One morning, I was watching class and thought back to when I was a blue belt. I remember we were scattered in pairs around the mat, watching the instructors. And I looking around at the higher belts and thought they were so advanced and that I was so far away from that.

Then I thought about how I’m a black belt now. Maybe someone looks at me as very advanced, and they have no idea of the imposter syndrome I still deal with. And maybe those black belts from before were in the same spot I am now.

Later that morning, at my private session, my teacher showed me that sometimes, that guy or girl you think is very advanced, really is.

But then I thought about my black belt test. Although I performed well, I was reminded of the saying, “There’s always someone better.” But I would revise that to: “There are a lot of people that are a lot better.”

I’ve been a black belt for a year now. That cliche about how the real learning starts at black belt, it’s been sort of true for me. I learned plenty as a white belt. But it’s just we get something different out of them. And the lessons I’m learning now, I surely had exposure to as a white belt. But there are things I simply couldn’t understand until now. And actually, that happens at every level.

In a few years, I’ll learn something that not ready to learn today.