Son Goku is one of the most popular and powerful anime characters ever created. Dragonball Z was always a lot more than a TV show for me. When I was a kid it was my daily dose of thrill and entertainment.
All of those energy blasts, explosions, fight sequences, and the most important of them all are those ridiculously awesome transformations that boosted up my excitement when I was a kid, but as I grew up I began to understand that it was the heart of the story and the heart of the character that really captured my attention and appreciation.
I realized that there are a lot of things that we could learn from the main protagonist of DBZ- Son Goku. And, this article is going to be all about those valuable lessons that we can learn from the character and I also believe that implementing those lessons in our life will help us to transform into the ultimate version of ourselves.
Here is how Goku inspires me:
1. He Values Training: No matter how strong he gets, the one thing that Goku never stops doing is training. He trains every day and in every possible way that he could to be at least a little better than who he is.
He adopted the habit of training every day since he was a kid. And, throughout the years that very consistency made him the strongest fighter in the universe.
He never procrastinates or he never finds excuses to skip his training and that’s because he’s passionate about what he does.
No matter how intense his training gets he does it over and over because he believes that there are no shortcuts and it’s the only way of breaking through his own limitations.
That’s the reason why he values his training so much. Even when it comes to our reality this lesson makes a lot of sense.
In order to master any skill, we need to train ourselves over and over every day and in every way that we can. Remember, Goku didn’t become the strongest in just a month or in a year. It took him years of training to be where he is today. In the same way, to become a master at something would probably take years of practice.
I have been constantly learning and practicing all kinds of skills that I always desired to learn and I have been doing it for a couple of years now and in this couple of years, I realized that transforming into our ultimate version has nothing to do with achieving perfection but rather it has everything to do with progression.
So, don’t try to portray that perfect image of yourself. Feel free to make mistakes and feel free to fail because that’s exactly how you make progress and I truly believe that progression can take us even beyond how we imagine perfection.
Prioritize your training every day and in every way you can. The higher you prioritize your training, the greater you are gonna be at the skills that you are working on.
2. He Always Tries To Go Beyond His Limitations: The one thing that makes Goku’s training very special is his desire to break through his limitations. He never trains in a way that makes him feel comfortable. He moves from comfort to discomfort just to test his limits and to improve his endurance.
Goku challenges himself in every way possible. In order to become a master at a certain skill even, we need to step out of our comfort zone. Doing what is easy and comfortable to do never takes us to the next level that we desire to go to.
In order to go even beyond our limitations, we need to be willing to do the things that we have never done before and I truly believe that.
So, in order to break through your limitations and evolve into your ultimate version, step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself in every way that you can.
3. He Never Gives Up: Goku fights with countless opponents and no matter how strong they are or no matter how big the obstacle is; the one thing that made him better than his opponents is his never-give-up attitude. No matter how many times he falls, he rises back again and keeps fighting. Even in his feeble state he still keeps moving forward and that’s because he knows why he is fighting and he also believes that it is something that is worth fighting for.
Every battle that Goku ever fought was for the sake of his family, friends, and also for those who needed help. He never intended to fight in order to kill or for revenge, he only fought in order to protect what’s precious to him and I said earlier, he believes that it is something that is worth fighting for. And, that became the very reason for his never-give-up attitude.
If you want to adopt the never-give-up attitude in your life as well then first begin with figuring out what you are fighting for (Your Dreams/Goals) and why you are fighting for it(The Big Why). Because when you understand the why, the how becomes easier.
That’s how Goku did it.
He was able to defeat even the opponents who were way stronger than him because he’s aware of his “why”. Remember, the deeper our desire to fulfill our why, the greater our possibilities to make it our reality. That very desire gives us a purpose to keep moving forward and to never give up.
4. Being Kind Doesn’t Make Us Weak: Despite being so strong, Goku is also a very kind soul. He’s never jealous of someone who is stronger than him because he never gives room for superiority in his head. He just focuses on himself and always tries to break through his own limitations over and over and in this process, he also never lost the child in him.
He’s always so kind and so curious to learn just like a child. No matter how evil his opponents are, he never fought to kill or for revenge. But instead, he showed mercy to everyone.
When it comes to our reality, a lot of people always try to portray themselves as superior’s to someone else. Most people got so used to the materialist lifestyle and started believing that having something more than what other people possess makes them superior.
But in this process, most of them even lost their kindness. And, losing kindness indicates that we are also losing the humanity that’s left in us. The moment we give room for superiority in our head is the moment we will also begin to lose the humanity that’s left in us.
Superiority makes us greedy, selfish, jealous of other people’s success, and also makes us blind to all the love and blessing that we have in our life. I truly believe that kindness is our greatest superiority.
So, no matter how great a materialistic lifestyle we possess, if we aren’t kind to other people then none of it is going to stay for too long.
Vegeta About Goku: “I used to fight for the sheer pleasure of it; for the thrill of the hunt, oh I had the strength unmeasurable…I spared no one. And yet, you showed mercy to everyone, even your fiercest enemies, even me! Yet, you never fought to kill, or for revenge. Only to test your limits and to push yourself beyond them, to become the strongest you could possibly be. How can a Saiyan fight like that and at the same time be so gentle that he wouldn’t hurt a fly? It makes me angry just thinking about it! But, perhaps it is my anger that has made me blind to the truth for so long. I see it now, this day has made it all too clear.
You’re better than me Kakarot. You are the best.”
5. He Believes In 2nd Chances: Goku never holds a grudge against anyone. He always forgives people and gives them a 2nd chance and he does it because of his kindness. And, throughout the years because of his forgiveness, even his worst enemies became his greatest allies and best friends. And, forgiveness is something that we need to learn.
In the real world, a lot of people try to forget instead of forgive. But rather what they really need to do is to forgive instead of forget.
Forgiveness is not only something that we give to someone else. It is also a gift that we give to ourselves. When we forgive a person, we are also healing a part of ourselves that got hurt by that particular person. It is also a very beautiful way of saying that we are making peace with who we are to do better and to be better in life. And, it has nothing to do with whether the other person accepts it or not.
Forgiveness is all about giving it and it’s completely up to the other person whether they are ready to receive it or not. Those who need it will receive it and it could change their life too. Forgiveness is so powerful that it could even make our greatest enemies our closest allies. So, forgive as often as you can. Because it is also a way of healing ourselves.
6. He Fights For Those Who Can’t: One of the greatest traits of Goku is his willingness to fight for those who can’t. Throughout his life, Goku saved humanity countless times from countless enemies. And, in this process, there were times when he even sacrificed his own life in order to protect the lives of innocent people.
He was always remembered as an answer for innocent people’s tears and an ally to the good. I truly believe that if we have something precious to protect in our life then our very desire to protect it defines our possibilities to break through our limitations.
The more we break through our limitations, the brighter we shine in our lives and we need to shine as bright as we can so that we could become the light for those who are living in the darkness. So that we could be a voice for those who cannot speak, and a hand for those who cannot reach. We could also be so strong that even the weak may grow and rise along with us.
I believe that changing the lives that we touch is what it takes to make our life meaningful. So, the brighter we shine, the higher the number of lives that we could touch, protect, change, and transform.
7. And, the last and the most important lesson from Goku is -
He Always Believes That In Unity There Is Strength: One of Goku’s greatest signature moves is Spirit Bomb. And, the metaphor of the spirit bomb is a very interesting concept. The attack is used by absorbing the energy of anything living, and willing to share their energy with Goku. Summoning the Spirit Bomb is an action that can unify planets, even the entire universe, towards a single, common goal, by overcoming all the indifferences and coming together as one in the form of Spirit Bomb. Goku uses this technique in battles where he couldn’t defeat the evil all by himself.
So, when the evil is greater than his own strength, all he does is: he raises his hands into the sky and asks every living being to share their energy with him so that he can defeat the evil with their strength. Spirit bomb is the most powerful technique that Goku could use and he uses it in the end as it was his last sign of hope. The technique itself resembles how much he believes in people and how much he believes in the power of unity. So, the lesson that we can learn from this is, we don’t always need to fight alone. Sometimes all we need to do is to raise our hands up and let the people we believe in fight the battle for us.
But you need to remember that the number of people who are willing to fight for you depends on the number of people you are good and kind too. The people that you stood for will eventually be the ones who will stand up for you at times of your need.
So, be good and do good to the people around you. I truly believe that empathy is the key to unity. A lot of people express sympathy to other people when they are in times of need but what they really need to express is empathy. Because sympathy is eye to eye and empathy is heart to heart. Empathy has the potential to break through all the social indifferences(race, caste, gender, religion, country) and to unite humanity as one.
So, empathize with as many people as you can and you will begin to see how your very touch can change other people’s lives for good. And, the people that you help will eventually be the people who will become your greatest strength in your darkest days.
Everyone has idols in life who inspire them and we always want to emulate our idols. Goku is my idol. He is one of my many idols who taught me many valuable lessons. He taught me how to break through my own limitations in life. He taught me that kindness is not weakness. He taught me the importance of giving 2nd chances to people. And, he taught me the importance of unity and how it gives us strength in life.
