What's the value?

"Learning from the past to move forward" - Dom Karmiche


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I have known Dom for 3 or 4 years, since we both started training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu together at about the same time. Even though I didn't know him that well, I noticed some things about him over the years; like he has a deep love for competing in jiu jitsu, a killer work ethic, and a tolerance for fear that most people don't have. He is the type of person who will take on any fight, any time; and when you watch him fight you can tell the moment never gets too big for him. So I was really interested to learn more about him and get to know what made him tick. 
As Dom explained it, he didn't have the most stable childhood and that led to him getting pretty heavily involved with drugs and partying after high school. For a few years he was kind of lost and lacking motivation, but what I found really interesting, was that he always felt a deep sense of optimism that life would get better. The value he started the conversation with was "learning from the past to move forward", and that was something he always believed in. So even in the darkest of times, he always tried to maintain a good perspective. As with many people, everything changed for him when he found out he was going to be a dad, but what makes Dom unique is that he seemed to have the mental toughness to change his life almost instantly. As he put it, he has always been someone who struggled with motivation, but once he has it, all the bullshit ends and he gets to work. 
That type of mindset was always fascinating to me because it sounds a little bit like a superpower (and in some ways maybe it is), but when you dig into it is really rooted in logic, self reflection, and optimism. We've heard some of those themes in past episodes as well. Dom is another testament to the power of combining logic with optimism. It doesn't guarantee you that everything will go exactly the way you want it and it doesn't make life magically easier. What allowed Dom to do though, is to go from being out of shape, doing drugs every day, and having no real meaning in life; to being a sponsored combat sports athlete, a dedicated dad, and someone who has a deep purpose/drive for life.
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What's the value?By Terry McMullen

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