I thought this was a great insight on the matter;

"My standards for earning a black belt, of any rank, have been set by people who have either set a standard for their own lives that is wonderfully high –or they  have, through some life-journey, knowingly (or unknowingly) embarked upon a path that required them to be people, to be human beings, of the most extraordinary kind.
The ultimate testing board for black belt –especially high ranking black belts, could (and should) be made up of people who have demonstrated genuine courage in the face of danger; who have achieved things that made the world a better place; who, against enormous odds, have succeeded in serving as living examples of the best-of-the-best that a man or woman can be.
Kicking ass is easy; being a cognizant, involved, compassionate, make-a-difference human being, now THAT is tough. That's what I want from myself -and from my students.  
Why?
Why not? What does someone have to lose by seeking to be a human being of the highest order?
Let’s measure our accomplishments against those of Mohammed Ali, against Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Per Anger, Oskar Schindler, Jimmy Carter, and other people, living and of history, that represent life-purpose mastery. Let’s give up the crazy quest for more and useless material wealth/garbage and start being human beings who represent something worth being.
This is, as a teacher, what I’m thinking about when you step on my mat. This level of accomplishment is what I’m thinking about when I think about my next black belt test –which is my life.
My life is my dojo. My black belt test is my life –and my goal is to live like a champion in the world, for myself and others, and to act like today is my black belt test. 
This is known as "the practice."

-Tom Callos-