Feel good now.
I was about to fail my black belt test.
It was the end of a two-and-a-half-hour workout.
I was exhausted.
I had done countless push-ups, jumping jacks and squats.
I had been drilled on every form and every move I’d learned for the past ten years.
All I had to do to earn my black belt in American Karate was break the cement brick in front of me.
But I couldn’t.
I’d broken countless wooden boards before.
But I had just tried twice to break the brick.
And both times…
I failed.
I was down to my last attempt.
“If you don’t break it this time,” my master said sternly, “I’m going to make you go back to the beginning and start this whole test over again.”
My stomach churned.
But then I remembered what he taught me when we practiced for this moment:
“Don’t just hit the brick,” he told me.
“Strike through it.”
This lesson shows up everywhere.
Golfers are told the follow-through is as important as the swing.
Tennis players are told to hit through the ball.
And in life?
Don’t just aim at what you want.
Aim beyond it.
Commit all the way through.
Because when we don’t follow through, we almost always miss the mark.
Feel good now.
Commit to feeling good now.
It’s good for your body and your mind. It’s good for your life.
When you feel good, being your best self (and succeeding in every area) becomes 100x easier.
Feel good now.
It’s good for the world, too.
Blissful people overflow that energy into everything they touch.
Feel good now.
And if you want a karate master guide to help you follow through on this commitment, download the Bliss Blueprint.
The Blueprint gives you the mindset, the tools and the training to make bliss your baseline emotional state.
It’s normally $55, but because I want to support your feeling-good path, you can download it today for 60% off.
That’s just $22 to unlock the state that upgrades everything in your life.
And I promise it won’t make you start your test over if you don’t break a brick with your bare hands.
Speaking of…
I knelt on the cement patio at the back of my childhood home.
I focused on the brick.
I committed.
I directed my mind through the block, imagining I was going to slam straight down to the cement beneath.
I shouted and channeled everything into one downward strike.
KEEYAI!
The brick snapped.
Success.
I could have collapsed with relief — but I was too busy grinning. Too busy feeling good now…
As my master wrapped the black belt around my waist with pride.
And then he revealed a secret that blew my mind:
“Bricks are easier to break than boards,” he told me.
“Wood can bend and absorb force. Bricks don’t bend — they’re brittle.
If you can break a board, you can break a brick.
But you have to commit all the way.
It’s all in the mind.”
Feel good now.
It’s not hard.
In fact, it’s just as easy as feeling bad — once you get the hang of it.
You just have to commit.
And you have to follow through.
It’s all in your mind.
From your friend the blissful black belt,
Jack
P.S.
Want to become a black-belt ninja master of bliss?
Download the Bliss Blueprint for $22 today.