People always say, “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” But that’s not really true. When you love what you do, you actually end up working harder than ever. You put in long hours, you give more of yourself, you stay up late thinking about how to do it better. And the reason is simple—because when you love something, it stops being just work. It becomes your purpose.
I think it’s really easy to fall into the trap of seeing what we do every day as “just work.” But I don’t believe it should be like that. Work should be fun. It should be something that makes you happy, something that gives you a vision, something that gives you a reason to get up in the morning. It shouldn’t be boring. And for me, Jiu-Jitsu never has been—quite the opposite. It’s been inspiring, challenging, and rewarding all at the same time.
As instructors, we have the responsibility to take what might look like the same old drills or the same old positions and turn them into something meaningful, making the mundane a masterpiece. For a lot of people, the best part of their day is the time they spend on the mat with us, and that’s not something I take lightly. They’re giving us their time, their attention, and ultimately a piece of their life – and I’m honored to give a piece of mine in return. Day after day, from now till forever.