Goals are an essential part of any athlete’s martial arts journey. Goals provide you with focus and direction. When you achieve a goal that you’ve been working toward for a while, the sense of accomplishment can boost your self-confidence.
Here are five tips for setting martial arts goals:
Challenge yourself, but be realistic.
Your martial arts goals should be challenging but not impossible. Take some time to consider what you can realistically achieve over the next few months and set your goals accordingly. If you’re still not sure if you are overreaching with your goals, that’s okay. Remember that goals are not set in stone. You can always modify and adjust as needed.
Write out your goals.
Thinking about what you want to achieve isn’t enough. Take the time to write out your martial arts goals, and then keep this paper somewhere you’ll see it often. Goals that aren’t written out tend to get pushed into the future. “Someday I will….” But by writing your goals down and revisiting them often, you’re keeping what you want to achieve at the forefront and increasing your chances for success.
Share with your instructors.
Telling someone else will help you with accountability. But by sharing your goal with your instructor, not only do you have someone to hold you accountable, but you also have shared your goal with someone who can help you make and execute a plan for success.
Keep a log.
Tracking your martial arts journey with a workout log or journal creates a record of what you’ve done. This record can be helpful in the future. You can look back and assess what has worked for you and what hasn’t. Also, on days where your motivation has dipped, or you wonder if you’re even making any progress, then this record provides concrete evidence of what you have done to move forward.
Reset after setbacks.
Your martial arts journey would be so much more straightforward if everything went according to plan. But this is not the case. You might get sick. Or injured. You might have to scale back on your workouts because of work, life, family, etc. Things will happen, and the most productive thing you can do is accept the setback. And then, move forward. As soon as you’re able, get back on track. Focus on what you can do moving forward and let go of what you feel like you’ve missed out on in the past.
Classic Fight Team in Fountain Valley is ready to help you achieve your martial arts goals. To learn more about how to get started, contact us today.
