We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Keith Miner . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Keith below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Keith with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My work ethic was started from my childhood. Growing up in a very poor family in a rough neighborhood with a rough up bringing will either break or make you. For me it showed me everything I didn’t want in life, and the way to improve my situation would come from having grit and work ethic. My work ethic has always been what I have leaned on when times are tough or I need to improve anything. From business goals to personal goals my work ethic has always been rooted in what I saw growing up and knowing I didn’t want that for myself and especially for my family.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Well there isn’t anything special about me honestly. I have a pretty simple mindset, and believe that with a good work ethic and a good heart you can do a lot of great things for the people around you and yourself.
I have a passion for coaching and watching people overcome and improve. I coach many different youth sports but my main sport I coach is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I am a black belt in BJJ and have coached kids and adults for over a decade. BJJ is a very hard martial art to attain a black belt in and takes many many years, and as I like to say to people it is not something you can just buy. It is earned and it’s earned through a lot of work, ups and downs, and growth both in the sport itself but also personally because it will test your will over the years.
I am unique in that sense that I have a black belt but also lost my dominate hand and part of my arm in a work accident when I was 19(before I found BJJ). So not exactly the easiest sport to do with 1 hand, let alone without your dominate hand. Well for some reason I gave it a try finally after starting my son in it, and it led me down a path that I always will be grateful for. It led me to becoming the first ever amputee professional MMA fighter, it led me to finding how much work ethic and grit I truly had, it led me to many lifelong great relationships within the sport, but most importantly it led me to having the opportunity to coach and watch people improve and excel at life!
Being able to share my BJJ/MMA experiences with people is great and a lot of fun, but watching people set their own goals and work towards them and crush them is the best part of what I get to do. Which makes the bumps and bruises I worked through to attain my black belt all worth it.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
First thing I think to be successful in any journey is setting goals and understanding that if it’s worth anything then it will take work ethic and will power. Small goals are the best way to start because you don’t want to overwhelm yourself but also they build a strong foundation on chasing the next set of goals as you climb up.
Second thing is consistent work ethic! Consistently show up and get after it. This is no secret, yet it’s the hardest part. If you truly want that goal then you have to show up and do the work required to attain it, otherwise it truly wasn’t a goal, it was just a cool idea in your head.
Finally the realization that failure is not that bad! My outlook is that failure is not opposite of success, because without it your can’t be successful! I have never met anyone that hasn’t failed at something, but the difference is how we treat that “failure”. Do we quit, do we break or do we pick ourself up and Press On! I have failed many many times in my sport and in my life, but without those failures I honestly can say I would have never found success! Failure goes hand in hand with success if you are going to reach those goals!
And when you reach those goals then those “failures” will have a place in your story and will build a grit and toughness in you from overcoming that no one can take.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
Great question! My students hear me say this all the time: Work your weaknesses if you are gonna grow!
It’s easy to stay comfortable, but it’s hard to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation. There is a saying that’s used a lot in BJJ/MMA & Wrestling-Get comfortable in the uncomfortable!
If we go through life always working our strengths and staying comfortable then how do we truly find out who and what we are deep down. When you step into a place of uncomfortableness you are saying to yourself I know this is gonna suck but I want to improve and grow.
I was terrified my first BJJ class and honestly I was terrified anytime I walked into a room after my accident. All eyes would turn to me and everyone would stare at my arm. It caused me to start trying to hide my arm or not go out. I started to lose any confidence I had and just withdrew from people.
I was comfortable with that and now didn’t have to put up with people staring or calling me names or whatever else my mind was telling me was happening. But after a year plus of that I knew I didn’t want to live like this and keep myself in a box. For me I knew I had to put myself in the uncomfortable spots and accept me having 1 hand now and moving forward. It was tough, tougher than I thought it was going to be, but it also gave me a freedom. I grew and continued to challenge myself -showing up to the basketball courts again to play basketball(even teaching myself to dunk lefty), coaching baseball, starting a business where people seen me everyday and finally walking into a BJJ gym.
Each time was overwhelming but every time I grew. In BJJ/MMA you can be great at a few moves or submissions, but there are always competitors that can show you where you have glaring weaknesses at. So in my sport and in life it’s good to work those weaknesses because it only strengthens you and adds to the overall strength you already have!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @RisenBJJ
- Twitter: @KeithMinerMMA
