Week 15: Small Steps, Every Day

Week 15 of 16 · Test Cycle 2. This lesson is part of The Black Belt Mindset, the character curriculum every new Mile High Karate student begins with, by Grand Master Stephen Oliver and Grand Master Jeff Smith. Every week stands alone, so a student can start with any lesson.

“Do it. Then do it again, and when you think you’ve learned it all, do it all again from a slightly different angle.”

Chuck Norris

On this page: Read the chapter · Workbook lesson · For instructors: Mat Chat

Read: Small Steps, Every Day

Grand Master Jhoon Rhee was famous for push-ups.

Not one or two. Hundreds. For years, push-ups were part of his workout every single day. Even in his sixties and seventies, he could do 100 push-ups in about a minute. People who saw it could hardly believe it.

He did not get there in one day. He got there one push-up at a time, one day at a time, for years.

Grand Master Rhee had a goal he shared with everyone. He wanted “100 years of wisdom in a body of a 21 year old.” In other words, he wanted to grow wiser every year, and keep his body strong and young while he did it.

How do you do that? Not with one big workout. With small steps, every day.

The Seatbelt

Let me ask you something. When you get in the car, do you buckle your seatbelt?

Of course you do. You probably don’t even think about it. Click. Done.

But you were not born knowing how to do that. Somebody taught you. Then you did it over and over, every single ride, until it became automatic. Now it would feel strange not to buckle up.

That is a habit. A habit is something you have done so many times that you do it without thinking.

At Mile High Karate, we use the seatbelt to teach kids about habits. Nobody is born with good habits. You practice them until they are as automatic as clicking your seatbelt. As we tell our students, we are working on habits that help us make it to our goals.

Good Habits, Bad Habits

Here is a saying we teach every new student at Mile High Karate:

”Good habits are hard to make but easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to make but hard to live with.”

Read that again. It is one of the most important things you will ever learn.

Think about brushing your teeth. It takes a little effort to make it a habit. But once you do, it’s easy. And you get to keep your teeth.

Now think about staying up too late. That habit is easy to make. Just keep watching one more video. But living with it is hard. You are tired at school. You are grumpy. You can’t focus in class.

Adults know this too. Eating a healthy lunch takes planning at first. Then it’s easy. Grabbing fast food every day is easy at first. Then it’s hard to stop, and hard on your body.

A Black Belt chooses the habits that are hard to make, because they are easy to live with.

No Excuses

Every habit has an enemy. It is called the excuse.

“I’m too tired.” “I’ll do it tomorrow.” “I didn’t have time.” “My brother was being loud.” “The dog ate my practice sheet.”

Excuses are sneaky. They sound reasonable. But every excuse does the same thing. It hands your result to someone or something else.

Black Belts don’t do that. They take 100% responsibility for their own results. If they skipped practice, they don’t blame the weather. They say, “I skipped it. Tomorrow I won’t.”

That might sound hard. It is actually freeing. If your results are somebody else’s fault, then only somebody else can fix them. But if your results are yours, then you can fix them. Today.

Why Small Steps Work

A lot of people try to change everything at once. They say, “Starting Monday, I’ll get up at 5:00, run three miles, read for an hour and never eat sugar again.”

By Wednesday, they quit.

Small steps work better. Want to read more? Start with 15 minutes a night. Want to be more flexible? Stretch for 5 minutes after school. Want to get better at your form? Practice it once a day.

Small steps are easy to start. Easy to keep. And here is the magic: they add up.

Picture a student who does 10 push-ups a day. That doesn’t sound like much. But in a year, that is more than 3,600 push-ups. In four years, the time it usually takes to earn a Black Belt at Mile High Karate, that is more than 14,000.

Ten a day. Fourteen thousand. That is the power of small steps.

Three Small Steps That Build Champions

At Mile High Karate, we have three home challenges that earn attitude stripes. Each one is a small daily step.

The Reading Challenge. Read for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Young readers can read with a parent. Books about martial arts, sports heroes, leaders, health or anything that grows your mind all count. Reading builds the mind of a champion, on and off the mat.

The Healthy Eating Challenge. Each time you make a smart food choice on your own, write it down: what you chose, and what you passed on. An apple instead of chips. Water instead of soda. You can’t out-train a bad diet. Food is fuel.

The Self-Discipline Challenge. Each time you do something helpful at home, at school or at work without being asked, write it down. Make your bed. Clear the table. Help a classmate.

None of these is big. Each one takes a few minutes. But do them every day, and in a few months you will be stronger, smarter and more trusted than you have ever been.

Stepping Stones

At Mile High Karate, we break the big goal of Black Belt into small steps.

Every new belt is a step. Every stripe is a step. Every class is a step.

We have also held Intramural Tournaments since 1985. These are tournaments just for our own students. In the late 1980s, 500 to 800 students competed each quarter. In September 2026, we held our 125th one.

Why so many tournaments? Because each one is a stepping stone. You compete. You learn. You get a little better. Then you do it again. Nobody goes from white belt to Black Belt in one leap. You get there one stepping stone at a time.

It takes about 48 months of training to earn a Black Belt at Mile High Karate. That sounds like a long time when you are a white belt. But here is what our Black Belts will tell you: it went by fast. Because they were not trying to do four years at once. They were just trying to do today.

Habits Become Who You Are

Here is the best part about good habits. After a while, they stop being things you do. They become who you are.

At first, you try to bow when you enter the school. After a few months, you just bow. At first, you try to say “Yes, ma’am.” After a while, it comes out on its own, even at the grocery store.

Picture a student who reads 15 minutes every night for four years. By then, she is not someone who is trying to read more. She is a reader.

Picture an adult who stretches every morning for a year. He is not trying to be flexible anymore. He is flexible.

That is what we mean when we say we don’t just teach karate. We build Black Belts. One small habit at a time.

How a Black Belt Does It

1. Start tonight. Pick one small habit and do it before bed tonight. Not Monday. Tonight.
2. Make it small. Small enough that you can do it even on a busy, tired day.
3. Do it at the same time. Tie it to something you already do, like after brushing your teeth or after dinner.
4. Track it. Check off each day on a chart or calendar. Watch your streak grow.
5. No excuses. Never miss twice. If you miss a day, own it, and get right back on track the next day.

Remember

• Big results come from small steps, every day.
• Good habits are hard to make but easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to make but hard to live with.
• An excuse hands your result to someone else. Black Belts own their results.
• Reading, healthy eating and helping without being asked are small steps that build champions.
• If you miss a day, never miss twice.

Workbook Lesson: Week 15

Print the full workbook below, or answer these on paper. Young students can have a parent help them read and write.

1. Words to Know

• Habit: something you do so often that you do it without thinking
• Excuse: a reason you give for not doing something, often to blame someone else
• Responsibility: owning your choices and your results
• Stepping stone: a small step that helps you reach a bigger goal
• Streak: doing something many days in a row

2. Fill in the Blank

1. Good habits are hard to make but to live with.
2. Black Belts take 100% for their own results.
3. If you miss a day, never miss .

3. Think About It

1. What is one good habit you already have? How did you learn it?
2. What excuse do you use most often? What could you say instead?
3. If you did 10 push-ups a day for a year, how many would you do? Why do small steps add up?
4. Teens & Adults: What habit have you tried to change all at once? What is a smaller first step, and what excuse will you need to watch out for?

5. Activity: My Excuse Busters

Write the three excuses you hear yourself use most. Next to each one, write a No Excuses answer. Example: “I’m too tired” becomes “I’ll do five minutes. Five is better than zero.”

7. My Self-Talk

Write an “I am” sentence about small steps and owning your results. Example: I am responsible for my results. No excuses.

8. Live the Creed

Say the Student Creed out loud every day this week. Then write about one time this week you showed Perseverance.

For Instructors: Week 15 Mat Chat

A 3–4 minute line-up lesson built on the Hook, Teach, Story, Ask, Commit formula, with a discussion guide for every age on the mat.

Objective: By the end of this Mat Chat, students will be able to name one small daily step they will repeat for seven days, explain how 10 push-ups a day adds up, and replace a common excuse with a No Excuses answer out loud.

Prepare:

• Clear space for the whole class to do 10 push-ups together.
• Write the math on a whiteboard or card: 10 a day = 3,650 a year = more than 14,000 in four years.
• Have a few blank Reading, Healthy Eating and Self-Discipline challenge sheets to show, and recruit a Black Belt or Leadership Team helper to lead the push-up count.

The Mat Chat (3–4 minutes)

Hook (0:00–0:30). Raise your hand if you buckled your seatbelt on the way here. [Raise your own hand.] Did you have to think about it? (No!) Of course not. Click. Done. But you weren’t born knowing how. Somebody taught you, and you did it over and over, every single ride, until it was automatic. That’s a habit. A habit is something you’ve done so many times that you do it without thinking. Today we talk about building the right ones.

Teach (0:30–1:30). Say this with me: “Good habits are hard to make but (easy to live with). Bad habits are easy to make but (hard to live with).” Now, every habit has an enemy. It’s called the excuse. “I’m too tired.” “I’ll do it tomorrow.” “My brother was loud.” An excuse hands your result to somebody else. Our Black Belt Success Skill is No Excuses. Black Belts take 100 percent responsibility for their results. If they skip practice, they say, “I skipped it. Tomorrow I won’t.” Then they ask, “What can I do better next time?” Our key word is STREAK. A streak is doing something many days in a row. Small steps, every day, add up to big results. And if you ever miss a day, remember this rule: never miss twice.

Story (1:30–2:30). Grand Master Jhoon Rhee was famous for push-ups. Not one or two. Hundreds. For years, push-ups were part of his workout every single day. Even in his sixties and seventies, he could do 100 push-ups in about a minute. People could hardly believe it. He didn’t get there in one day. He got there one push-up at a time, one day at a time, for years. His goal was “100 years of wisdom in a body of a 21 year old.” Grand Master Jeff Smith became a world champion the same way. When he was competing, he trained six hours a day, split into three workouts, for almost 20 years. Nobody can do that by thinking about all 20 years at once. You do it by showing up for today’s workout. Then tomorrow’s. That’s how you earn your Black Belt too: about 48 months, one class at a time.

Ask (2:30–3:15). Picture a student who does 10 push-ups a day. How many in a year? (More than 3,600!) How many in four years? (More than 14,000!) What’s the enemy of a good habit? (The excuse!) And what do Black Belts ask instead? (What can I do better next time?) Turn to a partner. Tell them one excuse you hear yourself say, and your No Excuses answer. [Give pairs 20 seconds.] Hands up if you’ve got your answer ready.

Commit (3:15–3:45). Here’s your 7-day home challenge: Build a Streak, No Excuses. Pick ONE small step. Read 15 to 20 minutes, make one smart food choice, or do one helpful thing without being asked. Do it every day for seven days and write down what you did. This week, add your “I am” sentences and your daily step to your Journey to Black Belt poster. Every day of your streak is a stepping stone to your Black Belt date, and beyond. What do Black Belts make? (No excuses!)

Discussion Guide

Aim: Help students see that big goals like Black Belt are built from small daily steps, and that owning their results (instead of making excuses) is what keeps a streak alive.

Little Dragons (ages 4–6)

1. Show me how you buckle your seatbelt. Did you have to think about it?
2. Can you do one helpful thing at home tomorrow without being asked? Show me with a thumbs up!

Kids (ages 7–12)

1. What is one good habit you already have? Who helped you learn it?
2. What excuse do you hear yourself say the most? What could you say instead?
3. Which small step will you pick this week: reading, a healthy food choice, or helping without being asked? Why that one?

Teens and adults

1. What habit have you tried to change all at once? What would a smaller first step look like?
2. What is the excuse you will most need to watch out for this week, and what will you say back to it?
3. Grand Master Smith trained six hours a day for almost 20 years by showing up for today’s workout. Where in school or work would thinking only about “today’s step” help you?

Listen for:

• Small steps done every day add up to big results.
• Good habits are hard to make but easy to live with; bad habits are the reverse.
• An excuse hands your result to someone else; Black Belts take 100% responsibility.
• If you miss a day, own it and never miss twice.

Follow-up questions:

• What would that look like at home tomorrow? When exactly will you do your small step?
• What could you tie your step to, like right after brushing your teeth or after dinner?
• If you miss a day, what will you say to yourself the next morning?

Into the Mat Drill

• Mat drill: Ten a Day: the class does 10 push-ups together while counting out loud, then the instructor does the math (3,650 a year; more than 14,000 in four years). Then Excuse Buster: the instructor calls out an excuse (“I’m too tired!”), and students answer with a punch and kiai, “No excuses! Five minutes!”
• Leader role: The Black Belt or Leadership Team helper leads the push-up count from the front and checks form, then writes each student’s chosen small step on a quick list for the instructor.
• Open next class: Open next class by asking students to show with fingers how many days are in their streak, and have each student say the small step they kept (or will restart today, never missing twice).

Black Belt and Beyond: Module 7 (revisited): Visualization and Goal Posters

Checkpoint: Progress Update: 2 weeks before graduation

• Have students update their “My Journey to Black Belt” posters with their Black Belt self-talk statements and daily small steps.
• Display the posters again; invite parents and students to walk the poster wall together.
• Hold 2-week Progress Updates; confirm graduation readiness and readiness for the Black Belt and Beyond conference.

Adult and parent tip: Parents: post one challenge sheet (Reading, Healthy Eating or Self-Discipline) on the refrigerator and celebrate streaks, not perfection. Adults: replace each excuse you hear yourself make with “What can I do next time?”

Teaching tip: Do 10 push-ups together as a class and then do the math out loud: 10 a day becomes more than 3,600 in a year. Kids love big numbers, and they will remember the lesson.

Download the complete books (PDF): The Black Belt Mindset · The Workbook · The Instructor’s Manual

← Week 14: You Are in Charge of You · All 16 lessons · Week 16: The Black Belt Is a Beginning →

Train at Mile High Karate Thornton, 3979 E 120th Ave, Thornton, CO 80233. Call (303) 280-1839, or see class schedules and enrollment at ThorntonMHK.com.