic table
  Originally uploaded by Rodzina
  Ester and I love hard broiling eggs in the morning but peeling the egg shells is always a pain. Tim Ferris, author of the Four Day Workweek shows you how to easily deshell an egg.
• With my injured foot, I really wish I could start running away. Do you want to start running? Zen Habits talks about How to Go From Sedentary to Running in Five Steps.

P.S. Students Click Here for directions from our dojo to the secret summer picnic location.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Oh my Aching Foot

One month ago, I really hurt my foot leaving me limping. I seems that I torn some muscles in the top of my foot making flexing or pull back my toes extremely painful.

What did this mean? No training for the last month and it’s driving me crazy. You see, training, like an old friend, I can always count on. The more consistent your training the more consistent your results. It’s such a simple equation.

This week, I finally am able to walk my dogs again. I am at the point where walking seems to help loosen it up instead of crippling me further. I've been stretching it and it seems to be improving now quickly.

Look out Jason Brick here I come! I can’t wait to perform a vanity run in front of local businesses like you. Read Jason’s humorous post - Ego Has its Good Moments, Too.

That's one limping step for man; one giant leap for mankind

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Our Contagious Emotions

The World in a Crystal Ball
Originally uploaded by vincos

Have you ever walked into a room of people and you could feel the tension in the air? I know I have. Apparently, research shows that emotions positive or negative are contagious. In other words, we tend to take on the feeling in the room.

A perfect example… in a relationship, you may be in a great mood and your spouse is angry. Instantly, without your knowledge, you’re emotional state changes to being anger or negative. In many case, this change in emotional state may cause an argument, stonewalling (emotional shutting down), or impatience with your partners feelings.

I had a profound realization that many times, negative feelings are not mine but a reaction to someone else. In other words, I was in a good mood and because someone else was in a bad mood, I let them infect my mood like a virus.

I was reflecting on this reality for a few weeks and asked how I could stop myself from being infected with negative attitudes. Well, the answer came from the strangest source – the A&E show Psychic Kids.

We had relatives over for our daughter’s birthday and our son was watching Psychic Kids. I really don’t have an opinion on whether these kids are psychic or not, but I do believe that most of these kids seem to have an acute sense of people’s feelings and emotions.

In this episode, one of the kids was experiencing difficulty with angry feeling of spirits and Chip, the psychic host, said let the emotions flow through you.

Eureka! That’s the answer. True Empathy is feeling the other’s emotions flow through you but not to take them on yourself. For the last week, I started to test the theory.

It’s pretty amazing the difference. For example, we lined up start a class. I could tell something was not right with one student. Now, in the past, I would pass judgment and think he or she really doesn’t want to be here, or they don’t have a Black Belt Attitude. This time, I asked, “You seem troubled today. Are you okay?” Here, I find out that her dog that she’s really fond of went to the hospital today. Wow, no wonder - her attitude was suffering.

This technique works great with my wife, Ester. When she upset or anger, I found in the past I would take on the same feeling. Instead of one upset person, we’d have two. Now, when I feel the upset or anger welling up inside, I quietly remind myself that I am not the one upset but she is… that I am feeling her upset. This puts me in a better mindset for handling her emotions and the outcome is better.

One last note: With all this talk about how negative feelings are contagious, it’s also true that positive feelings are contagious too. The good news is that research shows that positive emotions are more contagious than negative emotions. What is the most contagious emotion? Laughter. They found that if someone genuinely laughs that we are hardwired to laugh along. So if you find yourself in that tense boardroom, crack a joke.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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When everything falls apart

Jigsaw Puzzle
Originally uploaded by jaxon s

This week at our school, it felt like the building we lease was falling apart- the roof leaked, an overhead light shorted out, our restroom sink started leaking, and two restroom lights blew out. Oh! Did I mention that our air conditioner needs to be replaced? I spend most of the day fixing problems and calling repairmen. I tried to fix the restroom sink only to find that they installed the piping poorly and they make shifted a situation that eventually caused the leak.

These problem distress, Ester and I because we maintain a very upscale image for our school - that’s hard to do when you have a bucket catching drips of water in the middle of the mat. Keeping a positive outlook on the situation is difficult when we call the property management company four times in a week for four different things and don’t receive a single callback.

It’s so easy to turn around and become self-referential … a victim of circumstance. We have all the evidence we need to become the victim in the paragraph above. Instead, I decided to just roll with it and make it an opportunity to improve the place. It’s so easy to let the little things add up to big things and feel that everything is falling apart.

What to do when everything falls apart

Stop
Just take a moment to reflect. Many times we overreact to situations… building them up in our head to be mountains when actually they’re mole hills. What’s the worst case scenario? Okay, now do everything in your power to avoid that outcome.

Change your frame of reference
Avoid labeling things as a “problem” and downplay the seriousness of it by calling it a situation or better yet an opportunity. Calling something a problem makes you intimately involved. By calling it a situation, it makes you look at it from an objective standpoint, therefore, enabling you to look for a practical solution.

Laugh
Having a sense of humor about situations and our frailties makes handling them easier. By being lighthearted, people around you will relax and creative solutions will surface.

Take Action
Make a list of actions to take and hit the list like you’re working a punching bag. Know that you’re work a plan towards a goal always make me feel more self-assured.

When everything falls apart, it’s time to fit the pieces back together like a jigsaw puzzle. Each action is a piece contributing to the whole. Before you know it, each piece will start falling into place.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Grilled Tuna

For our daughter’s birthday, we got her a Wii. Yesterday, we had a Wii cookout for some friends and family. As they played the Wii, I hit the grill and cooked up some tuna steaks, corn, and zucchini.

This grill tuna recipe is from Real Simple: Meals Made Easy (Real Simple). We used fresh oregano and garlic from our garden.

Ingredients
Zest of 1 lemon, grated
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 6- to 8-onouce tuna steaks

In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon zest and juice, honey, shallot, garlic, and oregano. Whisking constantly, slowly add the oil in a steady stream. Season with the salt and pepper. Rinse the tuna steaks and pat them dry with paper towels. Arrange then in a baking dish and drizzle with ½ cup of the lemon mixture. Turn and coat. Heat a grill to high. Transfer the tuna to the grill. Cook to the desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Being Distant

Last week, my wife’s father passed away. Although he was in a nursing care facility, his passing came very quick. He fell out of us wheelchair and rushed to the hospital on a Monday. On returning to the nursing facility, he got a fever that put him in a coma and he passed away.

His downward spiral all happened in a matter of two weeks. Needless to say, that the situation put Ester and me under a huge level of stress. To complicate things, Ester’s brother was in Italy visiting his wife’s family and they had to cut the vacation short to return home.

Her father, John, was a funny guy. He came to America from Italy as a POW during World War II. His description of World War II was rather entertaining. He said he was in the motorcycle infantry and saw fighting in the west so he turned around and rode east. He saw fighting in the east and rode south until we caught him. His whole war story was him running away from the fighting.

Once in America, he said that being a POW was like spending time at a resort with food, parties, and entertainment. During this time, he meet Ester’s mother, Prudence and got married. As a new American citizen, they settled down in Hopewell, NJ to raise a family. I admired John’s tireless work ethic, honest, zest for life, and sense of humor.

Ester and I spent the holiday weekend attempting to relax and recharge our batteries. We spent time with our dogs, traveled to some events, and took Ester antiquing to occupy our minds.

One highlight of this weekend was going to Perkasie Community Day and getting to meet the owner of Tsunami Karate, Sensei Bruce Costa. His school is in the next town over and we’ve talked on the phone before, but this was the first time we meet face to face. I even got to see his students perform a great karate demo. Terrific Job!

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Finding My Tipping Point

Well, I just finished another book called Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence. The material in this book is based on the same material as Emotional Intelligence. I felt this was a great time to evaluate and sharpen my own leadership skills.

I display many of the qualities of a pacesetting style of leadership (focused on results). This type of leadership was great for starting my school because the number of decisions required was so immense that other leadership styles would be inappropriate. Now, I am approaching a new stage of our dojo that will require other styles of leadership. I need to shift my leadership to a visionary and coaching style.

I found a great website that evaluates your emotional intelligence (EQ) for free. After the test, they ask you to take a 20 minute survey. If you complete the survey, they provide a free online course to improve your competencies. The material comes with a downloadable journal that would be great for your karate leadership program.

Click the following link to get started:
http://www.ihhp.com/testsite.htm

So what did I find? Well, it stated that I have a high EQ. Now to verify this I would need to have a 360 evaluation from family, friends, co-workers, etc. because many times, we lack the self-awareness to judge ourselves properly. At my former job, I did one of these 360 evaluations and found that my self-image accurately matched how my employees saw me. When you get to know me, it’s pretty apparent that I can honestly admit and joke about my faults.

I was not surprised by the areas that I feel confident in because these were the same areas that I showed strengths in on other tests. Out of the 18 competencies, my biggest strengths are in self-control, inspiration, and optimism.

In the past jobs, my managers always pushed me to improve in my weaker areas. I have a different approach this time. I am going to work on improving my strong areas until my weak areas don’t matter anymore. They call this “the tipping point” or the points that you develop your leadership skills to a level that suddenly they take hold and make a huge difference.

Over the next months, I am going to search for that Tipping Point.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Article Featured on Cesar Millan's Site

I was really excited to find out that Cesar Millan's, AKA the Dog Whisperer, website featured one of my articles.

It's a really honor!

Click below to see the article:
http://cesarmillaninc.com/about/articles_2008.php

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Primal Leadership

I am currently working on a leadership program curriculum that I am release in our school for September. The first module is based on the books called Emotional Intelligence and Primal Leadership by the same author. I believe this is super leadership material for children and adults.

They found through research that five areas predicted children level of future success better than IQ alone. They called these five areas - emotional intelligence.

Five areas of Emotional Intelligence

1. Self-Awareness
2. Self-Control
3. Self-Motivation
4. Empathy
5. Relationship Skills
   

Here's a great description on the internet about the ideas of Emotional Intelligence so you don't need to read the whole book.

http://www.kaganonline.com/KaganClub/FreeArticles/ASK14.html

The other interesting part is that these skills also are great for peace education.

For cooperative learning skill activities, click on the following link.
Cooperative Learning Structures Document

These are invaluable skills to teach children and they are fun too. I used the Four Corners drill in class yesterday and the students really enjoyed it.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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