The Martial Arts Mentality – Part 2 : Goal Setting

What are you really trying to get from this goal? What is your desire?

Let’s discuss how we can use the martial arts mentality to improve our ability to set goals and achieve them. Goal setting is interesting in martial arts because for most martial arts, especially the traditional ones, the goals are predetermined. Not only are goals predetermined, but also the tasks to achieve the goal are already known. You want to get from white belt to yellow belt, just ask your instructor for a promotion guide and everything you need is there. You may find that you need to perform some form (kata or hyung), some push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, etc. Everything you need to get to the next level has already been set in stone for you. All you need to do as the martial artist is make sure you check the items off the list.

Which brings us to our first idea of goal setting, a primary goal is only reached when the subgoals/tasks have been completed. A lot of times we set goals and are unable to fulfill them because we did not take the time to identify any subgoals to do along the way. We start to work towards a goal but have no way to track our progress towards that goal. After weeks or months of working to achieve the goal we want, we have no history of what we have done. All we know is time has passed and our goal still has not been achieved. Imagine asking your instructor if you are ready for your next belt, and the instructor tells you,” You are not”. So, you ask what all you need to do, and all they say is “You just need to get ready for your next belt”. Wouldn’t that be confusing? You want to know what are the smaller things that are required to get to your next rank, yet it isn’t being given to you. You can practice for your next belt all you want but without having those subgoals or tasks, like the number of push-ups you need to do, you would just be lost and unsure if you are doing the correct thing to reach the level you wish to achieve. Having a way to track progress helps us understand our improvement and allows us to make sure we are moving in the right direction on the right path.

Another thing that warrants discussion is in martial arts our goals are usually very specific. Using traditional martial arts as an example again, when preparing for your next belt test, you don’t get a generic task list titled “Belt Test” but the title is specific, it may say something like “Red Belt Test” or “3rd Gup, or Kyu, Test”. As mentioned earlier, when looking at your requirements for rank the requirements are usually specific. You most likely won’t have a requirement that is super general, for example “need to portray physical fitness appropriate for the level”, you will likely see something similar to “need to perform 10 burpees, need to do 25 sit-ups, need to do 20 push-ups, etc.”.  Each different rank has a different set of subtasks. The goals we create for ourselves in our everyday lives need to be just as specific as well. Setting a goal that says “Workout More” is not good enough. What would the subtasks be? What are you really trying to get from this goal? What is your desire? A goal such as “Increase muscle definition and strength” would be much better. This goal is specific, and subtasks can be easily identified such as “perform strength training at least 4 times a week an hour at a time” or “reduce fat intake for the next 3 months”. If you want, you can even create another level of subtasks such as, “perform strength at least 4 times a week for an hour at a time” can be broken down into, “on Monday do arm strengthening exercises for an hour”, “on Tuesday do core strengthening exercises for an hour” and so on.  With smaller tasks identified and a specific goal in mind, you can better track your goal and have a better understanding of what you are trying to accomplish. Just as in martial arts how the goals are specific and can be broken down into subtask, we should do the same for our goals in our everyday life.

Once we have created specific goals for ourselves and have identified subgoals, we need to come up with ways to constantly remind ourselves of our goal. In martial arts we are always reminded of our goals. For most traditional arts that goal is to get a black belt. Every time we go to class, we see the black belts practicing, we see them perform techniques we aspire to do, we are constantly seeing the ranks we want to achieve. We need this same sort of constant reminder for our everyday goals. Whether that comes in the form of daily spoken aspirations/affirmations, changing the wallpaper of our desktops or phone screens, or just setting time every week or month to review our goals, we need to constantly remind ourselves of our goals. By doing so, we help keep ourselves on track and encourage ourselves to continue pushing until our goals are satisfied.

There are a lot of other things I can say on this topic, but I believe these are among the most important. We should set our everyday goals similar to how goals are set in martial arts. We should make sure our goals are specific, can be broken down into subtasks, and that we constantly remind ourselves of our goals. By doing so, we effectively create a plan that can help us reach the next level of our lives the same way we would reach the next rank in the martial arts.