Setting Goals

What are your objectives for karate?  Why are you training and what is it you wish to accomplish?

Setting goals is the only way to plan the journey from white belt to black belt.  They allow you to spell out clearly what specific things that you want to accomplish, and when you want to try to accomplish them. 

Here is one way to go about setting goals for the New Year:

1.     Come up with 1-3 very high level goals you want to accomplish.  I recommend having 1 that you will probably be able to do, 1 that you might be able to do, and 1 that you don’t think you can do and would be a huge stretch to accomplish

2.     Break the year down into 4 parts (quarters).  January-March, April-June, July-September, and October-December

3.     For each quarter, list out a high level objective for that time period.  Try to align these with your overall high-level goals from step 1.

4.     Under each of these high level objectives, list 3-4 specific things that will help you to accomplish your high level objective

5.     Now, try to list out very small, specific things you can do each week to get you towards your objectives in step 4. 

6.     You can even go a step further in coming up with daily goals, which will work towards those in step 5.

Taking the kaizen approach towards goal setting is the way to go.  If you can break your high level goals down to very small, accomplishable tasks, you will have a very good chance at completing them. 

Here is another tip towards helping you accomplish your goals.  Take a half-sheet of paper and write down your top 3 goals in large text so that you can easily read it.  Highlight it.  Now, take that paper and tape it to your armoire door, bathroom mirror or refrigerator door.  Put it someplace where you will look at it at least once a day if not more.  Statistics all show that you are significantly more likely to accomplish a goal if it is written down, and it is even more likely that you will accomplish it if you are reminded of it visually on a daily basis. 

Don’t worry if you don’t accomplish all your goals.  By setting lofty goals, you are pushing yourself and will most likely get further than if you had set no goals at all. 

Start the New Year off the right way!  Make sure you know where you want to go so that all the effort you are about to invest into your karate is working towards your goals.  All of the coaches will help you to reach your goals, whatever they may be, but you are the one who can most affect the result.  Take charge, and you are likely to have a smile on your face when you review your year in December.

-Coach David-