If you haven't met me, then you don't know that I'm 5'7"...

On a good day.

But it turns out that being short was good for two things:
1. Figure skating
2. Taekwondo...which, it turns out, is pretty much the opposite of spinning around the ice in a tutu.

Anyway, one of the biggest tenets of martial arts is balance.

If you lose your balance, you lose control...and you get kicked in the face.

#beentheredonethat

Of course, skating's the same way. No balance? No triple lutz.

No triple lutz? Then you're as bad as that hockey dad at the public skate session who thinks he's the next Wayne Gretzky.

Just...pathetic.

Turns out, though, that the same rule about balance and control applies in business...and in life.

If you're off balance, then you're out of control.

In other words, something else is controlling you -- gravity, other people, other agendas, whatever.

And that's no recipe for success.

In sports, as in life, balance comes from within.

It's in your mind and, by extension, your body.

And yet, so many naturally walk around off-balance.

• Worried about things they have no control over.
• Blocked with self-limiting beliefs.
• Angry, upset, confused, afraid.

All of those mental postures put you in an unbalanced state, subject to external forces.

Meanwhile, if you're comfortable? Accepting? Open? Honest? Brave?

Then you're perfectly balanced...prepared for something to be thrown at you, and ready to react calmly and assertively.

So that when someone does go to kick you in the head?

You can calmly avoid their projectile limb with a graceful sidestep and a wise smile.

It's a simple concept, but sadly, most walk around unbalanced.

But the thing is: getting into balance isn't difficult in and of itself...

It's difficult because most don't recognize that their internal turmoil is putting them off-balance in the first place.

Think about it this way:

Balance is really about resilience.

Balance is a neutral setting in your mind that allows you to zig and zag easily and confidently...without pain or suffering or playing the victim.

So think about it: how can you be resilient -- sitting in neutral -- if you're hanging onto negativity, uncertainty, and fear?

That state, by definition, is not neutral...instead, you may as well be pinned down to the mat with a 300-lb gorilla sitting on your squished-up face.

And that ain't fun for no one.

So take a breath. Check into how you're feeling. Let go of some of that baggage that's causing you to be off-balance.

Because the next kick-to-the-head is always coming.

No one knows when...but you can be prepared for it, balanced and in control so you're ready to kick back.