You probably know that keystone means a stone placed in just the right location in a stone arch to hold the whole thing together. Well, keystones are everywhere, it’s just that they’re not always easy to find. In golf, the keystone is turning the shoulders – an idea that Tom Watson calls “the Secret to Golf.” In iaido (ancient Japanese swordsmanship) and judo, the keystone is learning to move from the hips, an idea we spend a lot of time working on at the Japanese Martial Arts Center. In marketing, the keystone is learning to put yourself in the shoes of the customer.
The sneaky thing about these keystones is that they have about a hundredfold more impact when you “discover” them for yourself. There’s so much free information these days that you can find detailed explanations about almost anything, often by the world’s foremost authorities, for free in the internet. But virtually all the time, when you immerse yourself in your subject matter, constantly practicing, studying, and always seeking improvement, you will either happen upon the keystones yourself, or you will develop a deep, intuitive understanding of the ones you learn from someone else.
When people say “there’s no substitute for hard work,” part of what’s included in that idea is that you involve yourself completely in your business or your art, and when you come upon keystones, you will be in a much more effective position from which to put them in place in your own life!
